Fml the sun’s about to come up and I still can’t fall asleep. Dear Brain, please shut up.
(side thought: was that basically my brain telling itself to shut up? Useless things like this keep me up at night lol…)
Edit: well hello Mr. Sun. Seems like a lot of people leave their phones outside but I feel like it’d add to my insomnia, having me wonder if family might try to contact me with an emergency. Saw some good suggestions so I will definitely give those a try, thank you!
Simple, I don’t go to bed until I’m actually tired; if you wanna sit around on your phone all night that’s fine, just don’t do it in bed.
This really helps on levels you don’t even realize.
Thread like these remind me how weird I am. I get up and go to bed basically the same time every day so that I’m not fighting (effectively) jet lag between weekdays and weekends. At the end of the day I get into bed, turn out the lights room, and do about 20-40 minutes of scrolling (no blue light filter). Then I set my phone (which is on DnD automatically) on the charger, feeling like I’ve caught up with the world and go to sleep.
I started the “same time every day” schedule in my mid-20s when I was having problems getting up for a job that was earlier than I was used to. I read about jet lag effects and Seasonal Affective Disorder (variable diurnal cycles/short winter days) and got a sunrise simulator to even out my day - or at least my mornings. It seems boring, but in a lot of ways it’s freeing not to worry about being too tired or not being able to get to sleep. [admission: I have a mentally tiring job, so my brain is ready to switch off at the end of the day, which helps]
Yes, the no phone in bed rule is a good one. I also try not to look at my phone first thing in the morning aside from turning off my alarm. Then I get up and start my day before checking the phone. Don’t let your phone dictate your day, start it yourself with intention first.
One way to help your brain know it’s time for sleep is to make “awake time” and “sleep time” VERY different from each other.
If you are laying in your bed with the lights out from 5-11, and then at 11:00 you decide you want to go to sleep, you’re still just laying in bed with the lights out.
If you don’t have other spaces to be awake in, at least make sure your “awake space” is different from your “sleep space”. When you want to be awake, keep the lights on, and maybe have a little background music. I’d recommend staying out of your bed entirely until it’s time to sleep, but if you must, try to lay differently. Lay across side ways, or keep your head at the foot of the bed.
When it’s time to sleep, those stimuli change/disappear and your brain thinks “Things have changed, it’s time to adapt to this new scenario”
And after a while, it will know: Lights out, head on pillow = sleep.
I used to have a lot of trouble falling asleep, AND staying awake, but creating very different scenarios for each had helped a LOT!
Good luck to you!
I leave mine outside the room, but dunno if that’s gonna be that easy for you. I ~never have slept with my phone in the same room. (Though reaching for the phone may be the result, not the cause for not sleeping.)
I give my brain alternative stimulus that doesn’t require a phone or eye movement. Also known as: daydreaming. I think about what I want my future garden to look like, how I’m going to work through my next building project, or anything that I can neutrally think about until my body can relax enough to pass out. It can’t be anything that elicits strong emotions or I’ll get all riled up and toss and turn forever.
