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

It can be hard to sleep when we feel tied to our phones and devices. There are a few solutions which can help us get more sleep time. Firstly, we can excuse ourselves from conversations on our phones by the same time each night and let those who it impacts know that we have to sleep. Sleep is a biological need, like drinking water or eating, so it's likely they will understand, since they have similar biological needs. Another option is to use "Do Not Disturb" settings on your device so that no one can contact you past a certain time outside of an emergency. A third option involves setting your device down to charge at night in a place you will not feel compelled to reach for it, such as placing it in another room or in an inconvenient place, like across the same room. If you are concerned you will forget to look something up, or feel you want to remember to do something on your device, you can keep a scrap of paper and a writing implement near your bed so that you can remind yourself to check in the morning. This will prevent you from getting up to get your phone, which would cause you to lose additional potential sleep time.

I try to set the alarm on my phone set to ring when I want to put my phone down and go to sleep. This helps keep me accountable because the alarm reminds me of the goal I set for myself-- to get off my phone and get to bed. Silencing the alarm forces me to stop mindlessly scrolling and gives me a second to reflect on why I am using my phone. Also, I find that having my phone charger plugged in away from my bed prevents me from being on my phone all night. If my battery dies, I take that as a sign that I should go to bed. Having my phone plugged in away from my bed prevents any temptations to pick up my phone and continue scrolling while it is charging.

It was the moment of realization that my daily performances were not as active as my teenage years. I was a phone addict for 4 years and the blue light emitting from it really affected my eyes, leading to the uncomfortable feelings when I tried to focus in classes but had to blink my eyes a lot to see properly. The day I reduced my phone usage was the day I promised myself that good sleep is important for my body to function better as well as patching up my loss memories from exhausting mind used during daytime. I tried to listen to bed time stories in my native language and found that really helpful to fall asleep faster. I'm not convincing anyone to follow the same method I did as each person is different. Thank you, Anonymous (No Winter Country)

I tend to find for me personally that sometimes when I go to my phone and cannot sleep something is not quite at ease with me. For instance, physically if I'm too warm or cold this can throw off my sleep pattern. Other times, it could be that I need to burn some energy and take the time to work out. Sometimes restlessness for me had been caused by considering everything that I need to do in the morning. In this case, I sometimes need to do a task as simple as make a list. When having my personal difficulty putting the phone down is hard to identify, I tend to try to separate myself from my phone or keep it in a place where it would not create a distraction for me, and I found this to be useful for me personally.

Self discipline is so important! Establish it in your mind, tell yourself repeatedly that you will. Then, simply put that phone down. If it helps turn it off, shut your notifications, place it on do not disturb, put it in silence, airplane mode, whatever it is you need to do to stop yourself from going on it. What helps for me is that I put my phone far from me, or at least not within my bed's reach. That way, I can get to sleeping rather than reaching over for my phone and being stuck on it for hours on end.

One great way that I make sure I put my phone down is to put a timer on my phone and have a journal or other activity ready for me to do that I enjoy. It's important to have boundaries when it comes to phone usage/social media exposure, as it can lead us down rabbit holes and take up more time than we think. Once that alarm goes out, turn the phone to silent. If you have something you're interested in, write a note to check it out tomorrow, instead of "snoozing" that alarm. Setting an alarm for 10 mins or 5 mins before as a self-warning can also help you "finish up" your phone usage before the ending time.

This problem is pretty tough, and many struggle with it, but there are some solutions. First, the easiest one, but one that can be frustrating: If you have someone you can trust with that task, you can ask them take away your phone at a certain time. It will be easier to respect your sleep schedule this way. Otherwise, you can also download an application like sleepcity or Foreest, to motivate yourself to not touch your phone with a game system. I find these pretty effective! Then, you can substitute other things for stimulation, like a lamp changing colors, a plushie or stim toys, or reading a book. Finally, you can try to imagine things : a story, comfort characters, a safe place. Something in your head that is more "attractive" to you than your phone. Then each night while falling asleep you can imagine this thing or place, that will soothe you and help you sleep, but also maybe keep you from using your phone.

One strategy that works for me is gradually reducing the number of things I do on my phone. The most important thing is to not look at the blue light on your screen, so I start by turning my phone screen-side down and just listening to music or podcasts at a relatively low volume. I usually opt for something more relaxing, and I try to avoid anything suspenseful. If you have a speaker or wireless headphones you can try putting your phone away from arm's reach while still listening to something. I personally can usually fall asleep at that point.

Tell yourself that it’s time to put it down and then if you don’t, remind yourself that if you don’t get some sleep you won’t be able to use your phone the next day. You could also try to have a ‘official’ time to put down your phone before bed, and maybe make a reward for yourself if you put it down before that time, or don’t let yourself use your phone the next day if you don’t turn it off. You could also try not picking it up after dinner or something like that, because if you don’t have the phone you don’t need to put it down. Hopefully this helps :)

I think I went through a period where I just could not put down my phone...Most of the time it's not because the content/activity is interesting, but that I was anxious and was using electronics to avoid the anxiety (before I fall asleep, I would think/feel lots of stuff that I don't want to. But I have to confront them before I fall asleep...) So I just keep using the electronics to avoid them. So I think the way to put it down is really to examine the anxiety and confront it; it's either confronting it or avoiding it. What I do is to try to write a list of things that's anxiety provoking and promise myself that I will deal with them in a later time, but now is the time to go to sleep.