Un-Screen to Un-Wind

Does your nightly routine leave time to unwind?  Do you simply double check the alarm on your phone, plug it in and turn off the light?

The challange placed before a lot of us is to put down the phone, tablet, laptop and/or turn off the telly at least 30 minutes before going to bed.  I have seen little interviews with “doctors” on TV stating that this is something that would be good for us to do.  Something about color light signal and communications in our brains effects getting to sleep and how effective the sleep you do get is….or something.  Persons smarter than me have been writing articles for years, apparently.  Like 6+ years – what can I say – I am a bit slow.

Electronics in the Bedroom   Technology and Sleep

So, with all of this hubbub going on I figured I would give it a shot.  My sleep is short at bed and riddled with multiple wake up at worst.  It isn’t that I am being pestered by children I just wake up. Mostly after a few hours solid and then for what feels like every hour on the hour.  It is annoying to say the least and a tired Mommy is more like a hungry Tiger than a Mommy really.

I love to read and play games on my phone and Nook before settling in for the evening.  With this emphasis on “no screens” for 30 Minutes prior to turning in for the night I needed to read something different.  So I went back to reserving physical books and even audio book – on CD.  Real CD – can you believe it!  I had to figure out how my CD player worked.  I also bought myself a coloring book.

So, some nights, I find myself in bed, earphones in coloring away like a child.  My UP3 monitors my heartrate during the day and it goes way down so much that my band will actually ask if I am sleeping during this “chill” period prior to actually turning off the light and tucking in.

Now I am not perfect – I do not “wind down” everynight but I try – especially on weekdays.  I have found that on the nights that I successfully wind down I wake more rested and I usually only wake once during the night.  That is caused more by my gallon plus a day water intake more than restlessness.

So, anyone out there on the interweb have a routine that works for them?  I would love to hear any alternatives for a screen free relaxing prep for sleep.  Keep it clean – heehee – I can hear the “Vertical Workout” comments now.

Until Next time – Sweet Dreams!