In this week’s newsletter:

• Why your brain feels so active at night
• A quick writing experiment for better rest
• Upcoming: Workshops + Fix Your Nights, Fix Your Day, and Money Patterns protocol packs

Hi, it’s Áine.

A few times every week, I'll be totally exhausted, ready for bed, and suddenly my brain kicks on. Everything from stress about commitments the next day, to bills and appointments, to replaying conversations, to brilliant solutions to whatever I'm working on.

It all shows up right when I want to go to sleep.

One minute I'm so exhausted I can't think anymore, and the next minute my brain won't shut down.

Why our brains ramp up at night

In case you can relate, here's some of the science behind what's going on there -

When we slow down at night, we’re no longer adding new input, so our attention has more space to land on open tasks, unsent messages, things we meant to remember, and decisions we need to make. Our brain treats anything unfinished as something that still needs to be tracked, and with fewer distractions, those items move to the front of the line.

At the same time, our brains are less resourced and more threat‑sensitive than they were earlier in the day. We have less access to the systems that help with perspective and regulation, and more activity in the systems that scan for risk and possible problems. That’s part of why your mind suddenly starts checking for what you might drop, miss, or mess up.

Those things together are your brain trying to protect you: “If I keep everything in view, I won’t lose anything.”

The cost is that threat‑monitoring and active tracking stay switched on instead of beginning to power down for sleep, which is why it can feel like your mind has snapped back on right when you’re getting ready for bed.

That’s also why even a quick written capture and hand‑off sentence can help: once your brain can see that all the stuff that just came up is written down and safely saved, it has less reason to keep running it while you're trying to get to sleep.

Here’s a super simple, short writing experiment to try:

Step 1: List what's coming up.​
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Write (typing or writing are both fine here):

"Here's what's showing up right now..." and then list the items as quickly as you can. All the tasks, decisions, worries, reminders, conversations - whatever's there.

Don't do any sorting or explaining. The point is to keep this in the “capture” lane of the brain (working memory offload) instead of switching into analysis or problem‑solving. Once those items are written down in one place, your brain has less reason to keep holding them actively.

Step 2: Give the list a simple closing hand‑off.

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​Underneath, write a closing line like this example:

“Tomorrow, this list is where I’ll start. It's parked for tonight and I don't need to think about it until tomorrow.”

Actually writing out this last line helps because nighttime spirals are often driven by a sense that nothing has a container, that the only way to stay on top of things is to keep them running in your head.

A clear, external list plus a specific “this is for tomorrow” signal gives your brain a place to park everything. That reduces the need for ongoing monitoring and doesn't draw you into making decisions when you’re tired.

Upcoming workshops

​Reset, Refocus, Follow Through August 6 @ Downtown Works - Mission Valley (San Diego). We'll look at the frictions that push your day off track: too much on your plate, real work that keeps getting buried by busywork, the urge to react instead of focus, plus a nighttime protocol for turning off planning mode.

​Brunch & Learn: Brain Science x Writing to Get Unstuck August 12 @ Downtown Works - Little Italy (San Diego). We'll cover what's happening in your brain during task avoidance, context-switching, and reactive loops, then run the 3–6 minute protocols that interrupt each one.

​Access the full list of upcoming public events here.

If you're outside San Diego, more virtual workshops are coming. I'll share dates as soon as they're live.

Coming soon:

• Fix Your Nights Protocol Pack​
  How to close down the day for better rest, plus short, state‑specific protocols for bedtime mental rehearsal, replaying interactions, and middle‑of‑the‑night anxiety.
• Fix Your Day Protocol Pack​
  Tools for cognitive overload, task resistance, scattered focus, and the “I’ll do it later” pattern.
• Money Patterns Protocol Pack​
  Writing protocols for surfacing the stories you’ve learned around money, how they’re driving your current decisions, and what choosing a new, more deliberate pattern could look like.

Stay tuned for announcements.

– Aine

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