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A common suggestion, also in this thread, for increased sleep quality is limiting screen time or any stimulating activity before bed time. But what to do then?

• Breza 6y ago
  I used to work overnight and trained myself to get better at sleep. It's more than just limiting screen time. I started sleeping better when I created an entire process that signaled to my body that it was time to sleep.
• cvolzer3 6y ago
  My take is that it's about the "stimulating activity" rather than the actual screen time. When broken down it's intuitive, but the "reduce screen time" adage often gets repeated without that distinction. Specifically about your problem: for me, I move from a state of "active engagement" to "passive consumption". 1 to 2 hours before bed, I stop doing anything engaging that requires my active participation - work, video games, learning. I shift to lounging on the couch and reading fiction or watching a movie/show. The key is in my intentions behind each: in the evening, my goal is to relax. I dont turn on a movie with the intention to learn or to be entertained; I'm just there to experience it. Sorry if that's too abstract; the feeling is hard to communicate. Hopefully it's a useful starting point for further thinking.
  • FrojoS 6y ago
    It's actually very helpful advice. Thank you. A few things that come to my mind now: 1) I did notice though that some form of learning, e.g. vocabulary, can help me fall asleep. I guess it requires focus - which makes me feel tired - but is also dull. 2) Reading in low light conditions makes my eyes tired. It feels harder to keep them open which can work as a trigger for sleeping. It's not bad for eye health by the way [1]. 3) The biggest hurdle often seems discipline. It's just too tempting to continue a fun and engaging activity, like playing video games, way past bedtime. The easiest solution would be to not engage in them at all in the evening, but then you might never find time for it. [1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/safeguarding-your-sight#:~:text=Myth%3A%20Reading%20in%20dim%20light,page%2C%20not%20over%20your%20shoulder https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/safeguarding-your-....
    • benibela 6y ago
      > It's not bad for eye health by the way [1] Do not be so sure about this. http://www.myopia-manual.de/ http://www.myopia-manual.de/ has a lot of information. Page. 131ff: >The development of chicks towards emmetropization was observed at various levels of illumination [544]: (10.000 Lux, 500 Lux and 50 Lux). Result: After 90 days 50 Lux resulted in a mean myopia of –2.41 D, 500 Lux resulted in +0.03 D, and 10.000 Lux resulted in hyperopia of +1.1 D. >Categorized according to their objectively measured average daily light exposure and adjusting for potential confounders (age, sex, baseline axial length, parental myopia, nearwork, and physical activity), children experiencing low average daily light exposure (mean daily light exposure: 459 ± 117 lux, annual eye growth: 0.13 mm/y) exhibited significantly greater eye growth than children experiencing moderate (842 ± 109 lux, 0.060 mm/y), and high (1455 ± 317 lux, 0.065 mm/y) average daily light exposure levels
• everythingswan 6y ago
  I had to learn to love those boring things for the positive outcomes I got from them. It's nowhere near perfect, but I know if I do all the right things during the day, I will get a decent sleep. There are some things that help more than others. There are also things that I can't always commit to since I have a lot on my plate (I'm still balancing whether I need all these things). For me, these boring things are: * Making and drinking herbal tea (just don't get _obsessed_ with tea) * Doing dishes * Organizing my physical space (mail, books, backpack, papers, clothes, shoes, et al get moved during day) * Talking with partner * Catching up on texts before 930 * Reading fiction (or non-work non-fiction) * Listening to music (sometimes I listen to audiobook/podcast at night but rarely) * Sometimes making food for next few days or making grocery list We had to talk about not having stimulating conversations before bed and are working on that. It's a real challenge, especially if you end up not seeing each other all day. You have to talk about it with your roommate or partner and talk about the problem you're trying to solve, offering that as a solution. My day is designed to get me to bed having checked off my list of important things and feel tired for bed. It's essentially designed to add in good habits and take away bad habits so that I sleep better. I've worked on it for a few years and it has paid off.