Alarm Clock Can Still Be Your Bedside Buddy

A part of my less-screen-time regimen is not taking my phone to bed. I made a conscious decision to not touch this multi-purpose device after 9 p.m. and do something else that does not involve looking at a liquid crystal display. No checking of emails, social media, news apps, and not even using self-help apps such as ones used to fall asleep easily—completely miles away from the digital world and the Internet.

Not Just the Blue Light

The blue light emitting from your phone screen is a known culprit for making you awake and alert at night. It is known to be not helpful for the pineal gland to release melatonin. This is the hormone that makes us feel drowsy. This type of light is perceived by the brain as a light in daytime and could trick it into thinking it is not bedtime yet. Sure there's a way of switching it off or making the "red light" more prominent but avoiding the blue light is just the tip of the iceberg.

Your Bedroom Should Be Sacred

When you go to bed, you would want to take fewer pieces of baggage with you. Your bedroom is supposed to be your sanctuary and a place where you can segregate yourself from the nuisances that may exist in your career, your relationships, or the funny world we live in. Your phone may be carrying all that. Be as it may that those things can still be lodged in your mind and you think the only way to digress from those thoughts is to check your phone and mindlessly scroll Instagram or TikTok feed but this will only create another set of thoughts.

The Resurgence of the Clock

There was a problem that it introduced. How am I going to set the alarm for me to wake up at a specific time in the morning? For some reason, I was never fond of a digital clock in the bedroom or perhaps I am not a fan of seeing the time luminescent-ly etched on a device. Instead, I went back to basic—an analogue alarm clock! You must be thinking, why get a noisy tick-tocking old-fashioned clock if you can get a high-tech multi-purpose digital one? Here is the thing, I am veering off anything multi-purpose. Less purpose means less distraction. Besides, analogue alarm clocks these days are silent and only serve two purposes: displaying the time and the archaic alarm system. This probably has the same novelty as when you listen to vinyl records or you love things retro.

I now leave my phone outside of my bedroom. I leave it somewhere where it is not within my arm's reach. Not out of earshot thought in case of an emergency. Apart from the clock, I take a book with me to bed. Those two and perhaps a cup of chamomile tea are my bedtime buddies. What is your bedtime ritual?

Photo by Jessica Delp on Unsplash