How do you shut off the thinking at the end of the day?

I for my part am listening to an audio tape of positive thinking, and it gets me to just listen and relax. You could pick up a book that has nothing to do with your work, read a little and relax.

I have the same problem. Unfortunately I am a women and most women cant really shut off the thinking anyway, but I have found a small trick that works. I sing a song in my head. It sounds silly but when you are singing a song it is hard to think about the day. It takes some practice and you dont really want to sing a fast song. I sing church songs. My favorite is Amazing Grace. Also a hot drink like tea or a large glas of milk is good too. It stimulates the reaction of being full. Hopefully this helps a little. Happy resting.

While getting to some cafe, An American asked a Cebuano lady what can he do to get some sleep. The Cebuano Lady told her to drink a glass of milk and later on you will fall asleep. The following day, the American told the Cebuano Lady that her suggestions are really damn effective. I heard this story while I was eating in the same Cafe that American was talking in the other day with that Cebuano Lady. While this might sound very absurd considering that milk does not have anything to do with barbiturates, nevertheless, i have learned something which is really of great importance. Drinking milk is like mimicking a baby. In order for us to go through the night, we must be like a baby, which means, we must die and reborn again. In other words, leave everything that has happened today and have a good night sleep. By tomorrow, we will wake up and realize that those things happened yesterday does not mater anymore. Anyway, have some time and take that good night sleep.

Yep, this happens to me often! I am fond of routine. I have read many times that having a bedtime routine takes your focus of life's stress. I have a journal where I write down day to day stresses. I have found that getting it out of my head and on paper is useful and therapeutic. After that I do like alot of other people. I take a hot shower. I close my eyes and let the hot water beat my brain for a few minutes. Then it's off to bed with a book that is completely unrelated to anything going on in my life. Just the fact of having a set routine at night triggers my body to relax and my brain to stop thinking so much. Most times I never get more than about 10 minutes of reading in before drifting off to sleep.