Brian Fung over at The Atlantic answers the question “When You Can’t Sleep, How Good Is Lying in Bed With Your Eyes Closed?”
The useful takeaway is that your best move, if you’ve been in bed for 20 minutes and still aren’t dozing off, is to get up and engage in a low-light, low-stress activity like reading until you begin to feel tired. Taking your mind off of “Why am I not sleeping?! I need to sleep!” is crucial. When you do get up, though, don’t use your computer or phone or watch TV — the blue-colored light from the screens tricks your body into thinking it’s daytime and not releasing melatonin.
| Still curious? Read Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep. |
