What keeps you awake at night?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A long-running fixed question in The Guardian's weekly Q&A questionnaire.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Simone Biles said elsewhere, not written here
Overthinking about the future.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 February 2017 source ↗

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All of the anxious thoughts that you are able to escape during the day that somehow know when you are lying down to relax.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 April 2026 source ↗

More from Simone Biles

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Question When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do? Daily life
Yes. Today has been really stressful. We had a workout this morning. It went okay. And then just that five and a half hour wait or something. I was just shaking, could barely nap. I've just never felt like this going into a competition before. And I tried to go out here and have fun. And warm up in the back went a little bit better. But then once I came out here, I was like, "No, mental is not there. So I just need to let the girls do it and focus on myself."
Recorded Post-competition press conference, Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo Olympics, Rev, 27 July 2021 source ↗
Question In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to? Daily life
I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a back seat, work on my mindfulness. And I knew that the girls would do an absolutely great job and I didn't want to risk the team a medal for kind of my screw ups because they've worked way too hard for that. So I just decided that those girls need to go in and do the rest of the competition.
Recorded Post-competition press conference, Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo Olympics, Rev, 27 July 2021 source ↗

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