4 ms·
I’m a former night owl who has finally become a morning person. I like flux, and night shift. But, the biggest change came from adopting a fixed winddown routin
by graeme 5y ago
I’m a former night owl who has finally become a morning person. I like flux, and night shift. But, the biggest change came from adopting a fixed winddown routine. Night shift on its own did almost nothing for me. Here’s what I do now:
* I have cold turkey on my mac. It blocks distracting sites till 6 pm. Then it unblocks them till 8:30. At that point I have to stop
* I use Beeminder, and one of my goals is “less than 3 hours screen time on my phone”. I don’t have phone restrictions on, too finicky and also too easy to circumvent. But having to honestly answer the question at the end of the day and pay money if I fail seems to work
* So from 8:30-9 I kinda putter around and finish and device tasks I need to
* Between 9 and 10 I’ll write in a journal, do some stretches, brush teeth/wash face etc, and go for a walk if I haven’t walked enough. The only part on a device is the journal. I do appreciate dark mode and night shift for that. I have only lamps on in the house in this phase. If I have extra time I’ll read a book or ereader.
* I listen to a podcast while falling asleep with a smart speaker. If I was living with someone I’d use headphones. Either way, no phone in bedroom
* In the morning I get the news from the speaker, log my weight using my watch, and don’t use the phone till later. As much as possible I use my Apple Watch for quickly checking like weather, messages
Writing this out in hopes it may help someone who wants to make a similar shift. I spent the entirety of my life unable to keep a normal sleep schedule or wake up early.
But this has worked, and I am getting enough sleep, no alarm. Moreover it’s fairly modifiable to your life circumstances. The main one that involves others’ is house lighting.
The key elements for me were setting times when I don’t start on the phone and when I am done with the phone and computer, and dimming light and doing a routine at bed.