How do you fully overcome long-term insomnia when your mind never seems to switch off?

If you are more of a thinker type person, your sleep struggles may look different. You might analyse, plan, reflect, problem solve or mentally prepare for the future throughout the day. Over time, your mind becomes very strong at thinking.

The difficulty is that nighttime requires the opposite. Sleep requires reduced mental activity, emotional calmness and physical relaxation. If your mind does not clearly understand the difference between daytime thinking and nighttime rest, it may stay active when you want it to settle.

In this video series, we break insomnia down into three main patterns:

- Sleep onset insomnia, where you struggle to fall asleep easily.

- Sleep maintenance insomnia, where you wake in the middle of the night and cannot return to sleep.

- Terminal insomnia, where your night ends too early and you cannot extend your sleep.

In this first video, I introduce a simple exercise you can begin using to help your mind shift into a calmer state. It is practical and realistic. But before we focus on what helps, we need to be clear about what usually does not help.

Distraction techniques are one of the biggest traps. Listening to something, reading, scrolling or keeping your mind busy may calm you temporarily. But when the activity stops, the thinking often returns immediately. Distraction does not build true mental relaxation. It only postpones the problem.

Exhaustion is another common pattern. Many people with long-term insomnia finally sleep after several very bad nights simply because they are depleted. But relying on sleep deprivation is not a solution. You do not need to be completely exhausted in order to experience high quality sleep. In fact, sustainable sleep should not depend on it extreme tiredness.

In the next video, we will go deeper into falling asleep more easily as a thinker type and how to transition from mental activity into sleep naturally.

Of course, if you have any questions about today’s topic, feel free to reach out.

Beatrix

It's always best to watch the entire video, but here are some chapters for you:

00:00 Introduction to this video series about overcoming insomnia for thinker types people

00:56 Sleep onset insomnia for thinker types

01:27 Sleep maintenance insomnia for thinker types

02:18 Terminal insomnia for thinker types

04:24 What does it mean to be more of a thinker type person

08:43 When it's best to seek an assessment for your long-term sleep problems

09:14 Live Sleep Coaching Masterclass on 10th March 2026, especially for thinker types

10:27 The first exercise to start supporting yourself to work with your mind better

14:24 What to avoid when you're working on overcoming your insomnia and sleep problems at a thinker type person

16:49 How to improve more mental relaxation ahead of the night