WHEN THE WORLD SLEEPS, THE MIND SPEAKS!

There's this weird thing the brain does at night.

Have you ever noticed that when you lie down to sleep, your brain suddenly becomes a DJ and starts playing a “what-ifs” remix? All day you are fine: laughing with friends, rushing between lectures, pretending to understand what the seminar tutor is saying, and you spend an entire day around people. But the moment the world finally calms down, and you finally get into bed: lights off, room quiet, phone on the other side of the mattress because you promised yourself you wouldn't scroll again, then boom! Your mind decides it's the perfect time to get loud, too loud.

This is why this happens:

Your mind has two modes

1. Survival mode (Day time brain) - Busy, distracted, and external  

2. Reflection mode (Night time brain) - Calm, silent, internal. 

   
   

Your survival mode keeps things suppressed, while it is busy keeping you functioning during the day in trying to meet up with classes, notes, emails, walking fast, listening, and responding to friends. Your mind does not really have a chance to process anything fully.

So when the noise finally stops, your brain goes: “Okay, we have space now. Here are the thoughts I queued earlier”. It's like the brain has been saving open tabs all day and only loads them once the WiFi is free.

Your reflection mode brings things to the surface. It is your brain finally having the space to think because the brain loves thinking; it treats it like a hobby. “Some people play badminton, your brain plays overthinking championship.”

Also, the night-time makes the emotional side wide awake because the logical side has become tired. Think of your brain like your phone; when it is low on battery, everything glitches a little. At night, your brain is tired, and a tired brain tends to be more emotional. Things that felt like they didn't matter at 2 pm, suddenly feel huge at 11:30 pm, such as;

• A weird look someone gave you.

• That one awkward thing you said weeks ago.

• Your entire future career.

Night-time could really make little things feel dramatic because of your emotional side, which is fully awake at that time.

You think you are overthinking because you have problems, but the truth is, you are overthinking because night is the only time your brain gets the opportunity; it's not the problem, it's the timing. Think of it like WhatsApp messages, whole day you ignore a class group chat, at night suddenly, 500 messages load at once, your brain is exactly like that.

NOW, LET'S BRING IT ALL TOGETHER THROUGH ONE SIMPLE STORY!

You are lying in bed.

Tomorrow you have a lecture at 9 a.m.

You need sleep.

You close your eyes…

And suddenly, your brain is like:

• “Did you reply to all your emails?”

• “What if your group project partner thinks you are not doing enough?”

• Are you even studying the right course?”

• “Should you have said ‘no worries’ or ‘that’s fine’ earlier? You probably sounded weird.”

Then, BAM! You open your eyes.

It's been 2 minutes 

Your mind is now fully awake 

Your body is not amused.

This happens to almost everyone, especially students who carry the pressure of expectations, deadlines, and figuring out their career while still basically being new to it.

How do you calm the loudness?

“The Brain Parking Lot”

Think of this as giving your mind a safe place to leave its thoughts so it doesn't try to deliver them while you are trying to sleep.

How to use it:

1. Grab a notebook or the notes app on your phone.

2. Spend 1-2 minutes writing down whatever is on your mind: tasks, worries, random thoughts, tomorrow's reminders.

3. Close it. Literally or digitally.

4. Tell yourself: “These thoughts are parked. I can come back to them in the afternoon during break.

   
   

It signals to your brain:

“You don't need to keep repeating this. It's saved.”

You will be amazed at how quickly this quiets the mental noise.

You don’t need silence, you need a place to park your thoughts.

-Team Souloxy