A Steinsel woman and bedtime routine advocate says she readies herself for sleep with a slow, relaxing transition from watching a series on her television and then switching to her laptop before moving on to her tablet and finally her smartphone.
“A lot of people think you can just hop right into bed with your iPhone, scroll like a zombie for twenty minutes, and then sleep,” said Carmen Mertens. “That sort of rushed strategy is destined to fail.”
Start with the TV
Mertens says a successful bedtime routine should start with an hour or two in front of the television, but she cautions that you must be disciplined and not fall asleep on the sofa, which could lead to you waking up with back pain at three in the morning.
“When I’m feeling sleepy, I switch off the television and continue watching my new favorite series on my laptop,” she says. “Reaching for the remote control and picking up my laptop case acts as a signal for my brain that the glide toward the bed has begun.”
Switch to a laptop
By switching to a laptop, she says, you are able to recline on your back, put the device on your abdomen, and focus on your breathing.
“Take ten or twenty deep breaths and watch your screen go up and down with each one,” she said.
After an hour or so, when her neck begins to cramp up and she realizes that having a radiation-emitting device centimeters from her vital organs may not be safe, she rises, tucks the laptop under her arm like a briefcase, and heads to the bedroom.
“It’s like a night version of going to work,” she said. “You can even say to yourself, ‘I’m going to my bed office to do my sleepy work.’”
Tablet time
After plugging in her laptop to charge for the night and getting in her bed, Mertens turns on her tablet but resists the urge to continue watching her series.
“You don’t really want to get mentally and emotionally wrapped up in another episode because it’s time to let your thoughts and worries go,” she says. “Instagram, TikTok, or something like that is the best bet.”
She recommends consuming around 30 minutes of useless content on the tablet before moving on to the final step: turning off the lights and picking up your phone.
Phone is key
“You may be telling yourself that you’ll just set your alarm and nothing else, but it’s important to stay on your phone in the dark for at least twenty minutes,” she said. “The strain on your eyes will make them fatigued and ready for deep sleep.”
“And anyway, by now it’s probably around 2 a.m., so your body is naturally begging for slumber,” she added. “If you feel nervous and your eyes are twitching from the hours of exposure to blue light, you can tape your eyelids shut.”
While Mertens swears by this bedtime routine, she encourages people to modify it to fit their preferences.
“My partner Chris skips the laptop step altogether, but he often spends more time with the tablet while he sits on the toilet,” she said. “And my daughter Beatriz usually falls asleep with her phone in her hand, her tiny finger still moving as if she’s scrolling in her sleep, the angel.”
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Originally published by RTL Today
