I spent two years writing sleep meditations before I realized most of them were too long.

Here's the problem: when your mind is racing at 11pm, asking it to focus for 20 minutes is like asking someone mid-panic to 'just relax.' It doesn't work. The brain needs something short enough to finish before it wanders back to your inbox, your ex, or that thing you said in 2019.

So I rebuilt everything around 60-second sessions. Not because shorter is trendy — because it's the maximum length most racing minds can commit to without bailing halfway through.

A few things I learned writing 100 of these:

• Body-first, thoughts-second. Start with breath or muscle release, not 'clear your mind.' You can't will your mind clear — you have to give your body something else to do first.

• Specificity beats vagueness. 'Imagine a beach' does nothing. 'Feel the sun on your left shoulder, then your right' actually pulls attention.

• End with a task, not an instruction. 'Notice your next three exhales' works better than 'now fall asleep,' which just adds pressure.

If you're someone who lies awake replaying the day, this is exactly the problem I built One Minute to Sleep to solve — 100 of these micro-meditations, plus new ones added monthly. Happy to share a few free samples if anyone wants to try before committing.