Why I charge my phone outside the bedroom on weeknights
Moving the charger to the kitchen is a small change that makes weeknight sleep a little easier to protect.
It is ten o'clock on a Monday, and I know exactly what happens if my phone comes to bed with me. I tell myself I will check one thing, and then it is eleven thirty and I have read about a dozen things I will not remember tomorrow.
A while ago I moved my charger to the kitchen counter. The first few nights felt strange. I kept reaching for the nightstand out of habit and finding nothing there. After about a week, the reaching stopped, and I noticed I was falling asleep sooner.
I still need an alarm, so I bought a cheap clock that does one job. It does not send notifications or show me the news. It just tells me the time and wakes me up.
I do not think phones are bad. They connect me to people I love and help me with a hundred small tasks. I only think the last hour of the day deserves to belong to me, and the phone makes that hard when it is within arm's reach.
If you want to try it, plug your phone in somewhere outside your bedroom tonight. Give it one week before you decide whether it helps.