Worry Parking

Write down your worries and sort them into actionable vs. non-actionable — then park them for the night.

About This Exercise

Worry Parking is a pre-sleep structured journaling technique. You write down worries, categorize them as actionable or not, identify the next step for actionable ones, and symbolically "park" the rest — giving your mind permission to let them go until morning.

What It Helps With

• Racing thoughts at bedtime
• Difficulty falling asleep due to worry
• Reducing cognitive arousal before sleep
• Building a healthier relationship with worry

The Science

Research by Dr. Michael Scullin found that writing a to-do list for tomorrow before bed (rather than journaling about the day) significantly reduced the time to fall asleep. The act of externalizing mental content onto paper offloads cognitive load and reduces the perceived need to "keep worries in mind."

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