Sleep Procrastination, or, "Surely one more Youtube video will fill the gaping void in my soul"

I probably had this before the quarantine, but it definitely got worse during it, and from time to time I still struggle with it. Anyone have tips or strategies for not dragging the night out chasing some uncatchable promise of completeness?

Read a book

this started for me when i was in grad school and continued through the pandemic. i think i just recalibrated in my brain what an acceptable night's sleep was and said "5 hours is actually fine" and its v much not!

i dont have advice, im just a fellow sufferer. probably related to undiagnosed adhd on my part, also related to procrastinating on evenig chores (cleaning the kitchen esp which i always tell myself i need to do before i go to bed which i invariably draw out until 11 or 12)

Read a book

I've had to stop my nightly reading for the last few weeks because I kept looking up from the Kindle and realizing it was 6am, my sleep schedule was fuuuuuuucked.

do you have to get up early on the regular?

that fuckin cured me sharpish i can tell u

I read a book once I'm in bed (OK a Kindle) to help quiet my mind, but the problem is getting myself to go to bed in the first place.

do you have to get up early on the regular?

For the last couple months, yes (well, early for me), and yeah, it does drive home the consequences of not getting to bed at a decent time. But then it's the weekend and I start dragging my feet again.

do you have to get up early on the regular?

that fuckin cured me sharpish i can tell u

― close encounters of the third knid (darraghmac), Saturday, November 4, 2023 3:28 PM (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

5:30-6 am for me on weekdays

Lately I've been making a point of going for walks in the evening, around 8 to 9 pm, which really helps clear my head.

Other things which have helped my sleep hygiene (but I don't always abide by):
- No computer or phone in my bedroom ever
- No electronics half an hour before bed
- No snacking before bed

I also pretty much always have a fan on when I sleep, for the white noise.

If I had even a shred of discipline or force of will, I might be able to do some of the above.

But then I foolishly click on a YouTube Short and spend the next 45 minutes scrolling, hoping for another minute-long distraction from Jessica Kirson, Jordan the Stallion or a kitty.

I am one of these people as well. I'll start going to bed around midnight, turn off the TV, make sure the cat is in, all that jazz. Then I'll sit down and watch stupid videos on my laptop for another hour. Bollywood songs, trailers, clips from the US talk shows, whatever. And then not sleep. I don't do this every night, but on every night that I do it, I don't seem to be able to stop myself.

The main thing I found works with fighting bad internet habits, ADD and OCD is to keep focusing on the most important and fulfilling things and make sure you're brutally honest about what you actually want to do (there's a lot of things I only wish I wanted) and so much else falls into place. The marginal diversions start to seem less important or even annoying.

I turn my laptop off about a half hour before I plan to go to sleep, and walk into the next room, where I lie on the couch and open a physical book. Within about five pages, I'm yawning. C.V. Wedgwood's The Thirty Years War works every time.