More Sleep, Less Screens: No Alarms and No Surprises

More Sleep, Less Screens: No Alarms and No Surprises

“I would get more sleep.”

“The first thing I would do is get rid of my alarm clock.”

These are likely among the top ten most common responses to the often-pondered question: “What would I do if I retired early?”

They definitely rank high on my list of priorities. And for very good reason. Simply put, sleep is vital to all aspects of our health and well-being.

Even the way we wake up (naturally versus artificially from an alarm clock) matters too. It’s healthier to wake up naturally in the proper part of your sleep cycle. Have you ever woken up to your alarm clock feeling sluggish and tired despite getting more hours of sleep? Well, it might be because you woke up in the wrong part of the cycle.

 

Sleep? What’s Sleep?

I’ve known for a long time that sleep was important. However, I always took it for granted.

In my younger days, I would often sacrifice sleep to be more productive or have more fun. Want to get more done during the day? Just get less sleep. There’s a late night party and all your friends are going? Then go, you can always catch up on sleep tomorrow. These were thoughts my younger self would often have. Sleep was for the weak.

As I got older (and a little bit more mature), I began to value the importance of good sleep. The reality is that I was chronically sleep deprived. Being on call for thirty straight hours as a resident really took a toll. It also didn’t help that I was really good at finding cheap fun and entertainment in the city as a frugal resident.

Nowadays, I really enjoy the simple pleasure of laying down in our ultra comfortable bed to get ready for sleep. It’s truly a blissfully wonderful feeling.

 

The Importance of Sleep

In the past few years, I have really stepped up my efforts to get more sleep.

As a matter of fact, getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night was one of my new year’s resolutions back in 2018. I actually did fairly well with accomplishing these resolutions, which I detail here. At any rate, it was quite an ambitious goal knowing we were expecting a baby girl in the Spring.

As 2018 progressed, I was again reminded of the importance of sleep after reading this article by Accidental Fire. It’s a review of the book “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker. If it’s TL;DR and you’re too lazy to read the book (shame on you), you can check out a Talks at Google video that he presented here.

Below are some of the highlights:

• Lack of sleep increases your risk of cardiovascular disease. He interestingly points out that during Day Light Saving time in the Spring (when we lose an hour of sleep), there’s a 24% increase in heart attacks. All this by losing just one hour of sleep!
• Chronic sleep deprivation negatively impacts your immune system. Not only can it make you sicker and more prone to illness, sleep deprivation decreases the natural killer cells of your immune system which can increase your risk of cancer.
• Inadequate sleep severely depresses cognitive function and decision-making abilities
• Chronic sleep insufficiency increases your risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
• Sleep deprivation affects the endocrine system and hormones which increases hunger, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.
• Sleep is important for reproductive health. In the beginning of his talk at Google, he opens with “Men who sleep 5 hours a night have significantly smaller testicles than men who sleep 8 hours or more”. What a way to hit ’em where it hurts.

There’s many more salient points. You’ll just have to read the book to learn more. It can change, improve, and lengthen your life.

 

My Sleep Goal

For 2019, I deliberately did not publish my new year’s resolutions. Instead, I decided to keep them to myself.

However, I’ll reveal that one of my resolutions is to get even more sleep than last year. My goal is to get at least eight hours of good quality sleep a night. And if I happen to get less than eight hours in any particular night (due to being on call or whatever reason), then I’ll catch up on sleep the next night. Ideally this would only occur at most once a week. Overall, the goal is average at least eight hours a night.

Of course, a resolution is pointless without a concrete plan.

I have changed my approach to resolutions this year. Tackling a list of resolutions all at the same time is not only daunting, but it could lead to half-assing your commitment to accomplishing any one goal. Therefore, I’m assigning each month in 2019 a focused theme relating to a specific goal I want to accomplish or some habit I want to develop. For example, February is the month I decided I would run every single day.

In March, I decided to fully commit to establishing excellent sleeping habits. This is something that I am hoping will develop into a routine behavior for life.

Here’s what I am currently doing:

No Screens at Night

Screens are compelling and addicting. Every time I walk into a restaurant I can count numerous people on their phones instead of eating or having a real life conversation. I often see kids with their eyes glued to their iPads instead of interacting with people. I don’t care how catchy Baby Shark do do do do do is. Screens are everywhere and taking over our lives.

Having your phone handy 24/7 and engaging in social media not only contributes to anxiety, depression, and deficits in attention, it also makes it harder for people to sleep. The constantly changing lights that screens emit provide so much stimuli that it makes it hard for the brain to calm down at night. Additionally, blue light reduces melatonin production, which makes it harder to sleep.

We have a new rule at home. No screens after 8:00 PM. This includes TV, computer, phone, iPad. All screens.

It was relatively easy for us to not watch TV because we cut cable, and don’t subscribe to any streaming video services like Netflix. We basically don’t watch TV anymore.

And inspired by Paula Pant and Cal Newport, I did my own version of digital minimalism. Because of this, I rarely go on social media now. The twitch and urge to check notifications isn’t really there anymore. Thankfully!

The no screens at night rule has definitely helped me fall asleep faster and get more sleep.

Limiting Screens During the Day

One of the side benefits of digital minimalism is that I am limiting my screen time during the day too.

This indirectly contributes to me getting more sleep because limiting my overall screen time makes me much more productive in the day. By accomplishing more tasks in an efficient manner, I no longer have to sacrifice minutes (or hours) of sleep.

Another side benefit of reducing screen time is lowering my exposure to potentially harmful electromagnetic field (EMF) and radiofrequency (RF) radiation. Several studies have linked EMF and RF radiation from high cell phone usage to health problems such as brain cancer, headaches, anxiety, low sperm count, and poor sleep (surprise, surprise).

Sure, there are no conclusive studies showing a definitive causal relationship between cell phone EMF and RF radiation to these health hazards. But this is because such a study would be unethical. The truth is, nobody really knows what the long term effects of these devices really are.

At any rate, I err on the side of caution. I do this by limiting my screen time, putting my cell phone on airplane mode whenever I can, and keeping my phone far away from my body when I’m not actually using it. I basically follow these guidelines outlined by the California Department of Public Health.

I’m especially mindful of my screen time with my one year old daughter. First of all, I try to be present and give her my undivided attention whenever I’m with her. I never want her to think that she’s not as important as whatever I’m looking at on my phone. Second, I want to set a good example. I definitely don’t want her to become one of those kids who “needs” to watch videos on her iPad in order to prevent an ensuing meltdown or tantrum. That’s never a winning proposition. And finally, her skull is thin and her brain is growing. This means she’s more vulnerable to EMF or RF radiation. I definitely don’t want to negatively impact her mental health and development.

Exercise in the Afternoon

Exercising late at night makes you more alert and stimulates the body mentally and physically. It makes it harder to go to sleep at night.

Instead, I generally exercise in the mid-afternoon around 3:00 PM. This time is a sweet spot which falls right after work and just before our early dinner.

When night falls, I’m exhausted which makes it so easy to fall asleep.

I would consider exercising in the morning, but my work starts so darn early.

Meditation

I try to meditate for a few minutes before getting ready for bed. It helps calm and clear my mind, preparing my body for a good night’s sleep. I’m trying to make this a nightly ritual.

Additionally, I meditate for a minute or two immediately after waking up. Doing this helps improve my focus for the day.

Temperature

It’s important that the bedroom temperature is set optimally for sleep. If it’s too hot or too cold, it can be very difficult to fall asleep.

The optimal temperature can be different for each person. For me, it’s about mid to high 60s Fahrenheit. Luckily, my wife is around the same range. My baby daughter on the other hand always seems to kick off all the blankets!

Avoid Caffeine and Alcohol Before Bed

Avoiding caffeine is a no-brainer. It’s a stimulant designed to artificially make you feel more alert and awake.

While alcohol is a depressant, it messes up with your sleep cycle and ability to get good quality REM sleep.

Doing this is easy for me because I rarely drink coffee, tea, or anything with caffeine in it. Also, I have deliberately decreased my intake of alcohol this year. I can’t recall the last time I had a drink.

Turn Your Lights Down Low

Set the mood.

Put on some relaxing Bob Marley and turn your lights down low because bed is where the magic happens.

Obviously, the magic of sleep! It’s the magical pill that helps you live a happier, longer, and healthier life.

Dimming the lights helps produce melatonin, which facilitates falling asleep.

Establish an Early Bedtime Routine

With a few exceptions, having a baby pretty much makes everything harder. Establishing a regular night time routine is one of those exceptions.

Like clockwork, our baby girl goes to sleep consistently around 7:30 PM. Therefore, my wife and I ALWAYS have to start eating dinner around 5:30 PM and subsequently get our daughter ready for bed by 7:00 PM.

There is no variability or flexibility with our schedule. It’s dictated by our daughter’s bed time routine

She’s a very active baby who often fights sleep and wants to play even though she is sleepy. The act of getting her to sleep can be very exhausting. Admittedly, it often puts me to sleep! Because of this, I often go to sleep shortly after she does, around 8:00 PM. Sometimes it’s 9:00 PM.

Not surprisingly, going to sleep so early helps me get more sleep. It also allows me to wake up early naturally with out the assistance of an alarm. (I still set an alarm just in case, though.)

 

Final Thoughts

While it’s always been easy for me to get regular exercise and maintain healthy diet, getting enough sleep sometimes gets relegated to the back burner. Because sleep is so vital to our health and well-being, this can be dangerous.

Early this month, I made it a priority to get more sleep. I am sticking to my action plan and I’m fully committed to developing better sleep habits for life.

So far, I feel great. I’m probably a little happier in the mornings now. I definitely have more energy. Instead of dragging my feet in the morning, there’s an extra bounce to my step. My mind feels clear and focused instead of foggy and distracted. I no longer curse at the alarm clock under my breath while hitting the snooze button. In fact, I don’t even need an alarm clock now because I wake up early naturally.

I start the day waking up refreshed, energized, and ready to take on the world.

 

Featured image is my family’s dog when we first brought her home as a puppy.

 

Do you prioritize sleep? What are some good sleeping habits that you have tried to incorporate into your routine?