Goal for this coming year: Become a master of sleep

I’ve written about the travails of having poor sleep and how easily it is upset at least for me by things including even what seem to be small amounts of caffeine. Of course I’m aware of sleep hygiene and all that that entails, yet still it seems like the ability to really sleep as well as I want, as often I want, has eluded me no matter how hard I try. There is an article at the BBC today about a study which has shown that e-readers definitively have an adverse impact upon sleep and hence also health.

This drills the point home that electronic devices are not healthy to use basically after the Sun sets. I think it is basically as simple as that.

I’m sure most people are so accustomed to having an electronic screen in front of them whenever they want. People like to read, to process information and do various other things and so it is natural to want to do this in the evening.

But now it seems that we have to really be exceptionally careful about our exposure to these devices. Their effects on health are insidious and need to be taken seriously.

I am setting a goal for this coming year – in fact starting right now – to become a master of sleep. I want to wire being able to sleep. It seems kind of strange that a being who is just another type of animal would need to actually work at something as basic as this, that this would be some type of thing that one has to achieve, but this seems to be where things have gotten. It is now something to apply oneself to just like any other pursuit.

I am planning to seriously decrease my exposure to electronic screens after sunset. This is just one more thing that is part of a fundamental reorganization of my life that I’m undertaking.

I’m going to have to break out my old notebook and get back to doing more actual handwriting and of course reading printed material. I want to really relish it and enjoy it as much as possible. Perhaps I can imagine I’m back in the 70’s or 80’s before all these electronic screens.

I remember how exciting it was to read something – say a new issue of Omni magazine as just an example. I want to cultivate that kind of energy again.

As for reducing the exposure to electronic screens after dark, one simple test I can do is this: If I’m in front of a screen, ask myself the question: “Is it dark outside?”. If the answer is “Yes”, then I need to immediately Fn + F4 my laptop (the hotkey combination to invoke power suspend).