Keeping Ourselves from a Good Night’s Sleep

Put. the phone. down– your sleep schedule doesn’t need you, but you need it. Read this when the sun comes up.

This is the first step in getting back a regular night’s sleep. In case you refuse to heed this piece of advice, here’s the overview:

• Nighttime device usage delays the sleep cycle/circadian rhythm.

• We allocate seemingly unimportant minutes towards screen usage rather than sleep usage.

• Stop convincing yourself of the harmlessness of one more episode, one more video, one more text. It ends up being longer than that.

I suggest putting the phone down now…

But for those of you who refuse, here’s why you should.

Our circadian rhythms (CR) are rather delicate cycles that respond to disruptive stimuli – jet lag and open curtains are two familiar examples. Changes in our CR may have an effect on bodily processes like hormones, but we mostly feel the effect when it comes to sleep quality. As we stare at the screen in the p.m., we remain alert and awake. We want to sleep, yet the alluring light from our screens keeps us coming back to it, like bugs buzzing ‘round the porch light. By going towards the light of our phones, we lose valuable daylight function. Cue the dark circles, caffeine dependence, and moody Mondays. Increasing exposure to devices decreases melatonin production; the result is poor sleep, maybe even no sleep for some of us.

Just 5 more minutes.

Bad sleep is partly (largely for night owls, including me, yes, I’m guilty) due to our desire to watch that last episode and check that last email, and the last message, and the last… Do you see what I’m doing here? We are too attracted to our online activities, losing valuable Zzz hours in the process. This device addiction is also due to little processes in our brains. Online activities provide instant gratification; we fly through a jumble of visual data in a matter of seconds. Those seconds though, turn into minutes. Eventually, those minutes become hours. And then it’s 3 AM. And you wonder why this keeps happening. And you get up at 8:45 on a Saturday thinking it’s Wednesday morning. If anyone’s gotten to this point, it’s recommended to start shutting down nearby electronics.

Allocation, Allocation, Allocation

Think about where you put your wake and sleep hours to use– or no use for that matter. You need good sleep, but aren’t always willing to put the work into managing such a goal. In that case, it’s time to stop wasting time and start making it; make a routine and test it out. Over a few weeks, you may have to tweak it to find something that works. At the end of the day though, what matters is that you see a gradual difference in the amount of hours slept and/or how fresh you feel in the morning. It takes time, yes, but the results– no matter how big or small, or how quickly or slowly you get them– are worth the time and trials you put in.

My Sleep Experience

Everyone has their own tips and tricks that either work or don’t work for them. Some individuals meditate. Others read a book or stare at the ceiling until the sweet bliss of unconsciousness floods in. I like to annoy myself. Actually, I don’t, but it’s a whole lot easier than being annoyed by someone else. I annoy myself in order to sleep. Thanks to a few settings on my phone and more than a few blaring alarms, my sleep schedule is gradually adjusting. My main tactic so far is setting and keeping the same alarm for weekdays and weekends. If I decide to scroll down the rabbit hole one too many times, my future self ends up paying for it in the morning. After a good while, I learn my lesson and finally let go of the light that is my device. I hope you do too.

In the end, what we all need to do eventually is Put The Phone Down.