Why I Lie Awake Running Through Tomorrow's Problems

He knows what he has to do tomorrow. He made his list. He set his alarm. And then, lying in the dark, he begins going through each item again. Not remembering – reviewing. Checking that he has not missed anything, that the plan is complete, that he is ready. He will not sleep until he reaches a conclusion that does not come.

Night-time worry has a structure. It is not random anxiety – it is the mind doing preparation work. The same function that produces professional competence during the day produces night-time problem-solving once the day ends. The difference is that during the day, the preparation is bounded by tasks. At night, the only boundary is exhaustion.

The review does not make tomorrow safer. He knows this. The plan he has already made will not improve by being reviewed at 1am. But the reviewing competence does not receive this information. From its perspective, there is still preparation to be done – and sleep is an interruption to preparation.