How can I put down my phone and go to sleep?

That's something many people find tough! It's difficult having so much at your fingertips at any time, as there are so many reasons you can give yourself to pick it up! 'I just need to answer this person', 'I can't sleep anyway so I will just watch one youtube video' etc! Before you know it, you've already picked up the phone and started, so you think 'I might as well finish!'. They say smartphones are addictive, so perhaps we can look at another addictive behaviour for an answer? Did you know that slot machines are designed to have the minimum amount of time between plays? The less time you have to think, the more likely you are to make an impulsive decision to gamble a bit more money! So try putting as much distance between your phone as you safely can - Perhaps even keep it on the other side of the room, or if you need it by your bedside, perhaps keep it in a drawer rather than on the bedside table. Whatever it takes to give you a moments hesitation in which you can remember 'My wellbeing comes first, and this Tweet can wait till tomorrow'. This is what worked for me, and I hope it's some help to you too!

maybe instead of thinking "ah, if I put down my phone that means I HAVE to go to sleep" instead transition into something like reading or listening to music - then you're not forcing yourself to go to sleep or stop doing something enjoyable - you're just eliminating the negative impact that social media and blue light from your phone have on your ability to sleep.

You have to find what exactly on your phone is preventing you from putting it down, whether it's Instagram or YouTube. Now, you don't exactly have to delete those apps, but if you believe that they're useless, you may want to. Secondly, you should consider stopping anything you're doing on your phone at least an hour before bedtime so that you won't have a "one last check" turn into an all nighter. In fact, doing so may also improve your sleep because you are not being exposed to the blue light of your phone.

I have the same problems almost every night, I understand how hard it is to put down your phone before bed which makes you not be able to sleep until late. One way to be able to put down your phone before bed is to stop using your phone an hour before you want to go to sleep, the reason why you can't sleep after you use your phone is because the phone produces blue light which makes you not feel as tired and it makes you feel like it's day time. Another thing you can do is read instead of going on your phone before bed that way you can have some entertainment reading as you would on your phone and reading relaxes you.

I listen to a good podcast on YouTube called 'I Hate It Here' by Richard Lewis, he along with his equally funny producer, puts a funny spin on some weird and upsetting news articles. Worth taking a look! Another thing I enjoy doing is dancing to music before I lie down, I do this in the hopes that I will be tired by the end of it. There is also writing poems, creative writing can be boring, but if you write whats on your mind and they are only for your eyes you get some interesting pieces. Give these a shot!

Set your phone down, close your eyes and daydream of positive situations. Remove thoughts of cellphones/social media from your thoughts. Allow yourself to daydream positively. Focus on things that bring you the most joy in life. To remove the urge from using your phone, stray from the idea that social media and what’s on your cellphone can provide you the most happiness. Focus on the happiness situations that can be produces by you, yourself. Continue to understand that you are your own person, and have control over your thoughts and actions. This thought is that you do not need your phone, and this action is that you should not pick up your phone.

Turn your phone off and before you go to sleep like an hour before read a book, draw or do anything that is mindful to make your brain settle. If you still find it hard distract yourself and put your phone on airplane mode. It can be hard to put your phone down but remember that if you do stay up late you will regret it. People normally should have around 8-10 hours of sleep and not having enough sleep can cause a lot of stress at work, school or home itself. So get your sleep. Also when you sleep your brain fights those bugs in your body to ensure you are healthy and when you don't sleep it increases you of getting sick. :)

I would recommend that you create a schedule for yourself. Maybe you should download an app that shuts your phone down at a certain time and turns it back on only in the morning. If you don't wanna do that, you should put your phone somewhere else when you go to bed. Like leave it in the kitchen or in the living room and go to bed. If you need it for the alarm clock in the morning, maybe turn the wi-fi off and the airplane mode on. What I think is really important though is giving yourself a schedule. It will make it easier.

Try putting your phone charger in a different room than where you sleep. Get an alarm clock so you do not need your phone to wake you up in the morning. Keep some books by your bedside so that if you need something to read/look at you won't be bothered by the screen. After a month or so of not taking your phone to bed it will become less tempting and you might start getting better quality sleep! Give yourself an hour or so earlier in the evening to dedicate to looking at your phone and then put it away for the night.

If you want to go to sleep, you need to get off your phone (and tv, for that matter) at least an hour before going to bed. You should probably also put something over your eyes, so all blue light is gone. You should also probably turn off every light in your house for extra measure. But you don't even have to put down your phone. You could probably get away with putting it in Night Shift mode. This is a mode on IOS and Android that gets rid of all the blue light on your phone screen, and replaces it with orange light, so you can sleep better.