Your Phone + Facebook Deep Dives + Netflix Binges = Sleep Trouble
By Ginger Houghton, LMSW, CAADC
For many of us, we love the noise and gentle numbness that our phones provide after a hectic day. We get it. Phones have become a huge part of our daily lives.
It’s hard to disconnect and sit in the quiet. It’s especially hard if your brain starts to panic and think of how hard it will be to get to sleep if you’re experiencing insomnia.
While you don’t need us to tell you how awful the screen time is for your sleep, we can suggest a few strategies to help reduce the pull of your phone at night.
- Set a little goal for yourself. Do you want to stop electronics earlier in the evening? Do you want to resist the urge to play Candy Crush when you wake up at 2:00 am? Choose something that feels the most important to you. Know that you don’t need to tackle everything at once.
- Now that you have your goal, take a minute to think about why you’ve been doing the behavior. For example, if you’re looking to stop the middle of the night Netflix binge, take a minute to think about why you’re doing it. What need is it meeting? Is it helping with anxiety, droning out your partner’s snoring, or helping distract from loneliness?
- Next, pick a strategy, skill, or tool to help meet the need. If you’re using Netflix to drone out your partner’s snoring, explore earplugs or noise-canceling headphones. If you’re trying to keep worry at bay, consider writing a list of your worries on your bedside table to let your brain know you’ll address what you need to in the morning. If you’re lonely and like the noise while you’re falling asleep, try switching to a white noise machine or sleep meditation. YouTube, Insight Timer, CALM, and Headspace all offer great sleep meditations to give you something to focus on while you’re headed off to dreamland.
- Next, practice, practice and practice some more. Use the strategy and try to troubleshoot. It’ll be really easy for the first few weeks to go back to the late-night phone sessions, but remember it’ll continue to add to your insomnia woes.
Not ready to give up your phone yet? We get it. It takes time and practice to figure out what might work best for you. If all else fails, put a sleep timer on your phone so that once you fall asleep, you don’t wake up from the light and noise.
If you’re struggling, connect with a sleep therapist who is certified in CBT-I to help you troubleshoot and find success in getting the sleep you deserve.
