For as long as I can remember, sleep has never come easily to me. It had always been something that I have to work towards rather than something that just comes naturally. I’m not sure whether it’s specific to me or if it’s something that commonly comes with ADHD, but even when I’m exhausted, I can’t remember the last time I fell asleep without effort.
I’ve spent a lot of time wondering why, and I do think there’s a root cause. That being my phone. It is quite a basic answer, but it makes sense.
Like most people, I spent time on my phone late at night. The suddenly, I’m expected to put it down, close my eyes, and sit in complete darkness. That shift always feels… unnatural to me. For the longest time, I wondered if I could be that I’m addicted to my phone, or if something else was going on entirely. Even now, it is hard to say.
But what isn’t hard to tell you is how I’ve managed my sleep. It all starts with a technique that I use pretty much every night, and ironically, it begins with my phone.
I put on a YouTube video. It can be anything, but it’s usually something I’m interested in. Recently, I’ve gone through countless videos about Game of Thrones theories. I’ll plug my phone in, set my alarm for the morning, place it nearby, and play the video at a very low volume. And when I say low, I mean very low. So much so that I have to focus to hear it.
That’s the key.
Putting effort into listening gives my mind something to latch onto. It stops racing, stops moving from one thought to another, and I find that the effort I put into listening often is what makes me sleepy.
Some people listen to white noise; I listen to YouTube.
