A manifesto for sleep, screens and sanity
For everyone who wants to sleep better and reduce their screen time
Raw and Real Conversation
For months, I have been looking for a book on sleep.
Not in-depth kind of (which are plenty and a lot of them are fab), but one with a 10-20 pointer list. A list that keeps me on toes for to be dedicated to my sleep time.
Since I could not find that kind of list, I decided to create my own.
Feel free to copy it, take a printout and put it in front of your desk/bathroom mirror.
The world needs more quality sleep, more sanity and less screens, more than anything else.
Let’s start.
As you do, keep an open mind, and think about how this could help you.
On Sleep
Forget worrying about 5 am club. Start thinking about 9 pm club. Aka, how is it that you can go to bed by 9 pm max.
It is not the number of hours of sleep that matters (the most) but the sleep that begins between 9-10 pm that matters.
The programming of your mind before sleeping is so so so important. My night time schedule is telling about my day to God, what would it have looked like had today been the best day (reverse visualisation), and reading something empowering right before turning off the lights. If you want to understand more on this, please pick up The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy. A timeless classic.
To sleep at 9, it is best to have dinner by 6 pm.
To have dinner by 6 pm, you need to wrap up work by 5 pm.
To wrap up work by 5 pm, there is virtually no scope of wasting the ~4 pm time, that happens in a lot of offices.
Since there is no scope of wasting time because you will be focused on getting things done on time, you simply cannot afford to waste time scrolling on your phone.
Which brings us to the manifesto of screens.
On screen
If your work involves use of screen (most jobs do), before you start work for the day, write on a piece of paper: what all you want to get done today. It makes you hyper focused.
Even if you are going to shop online, decide what you want to shop for instead of “letting the algorithm do things for you.” Be vigilant about what gets done, post which you will abandon the screen and return to the analog world.
Analog is to 2026 what unlimited internet was to 2016.
If your default is to reach out to your phone each time you are bored, it is time to inculcate the habit of replacement that James Clear talks about in Atomic Habits. Replace the need to reach out for phone for anything else — Kindle, stapler, pen and notebook, canvas, a book (of course), clean something — anything. But make it a mission of your life to do small things you have been procrastinating than to scroll on the screen for the smallest time.
Lastly, keep a small phone. Let people think what they want to. You have already tried looking cool to others and living the life of others. Now that you know nothing came out of it, it is time to live your own.
On Sanity
Try living a private life. The joy of going out, pursuing a hobby, learning to knit and not telling the world about it is priceless. Even if you are not a celebrity like Virat Kohli who needs privacy, isn’t it worth it to live life just for the sake of living it and not documenting it?
When things go awry, it is the best test of your self-control. The Uber driver is going to cancel, your favourite league team might lose, or your parent may snap for no reason. But sometimes, wisdom in life is knowing this is all going to happen at all times in life. If it is going to happen to all of us, is it worth it to feel so traumatised and torn up?
Good books are your vacation while you are still sitting on your favourite couch at your home.
Have fun bro. जिंदगी बनाते-बनाते जीना नहीं छोड़ना है।
It should be the easiest thing to make you smile. Never have I ever regretted smiling. A fun habit I have is I always leave the mirror smiling. Whether it is morning or night, how you look at yourself is the most important thing in the world. Isn’t it, my friend?
2 Raw One-Liners
The hardest thing in the world is to sit with focus for 2 hours and do your work without distractions.
The easiest thing in the world is to sit with focus for 2 hours and do you work without distractions.
3 (for) Real blogs that you might love (no likes, no comments, just real content):
That is it for this weekend, my friend.
I will see you next weekend.
Nishtha Gehija
Your friendly CA turned writer didi, and a ghostwriter for top CXOs across 4 countries