“Say What” … Tech Time Out
taKing a techno time–out...
by Lance Navarro
Technology has made it increasingly accessible for everyone to satisfy our craving of having “just one more”. Need five minutes of sleep? Easy, just press the snooze button on your smartphone. Want to watch one more episode? Oops, you “accidentally” just finished watching the season finale.
Technology, although undeniably useful, requires discipline for it to be genuinely helpful. Uncontrolled usage encourages procrastination, unconsciously leading us to spend more time keeping ourselves distracted instead of sleeping on time.
Below are some tips that I have come across that you can use to get rid of distractions for longer, better sleep.
1. No Technology After Dinner
One major vice that I need to get rid of from my life is binge-watching YouTube videos in order to make myself sleepy. I’ve been doing it for a couple of years now. It doesn’t work.
I mentioned this bad habit of mine to several people. One of them made a very simple suggestion: no technology after dinner.
When you think about it, what do we usually do with technology after eating dinner? Admittedly, there truly are instances when we actually need to do urgent work until the wee hours of the morning. Although, for the most part, it’s mostly just us staring at a bright screen, drying out our eyes inside a very dark room.
2. Get an Alarm Clock
There are a lot of ridiculous alarm clocks that you can get to make your mornings more productive and, well, interesting. From pressure-triggered floor mat alarm clocks, to rabid mouse-clocks that scurry around your room as it beeps relentlessly, the possibilities are truly endless.
On a more serious note though, having an old-fashioned alarm clock will help your bedroom stay distraction-free once it’s time to get ready for bed.
3. Turn Off Notifications
Notifications are very helpful in keeping you updated throughout your day. They can also get pretty annoying especially if you’re about to sleep.
One easy trick that you can do to instantly get rid of notifications is to simply set your smartphone to “Airplane Mode” before going to bed. This instantly blocks off cellular and Wi-Fi signals from reaching your phone, allowing you to sleep without any distractions. This also minimizes battery drain on your phone, helping you stay topped up before heading out the next day.
