Penny Lancaster: What thought won't let you sleep?

The question

What thought won't let you sleep?

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.

Penny Lancaster

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

The children. As a mother you are constantly worrying whether you’ve done the right thing.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 September 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 196 →

Steffi Graf German tennis player

Andre, the kids, my foundation and sometimes the dogs.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 June 2013 source ↗

Adjoa Andoh English actress

Everything: I worry about whether the window frames need replacing, did I answer that email, how long my face is going to hold up, world peace, poverty…

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 September 2021 source ↗

Paapa Essiedu British actor

A really bad habit of eating sweets before I go to sleep.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 November 2023 source ↗

Gloria Estefan Cuban-American singer and songwriter

When I feel that I am unprepared. Before a show I always have nightmares that I go out on stage naked.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 June 2019 source ↗

More from Penny Lancaster

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Question How close have you come to dying? Death & what remains

In a different sense, I’ve helped to try to resuscitate a dead man.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 September 2025 source ↗

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

It was reading out loud, but no longer. (I am dyslexic.) I was encouraged by my husband to do a speech for the Royal National Institute of Blind People, which helped me gain my confidence, and the fear disappeared.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 September 2025 source ↗