Sleeping with the Enemy

For the past 15 years, I’ve been listening to podcasts before sleeping. But lately, I’ve been on Instagram. An hour (or was it hours?) passes in a snap. I wake up in the middle of the night with the lights on, phone on my bed. While I may have soaked in some wisdom half-asleep from podcasts, I don’t think one good thing has come from late-night Instagramming.

I never feel good after extended time on Instagram. Never. I like my friends less and feel drawn to my worst impulses (envy, lust, pride, anger, etc). And starting and ending the day scrolling  makes the world seem darker and more impossible.

I’ve chosen to stop sleeping with the Enemy. Yes, Big Tech is the Enemy that spends billions addicting us to screens and apps, their algorithms feeding our curiosities and hardening our views like magic. For me, any inspiring reel is quickly outweighed by ads, toxicity and fake news. It’s like swimming in a polluted ocean. And that’s in addition to my phone’s LED screen and radiation disrupting sleep. That’s a lot of pollution.

My new sleeping and waking partner (until I get a girlfriend 😏)? Books.

I’ve found a wonderful calming effect when I read at night and first thing in the morning. I inhabit new worlds – or recognizable worlds from a foreign perspective – with history’s best storytellers, thinkers and wordsmiths. I feel a sense of progress as I wade through a 300-page book. I feel more connected to unfamiliar people and settings, both in the book and in real life. I see, hear, and feel more. I fall asleep faster.

At night, I leave my phone and all gadgets outside my bedroom. Only my Kindle gets a pass. I read fiction until I get drowsy. Then, lights off.

In the morning, I read something inspiring or finish a chapter, even if for only 15-20 minutes. I find my brain silenced, still, ready to approach the day, as opposed to distracted or anxious after mornings on social media.

How you begin and end your day cultivates the soil of your mind: that from which all things grow. Those beginnings and endings are when the soil of your mind is most fresh, settling and absorbing. Are those times protected and nutrient-dense?

I’ll take better sleep, more empathy, and more focus (from books) over restless nights, hardening views and an ever shortening attention span (from social media).