New Year, New Sleep Habit

Now, are you laying awake at night trying and pleading to the sleep lords to let you drift off peacefully? 

We’ve all been there. I may sound like I’m on The Apprentice, undertaking the dreaded teleshopping task, but this habit is free and genuinely tested. 

It’s worse when the alarm is set, laid there clocking down the hours, whittling over no sleep, again. Especially having ADHD, sleep is a must! I cannot be part of the functioning world without it; I’m exactly like an extra from the film 28 Days Later. 

Firstly, I’m not a health care professional by any means, but I know first hand their initial line of advice when struggling to sleep is – no phone in your bedroom. I've always nodded, smiled and thought ‘yeah okay whatever’. You may even be eye rolling whilst reading this too, I can feel it. 

However, Spring last year I was at my wits end with my lack of sleep. I take supplements, get out for walks, own a red sleep light, no caffeine in my diet and time my meals appropriately, all to help aid a deep slumber. 

Always tired and ready for bed at any time of the day, but it was a vicious cycle of counting the sheep until I had stadiums full. 

Unfortunately, we all depend on our phones like it’s a life machine. Scared it will get lonely if it's left more than two centimetres away from our fingertips, too out of reach for me to text or Google life’s major questions such as ‘is the Bermuda triangle a real thing?’, from my bed in Sheffield. 

Then I decided one evening to leave my phone downstairs, adamant it would do nothing. I was, rarely, proven wrong.

I tend to spend the evenings, when at home, catching up with Phil Mitchell on Eastenders for half an hour then onto a series (Real Housewives franchise). My ten step skincare routine, in hopes of a natural full face lift/change. I head upstairs around 10pm, I put my red sleep light on, which apparently doesn’t suppress melatonin reduction like normal lights and intend to read until my eyes no longer see the words. 

Realistically, before this habit, reading was replaced by doom scrolling, which went on for hours. I’d try to turn the light off, put the phone down and sleep but after so long of no success I’d reach back over for my phone and let the cycle continue. 

Instantly, the first night of leaving my phone downstairs felt alien. Sat in bed staring at my shelves full of books thinking ‘well what do I do now?’. Thankfully, as an English Literature student, reading is another hobby of mine, so it was easy for me to slip into a fictional world. 

Alas, after about an hour, I turned my light off and went into a deep restful sleep. I awoke, amazed, no longer monstrous and speechless almost. 

Going to bed having distance from not just the screen, but the outside world and the multiple avenues it can take our brains down, keeping us from relaxing, is genuinely a game changer. I’ve also seen a big benefit of waking up and not immediately checking my phone, allowing my brain and eyes time to adjust. 

For anyone worried about not having your phone to keep you awake when your alarm goes off, I also highly recommend a sunrise alarm clock or timer on a light that switches on at the same time as your alarm.

Ever since, nearly a year on, it still works.

Of course, life changes, stress, physical health as well as medications can also be a factor within struggling to sleep but as a regular sleep habit, I really think everyone would benefit from this. In the past few months, I’ve been trialling different doses of Elvanse for my ADHD, and this habit has remained a great one, still. 

I really do hate to sound like your mother, but please try leaving your phone out of your bedroom, charging elsewhere in the house. 

You could also make it a little bed, give it a teddy and play some lullabies, if your really worried about your phone getting lonely or missing you. 

Written by, Jessie Bellamy