Sleep can impact many aspects of mental health (1).  You are not alone in struggling to fall asleep because your mind won’t stop racing. About 75% of college students report getting less than 8 hours of sleep on average on weeknights over the last 2 weeks according to the Fall 2024 ACHA-NCHA IIIb Reference Group survey of 33,763 college students across 48 institutions (2).

A fascinating study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology looked at the impact of writing a to do list on sleep (3).

What was the study? (3)

A randomized controlled trial with 57 healthy young adults aged 18–30. (3).

Participants were assigned to one of two groups: one wrote a to-do list of tasks they needed to complete in the next few days, while the other wrote a completed activity list of tasks they had already finished (3).

Each person wrote for five minutes before going to bed in a sleep lab, where their sleep was monitored using polysomnography (a fancy term for detailed sleep tracking) (3).

What were the results? (3)

• The group that wrote to-do lists fell asleep significantly faster than those who wrote about completed tasks.
• Interestingly, the more detailed the to-do list, the faster participants fell asleep.
• In contrast, writing about completed activities didn’t offer the same benefit—and in some cases, it was linked to longer time to fall asleep.

What are some caveats?

• This study was small and focused on healthy young adults, so we can’t say for sure that the same results would apply to everyone.
• While the findings are promising, they don’t mean that writing a to-do list is a cure for chronic insomnia.
• For people who struggle with bedtime worry, it might be a helpful tool to try.

What does this mean for you?

• If unfinished tasks keep you from falling asleep at night, writing a quick to-do list before bed might be beneficial.
• It might help you offload those thoughts and ease into sleep more quickly.
• Just a few minutes of jotting down tomorrow’s tasks could make a noticeable difference.

Want more strategies to support your mental health?
Check out these tips for managing stress or ways to improve sleep.

By Ryan S Patel DO, FAPA
OSU-CCS Psychiatrist
Contact: patel.2350@osu.edu

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes.  With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.

References:

1. Patel R. Mental Health For College Students Chapter 7. Sleep strategies to improve mental health.
2. American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment III: Reference Group Executive Summary Fall 2024. Silver Spring, MD: American College Health Association; 2025.
3. Scullin MK, Krueger ML, Ballard HK, Pruett N, Bliwise DL. The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2018 Jan;147(1):139-146. doi: 10.1037/xge0000374. Epub 2017 Oct 23. PMID: 29058942; PMCID: PMC5758411.