Lying awake, thinking and grinding ... turning over one more time. Terribly annoying when you can't sleep because you're thinking about scenarios, what you should have said then or what's left to do tomorrow. Fortunately, there are things you can do to reduce fretting and fall asleep better.

1. You can think of doing conscious breathing. You stay with your attention on your breathing and you breathe in for 4 seconds and out for 8 seconds, for example. You thereby calm your body and by staying with your attention on your breathing and counting you have no room for the brooding thoughts.
2. Choose a meditation that focuses on sleep. Listen in advance to see if the meditation suits you and if you feel comfortable with it. That way you avoid scrolling to a better meditation the moment you want to fall asleep. You can do the meditation in bed. But you can also choose to integrate meditation into your evening routine at an earlier time.
3. Stretching or yoga. In the evening, do very gentle stretches or (yin) yoga. This calms your body and gives you a moment to connect. It may help you put your thoughts into perspective.
4. Decide that the thought is for tomorrow. In the evening things seem worse, ... you seem less able to put things into perspective. Mark the thought as a "tomorrow-thought" and decide there's nothing you can do about it now anyway while you're in bed. Put the thought on a cloud and let it blow away.
5. Create a peaceful sleeping environment. Make sure your bedroom is tidy and quiet. A place where you unwind when you open the door. Make your bed in the morning, make sure you have calm and soft light.
6. Create an evening routine. Choose a habit or several habits that you do every night. With that, you prepare yourself for sleep and signal that it is time to gaal sleep. For example, take a shower or bath, read a book, do a meditation, put on a nice pair of pajamas, etc. Choose things that give you rest and what prepares you for a good night's sleep.
7. As little caffeine and alcohol as possible. These two affect being able to fall asleep and the quality of sleep. So if you have trouble falling asleep, it may well be worth reducing or stopping these.
8. Make sure you have a healthy diet and enough exercise throughout the day. Exercise can help reduce your stress, and healthy eating helps you maintain a healthy body. You can also choose to take supplements if you feel you could use some extra support in your health.

Do you have trouble falling asleep due to fretting? Then try one of the above tips (or all of them ;)) and see what it does for you!