In modern society, mobile phones and computers dominate most of our time. A report released by Hillhouse Capital at the end of May stated that in 2017, the average adult spent up to 5.9 hours a day on digital media, including audio and video, social media, and digital content. Among this time, 3.3 hours were spent on mobile phones. Just think, during these 3.3 hours, how much time did you spend holding your phone even when you were sleepy, being exposed to the faint blue light and reluctant to let go?

We all live surrounded by information anxiety. Our brains have long been shaped by this environment into a highly sensitive and responsive machine, constantly grasping for information to satisfy the hunger caused by the lack of stimulation.

We are afraid to fall asleep, worried that another day has passed without our noticing. And the new day is like a huge monster, always making us feel "not ready yet". Do you always feel that the day has passed too quickly, and it seems that you haven't done much before it's time to go to sleep, feeling very reluctant? Do you really like the night, or are you just too timid to start a new day?

Driven by high - intensity pressure... So, the fundamental way to solve the problem is not to force yourself to go to bed early and then toss and turn in bed - this will only cause the torture of being unable to fall asleep for a long time, making you pick up your phone again to seek the stimulation of new information.

What we should do is to eliminate the inner anxiety, stress, and tension, and really have a good sleep, allowing ourselves to go through 4 to 5 sleep cycles. In this way, the brain can completely clear the metabolic waste, rebuild the synaptic connections, and let the body enter a complete recovery state. So, how can we improve the quality of sleep? The following content is both theory and my experience. I hope it can help you really have a good sleep.

I. Release the Pressure of the Future

I mentioned in a previous article that our brain has a "background" called implicit cognitive resources. Every day, when we switch tasks and focuses, in fact, part of the work is not cleared. They are transferred to the "background" and still in operation.

This model has its advantages: We have all experienced the moment of "a sudden flash of inspiration" - the solution to a problem suddenly pops up in our minds. This is actually the effect of the background operation. However, these accumulated tasks will also continuously fill up our implicit cognition, thus squeezing the "foreground", that is, the so - called explicit cognition.

So, why do we often feel exhausted but can't fall asleep and always feel that our minds are full? Most likely, it's because we deal with too many things, and our implicit cognition is full. They accumulate in the brain, keeping the brain active and making it difficult to fall asleep.

How to solve this problem? An effective method is to release them through writing and recording.

Psychologist Pennebaker has done a lot of relevant research. In 1997, he proposed that writing down one's thoughts and worries before going to bed could significantly solve the problem of "ruminations" - that is, tossing and turning in bed, constantly muttering and re - experiencing things in one's mind, thus helping us fall asleep faster.

In 2016, Pennebaker and Smyth's research pointed out again that writing down one's stress and thoughts is beneficial for the adjustment of the autonomic nervous system, muscle relaxation, and immune function, and can effectively relieve one's stress.

A large number of other studies have also confirmed this: By writing down thoughts and ideas, we can give the brain a hint that they "have been remembered", thus releasing them from implicit cognition.

So, how should we record these thoughts to achieve the best effect?

There are mainly the following points to note:

1. Record "tomorrow's to - do list" instead of "today's journal" The reason is simple: What occupies our implicit cognition is the worry and thinking about the future. If we only keep a journal, it will easily lead us to stimulate the worry and imagination about unfinished tasks, thus keeping the brain in an excited state.
2. The more detailed the record, the better. It's best to be precise to clear steps. For example, if I have a lecture to arrange tomorrow, I might write like this: 10:00 - 12:00 Complete the lecture outline (about how many words, what main contents, how detailed it needs to be, etc.) 13:00 - 14:00 Fill in the content (how many cases, how many stories, how many knowledge points) 14:00 - 16:00 Do a trial lecture and record it (what points need to be noted) 16:00 - 17:00 Get feedback and make adjustments 18:30 - 19:30 Go through the PPT process again (pay attention to the points noted in the trial lecture recording) And so on.

In this way, even if I can't follow such a detailed process the next day, I can still hint to myself that everything has been arranged properly and there is nothing to worry about.

3. Write down any problems, ideas, or inspirations, and tell yourself to "deal with them tomorrow". Don't go to sleep with problems in mind. In short, at this step, what you need to do is to "empty your brain" and reduce the brain's load as much as possible. Only in this way can you completely relax and minimize the latency of falling asleep.

II. Use Light to Suppress Brain Excitement

The hormone that has the greatest impact on sleep is melatonin. So, how is melatonin produced? The retina and skin of the human body sense the light in the surrounding environment, transmit the light signals to the pineal gland, and the pineal gland secretes melatonin to regulate our daily and nightly activities.

Experiments have confirmed that even the weakest light can affect the secretion of melatonin, especially blue light.

In the natural environment, during the day, the color temperature is high, and the proportion of cold light (i.e., blue light) is large; at dusk, the color temperature is low, and the proportion of warm light is large - our bodies have long adapted to such an environment.

Therefore, at home, we can also imitate this environment to suppress the brain's excitement and tell the brain that "it's time to go to sleep".

Specifically, you can refer to the following suggestions:

1. About 3 hours before going to bed, turn off the fluorescent lights and turn on the warm - colored lights in the bedroom. While ensuring the brightness, reduce the stimulation of blue light on the brain.
2. At the same time, adjust the computer and mobile phone to a low - color - temperature state. On iOS, you can turn on "Night Shift", and on Win 10, you can turn on "Night mode" and adjust it to a warm tone. You may not get used to it at first, but this method is very effective.
3. About 2 hours before going to bed, write today's journal and do a review of the day. Don't leave this step too late to avoid getting more and more energetic.
4. About 1 hour before going to bed, write down tomorrow's to - do list. Refer to the steps in the first point and try to empty your brain as much as possible without leaving any backlog.
5. About half an hour before going to bed, turn off the computer and mobile phone. You can read a book for a while. It's better to choose a light and relaxing one, not a too complex or lively one to avoid putting pressure on the brain.
6. When going to sleep, turn off all the lights and try to be in a completely dark state. Unless you have the habit of sleeping with the light on, even the weakest light will have an impact.

You can set the time by yourself. It is recommended to try several times to find the rhythm that suits you best.

These are the suggestions for falling asleep. So, how can you sleep for a sufficient amount of time?

1. An eye mask is a must. It is an extremely effective tool to resist light.
2. It would be even better if you can set the curtains to open and the fluorescent lights to turn on at a fixed time. This can wake up your body in advance and avoid the state of drowsiness and dizziness after waking up.
3. Get up immediately after waking up, wash up, stretch, and open the window to activate the whole body state. Never stay in bed again.

This whole set of processes is the method I am currently adhering to and practicing. If you are also a night owl or have trouble falling asleep at night, you might as well give it a try.

III. Find Your Own Sleep Cycle

Open any book about sleep, and it will tell you that to develop regular sleep patterns, start with a fixed wake - up time.

Why? The reason is simple. We know that the duration of sleep is the most crucial factor. What variables affect the duration of sleep? One is the time to fall asleep, and the other is the time to wake up.

Among these two variables, the latter is more restricted - work, study, socializing, sunlight, family... and so on.

We can choose to "go to bed early" or "go to bed late", but it is difficult to flexibly change the time to wake up every day. So, if you don't sleep well every day, you might as well try this: First, set a fixed wake - up time for yourself, and then work backward to figure out the time to fall asleep. Through repeated trials and feedback, find the most suitable sleep duration for yourself.

You might as well try this:

1. Set aside 1 - 2 weeks for a sleep test. During this period, try to fall asleep according to your own wishes and avoid overtime work and high - intensity work.
2. Set a wake - up time that you hope for. During these 1 - 2 weeks, get up at this time every day without fail, even on weekends.
3. Take the period from going to sleep one day to going to sleep the next day as a cycle, and record the following information: At what time did I feel sleepy? At about what time did I fall asleep? (There may be a little error) How did I feel during this day? What score can I give my overall state?
4. Try to fine - tune the time to fall asleep every day. The best state is: After dimming the lights, finishing the journal, and writing down the to - do list, you naturally feel sleepy soon, then immediately turn off the lights and go to bed, and fall asleep within a few minutes after getting into bed. And you wake up refreshed the next day without any tiredness. This is the most ideal state.

Try to find this best state, fix it, and try to follow this rhythm for a long - term and stable sleep schedule without breaking it.

If you have to postpone going to bed occasionally, you must still get up on time the next day. You can take a nap at noon or go to bed a few minutes earlier the next day.

Of course, it is not easy to achieve this. You can extend the test duration or conduct multiple tests to help yourself get closer to the most suitable sleep time. The key is not to procrastinate and not to take daytime things to do at night. Otherwise, it will only continuously postpone the time to fall asleep and disrupt the sleep rhythm.

IV. Give Yourself a Motivation

Most of the time, the reason why we stubbornly stay awake and don't want to sleep is largely because we resist the arrival of the next day.

Why do we resist it? Because we know that the next day will still be the same as today, with nothing different and nothing worth looking forward to. We are not interested in such a life at all.

We don't want to fall asleep too quickly, perhaps only because subconsciously, we are resisting wasting another day in vain.

So, you might as well try this: Start from motivation. Every day, arrange a small, interesting, and worth - looking - forward - to thing for the next day to strengthen our driving force to "welcome the next day".

Here are some methods I often use myself:

When writing an article, making a product, or conceiving a plan, stop when you are in the best state. Then, combined with the method in the first point, tell yourself to continue writing after getting up the next day. In this way, you can fall asleep with a sense of full achievement and satisfaction.

Learn a new skill and break it down into many small tasks. Use these tasks to drive yourself and let yourself see real progress every day. You don't need to consider the practicality of these skills, just consider your interest.

In addition to the daily work, arrange some different and less - contacted tasks to enrich your experience, and let yourself look at and experience them with a curious and expectant eye - even just changing a simple step can bring a different sense of freshness.

...

In short, value the experience of each day, create some small and fresh stimuli for each day, and stick to it. Let the brain naturally transition from "not wanting this day to end" to "looking forward to the next day's arrival". Of course, also pay attention to a degree: Don't set too high a level of stimulation, which may make you too excited and difficult to fall asleep for a long time.

V. Cultivate a Minimalist Mindset

In this era, countless pieces of information are bombarding our brains every day, trying to jump into our vision and be absorbed by us. But how much of this information is really valuable to you? How much content do you save thinking that "it may be useful" or "it might come in handy" and then never open it again?

As I said before: I basically don't read the news, nor do I "passively" receive any information - time and attention are a person's most precious things and should not be filled with unfiltered information.

If necessary, I will actively obtain information through my own information channels, reorganize and integrate them, and output meaningful products. Therefore, it is very important to establish your own information - screening awareness: clearly define "what I need", and everything else is noise. Don't let them occupy a single bit of your attention.

This is minimalism: Separate and abandon desires and only focus on the current state and perception.

Once you establish this awareness, you won't keep swiping your phone late at night. You will realize that these stream - of - consciousness information is worthless. They just flash through your mind, and less than 1% of them are retained. You should spend your time on active searching, active learning, active thinking, and organizing.

Try to find a really important thing that you are willing to invest in and pour your energy into it. Instead of being led by various information and giving up the right to think.

Only by getting rid of the shackles of "information anxiety" can you truly resist the invasion of mobile phones and computers.

In addition, here is a little reminder for moms:

Sleeping 6 - 9 hours a day is only applicable to adults over 18 years old. Children in the growth and development period really need two things: one is sufficient sunlight, and the other is a longer period of sleep.

So, moms can let their children do more outdoor activities, which is helpful for physical development and character cultivation, and also has a significant effect on the development of the eyeballs, effectively preventing myopia (yes, this may be another very subversive research result, and I'll talk about it when I have a chance).

At the same time, try to create a better sleep environment for children. According to the suggestions of the NSF (National Sleep Foundation in the United States), the sleep time for children should be: Newborn - 3 months: 14 - 17 hours 4 months - 11 months: 12 - 15 hours 1 - 2 years old: 11 - 14 hours 3 - 5 years old: 10 - 13 hours 6 - 13 years old: 9 - 11 hours 14 - 17 years old: 8 - 10 hours

Finally, here is a small exercise for everyone: Refer to the fourth point and set a motivation for yourself to "welcome the next day".

Friends who are interested can write it in the comment section and share it with everyone.

Good night to all. :)