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Remove This From Your Nightstand to Improve Your Sleep

A white nightstand with a clock, books, and lamp sits next to a bed with white bedding.
New Africa/Shutterstock.com

If you struggle with getting enough sleep, or even falling asleep in the first place, just going to bed might give you anxiety. Luckily, according to the experts, there are few things you can try that might reduce any sleep anxiety in the bedroom. One involves removing a popular nightstand item.

Evidently, your alarm clock could be intensifying your sleep anxiety, but not because you’re anticipating your morning alarm.

Unfortunately, most of us need an alarm clock. While some might be fine with switching to a wake-up light, many people need that blaring sound from a phone or clock to get going. Oddly enough, though, that’s not what can intensify anxiety. The harm comes if you’re prone to waking up in the middle of the night to check the time.

“If you have an alarm clock in your room, turn it around,” said Annie Miller, a psychologist at DC Metro Sleep & Psychotherapy. “As long as you have an alarm set, you don’t need to know the time.”

The same is true for people who use their phones. If you’re tempted to flip it over and check the time, only to groan and realize you’ve only been asleep an hour, place it on the other side of the room so you have to get up to check the time.
Miller also advised removing smartwatches at night, as they don’t adequately track your sleep, but rather, just your movements.
If you want to try ditching your alarm clock, you might want to give a wake-up light or this clever programmable coffee pot hack a shot.

[Via Apartment Therapy]

Shea Simmons Shea Simmons
Shea Simmons is the Editor In Chief of LifeSavvy. Previously, she worked as a freelance writer with a focus on beauty and lifestyle content. Her work has appeared in Bustle, Allure, and Hello Giggles. Read Full Bio »
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