Do This Instead of Keeping Your Phone Out of the Bedroom at Night

Keep your phone out of the bedroom: This is standard advice for good sleep hygiene , and one I’ve never been able to do. First, it seems silly to buy a standalone alarm clock when I have a great alarm clock on my phone and it’s more customizable anyway. Secondly, where the hell else am I going to put it?

Yes, I know. There are smart, sleep-conscious people who set up a small charging station in their living room. Alarm clocks are cheap; you can literally get it for two dollars at IKEA. And you’re probably fooling yourself if you think that scrolling through your phone all evening “helps you relax” or that scrolling through your morning “helps you wake up.” I know all this. But I still can’t connect it elsewhere.

Luckily, there is a solution, and it’s so simple that I’m ashamed of all the sleep hacking gurus who never figured it out. You just put your phone away from the bed.

Why you should charge your phone out of reach

There are two things you accomplish by keeping your phone away from the bed, and both can be dealt with without actually taking it out of the room. (Not to mention some of us don’t have an extra room. What if you live in a studio apartment? What if you’re staying at a hotel?)

First, get rid of the temptation to spend time on the phone before bed. The light from the screen sends signals to the brain that it’s not time for bed yet (yes, even if you’re on night mode ), and the distraction of online fights or whatever you’re doing keeps your brain active. when you should be thinking sleepy thoughts.

The point is, if you’re determined to spin the doom, you can do it just as well on the couch as in your bed. So if you want to make sure your phone isn’t literally in your bed, all you have to do is leave your phone charger out of reach – say, on a dresser across your bedroom.

Another reason has to do with what happens in the morning. In fact , I have a separate alarm clock, one of those sunrise numbers that brightens the light for half an hour or so before finally playing a quiet melody overlaid with the calls of birds.

But this is just a warm-up. I hit the snooze button and a few minutes later my real alarm goes off. If your phone is on a dresser across the room, you still have to get up and stand to turn it off.

We recently rearranged some things in our house, and the only good place where I can charge my phone is now my nightstand. I had trouble waking up on time, but one day it dawned on me: I could plug in my phone and then put it on the floor on the other side of the nightstand . My hand can’t reach through the furniture so I have to get up to turn it off. And what do you know, I’m waking up on time again.

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