Waking up is one of the things I least like to do. It takes a lot of effort to get out of bed most days, no matter how many alarms I set or what time I go to bed at night. When I was a child, my mother used to play that a tornado could blow into our house and I would still be sleeping. I have a heavy sleep – I once fell asleep before a flight took off and slept until the announcement that we were coming down – and I cannot say how many times I was late for class, work, medical appointments, and more because I was unable to get up.
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I stopped sleeping with the phone in my room and it’s a game changer
So when I heard that experts recommend keeping the phone and other devices out of the room at night, I was intrigued. Rolling my phone slowly has always been part of my morning routine. How could I get out of bed without having him there to help me wake up? What if I missed an important message from my mom or an email about work? My phone is also my alarm, so how can I be sure I woke up on time? Despite all that, I decided to try. I wanted to see what would happen when I went to sleep and woke up without my phone at arm’s length.
For seven nights, I slept with my phone carrying in the living room, instead of next to my bed. I looked at him before I went to sleep – sometimes I even checked again after brushing my teeth – but not again until the next morning. I turned off my notifications so as not to hear tempting pings from the other room. And I decided that I would at least take my morning medicine, go to the bathroom and take a shower before checking my phone every day. See how it happened.
What happened when I took my phone out of the room
The first night was strange. Apparently, I check my phone several times before bed and as soon as I wake up, because I kept looking for it while doing my night and morning routine. My brain knew it wasn’t in the room, but that didn’t stop my hand from trying to physically find it.
Also, as I normally use my phone as an alarm, I had to ask Alexa to wake me up. This did not exactly go according to plan. For some reason, instead of sounding an alarm, my Echo Dot just turned off the white noise I put on at night. This subtle change definitely didn’t wake me up, so my husband – who is still sleeping with the phone by his bed – had to do that. I’m a dreamer, so naturally I woke up feeling sulky. My normal routine is to suspend a few times and then browse Twitter, Facebook and my email before getting out of bed.
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Sometimes diving straight on the phone makes me anxious and stressed. So although it was difficult for me to get out of bed the first morning at first, after I got up, I felt happier than I had been for weeks. I was able to concentrate on getting ready for the day, instead of what I just saw on social media, and that was a big driver of humor.
The second night was a Friday, so I stayed up late reading in bed. I don’t know until what time, because I didn’t have my phone, but I got lost relaxing and having fun. My kids woke me up in the morning, smiling and crawling on the bed with me, so it wasn’t difficult to get up.
The next night was the most difficult. I kept picking up my phone again and dreamed of checking in bed or missing something important because my phone was in the other room. But after a fourth night without a phone, it was easier for me to get out of bed on Monday morning. Alexa woke me up with Christmas music, and I felt so peaceful and happy in the transition from drowsiness to alertness. When I finally checked my phone that morning, it didn’t have the design it normally had. I just looked at him for a few minutes before moving on to the next part of my day, instead of rolling over and over while trying to get out of bed.
On the fifth night, I was used to sleeping without my phone. For some reason, the thrill of possibly having unread texts and social media notifications to check was enough to get me out of bed and start the day. Why would I go around listening to music when I can lose my friend finally announcing that she is pregnant or the pictures on my Christmas card being sent to my email? There was a lot of anxiety about checking my phone to stay in bed.
The next few nights were a blur. That’s right – I kept this routine long after my week-long experiment was over, because I liked it so much.
What I learned from this experience
Although at first my anxiety increased without having a phone in my room, I realized that I don’t really need it. My subconscious being informed with every vibration or ping from my device was causing me to have a fragmented sleep, and being glued to my phone before going to sleep was getting my brain going before I went to bed. And not having my phone on hand in the morning means that I am getting out of bed just five to 15 minutes after my alarm went off, instead of the 30 minutes to an hour that was happening before. that is a huge improvement for me, and that means it’s definitely worth sleeping over my phone.
The anxiety about not having my phone in my room has eased over time, and I have no intention of bringing it back anytime soon. Waking up is much easier without it! Moving on, I’m going to start charging you in the bathroom that connects to my room instead of the kitchen, and I won’t be as strict as the bath before checking. Sometimes you just need to roll the TikTok while brushing your teeth, right?
I also ordered the new Echo Dot 4º Gen ($ 40, originally $ 60) with a time display to serve as my permanent alarm clock (no longer staying up half the night reading without knowing what time it is), and I’ve been encouraging my friends to do the same. It is so liberating to know that no one can reach me for a while and that I am not going to start my day thinking about work or politics before I even get dressed. Waking up has always been difficult for me, but with this little (yes, small!) Change, it actually got easier. Try it – you may also find it your new favorite way to sleep!
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