Why You Can’t Sleep Even When You’re Exhausted The brain habit that keeps overthinkers up at night
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
By Dr. Josette Ga-an
You’re tired. You finally lie down, hoping tonight will be different. But the moment your head hits the pillow, your brain clocks in for the night shift.
It starts replaying conversations, rewriting to-do lists, imagining worst-case scenarios, or solving problems that don’t need solving right now.
Sound familiar?
You’re definitely not alone.
What you’re experiencing is something sleep science calls cognitive arousal, when the brain stays active at bedtime, even though the body is ready to rest.
This happens a lot to people who are used to doing too much. Professionals, parents, perfectionists. The go-getters who are always thinking one step ahead.
Your brain is trained to plan, fix, and analyze all day, so when bedtime comes, it struggles to hit pause. Sleep becomes another thing on the checklist instead of something your body welcomes with ease.
Most people try to fight this with quick fixes, blue light blockers, melatonin, lavender sprays ..but they only work if your mind knows how to wind down.
If your brain is still solving things at 11:30 p.m., even the best sleep hacks won’t work. Because the real issue isn’t how much sleep you’re getting.
It’s how your brain is behaving before you sleep.
Here are a few common habits that accidentally keep your mind in overdrive:
Scrolling on your phone right before bed
Working late without transition time?
Worrying about not sleeping?
Trying hard to force sleep
The good news is, sleep isn’t broken. It’s just blocked.
And you can unblock it by gently retraining your brain to respond differently.
That’s what inspired me to create a guide called Night Shift Brain: A 3-Day Sleep Reset for Overthinkers Who Do Too Much.
It’s short, simple, and science-based.
It walks you through three days of intentional winding down, teaching your brain how to quiet the noise, ease tension, and welcome rest again.
No complicated routines. No pressure to be perfect. Just a gentle shift that helps your nights feel less chaotic and your mornings more clear.
If you’ve tried everything and still wake up tired, this is where I’d suggest you start.
Your brain needs to feel safe before it can fully rest. And that shift can begin in just a few minutes a day.
Ready to give your mind a break?
Overthinking is loud. Sleep is what happens when you turn the volume down.
You can download your copy of the reset guide using this link: https://drsleepsolutions.com/b/gVArK Or scan the QR code included on this page.
About the Author
Dr. Josette Ga-an is a board-certified dentist and certified sleep science coach who helps high-performing professionals and busy parents overcome hidden sleep challenges and restore their energy. She is the founder of Dr. Sleep Solutions and a contributing author to the Amazon-published anthology She Glows, where her chapter, “Why Am I Still Tired? The Sleep Secret That Changed Everything,” explores the breakthrough that shaped her mission to make sleep simple and accessible for everyone.
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