[themodelplumber]

This helped me, too, when I was suffering from insomnia. 700 to 1,000 words was the "sleep like a baby" target range for me. Also, the sooner I could bring myself to write about the really difficult topics, the better.

[Veen]

I too find writing a helpful way to stop thoughts tumbling round in my head so I can sleep. I think it has something to do with silencing the rehearsal loop.

http://www.cognitiveatlas.org/concept/rehearsal_loop

Focusing on a quiet podcast has a similar effect.