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  • (alarm ringing)

  • - I'm tired.

  • I'm tired when I get up,

  • when I'm working,

  • when I'm eating, when I'm having fun.

  • The only time I'm not tired is when I should be asleep.

  • I don't know what's going on, but it needs to stop.

  • So I'm finally ditching my phone,

  • finding a better way to wake up,

  • and talking with a sleep scientist to figure it out.

  • Thank you to Hostinger

  • for sponsoring a portion of this video

  • and to our patrons for supporting the channel.

  • So I think I know what's causing my problem.

  • I think you know what's causing my problem.

  • (suspenseful music)

  • But maybe it isn't a problem.

  • Have you ever considered that?

  • Like I've been tired my whole life,

  • and that hasn't stopped me from achieving mediocrity.

  • I just go to bed at 11:00 PM

  • and then use my phone until 2:00 AM

  • when I literally can't hold my eyes open anymore,

  • and then I wake up at 7:00 AM to a blaring alarm,

  • and then I start using my phone again.

  • What's wrong with that? It turns out a lot.

  • If you use Google Scholar and try to find the relationship

  • between phones and sleep,

  • it's exactly what you expect: not good.

  • But how bad is bad sleep?

  • I picked up this pop science book,

  • which I thought would answer a lot of my questions,

  • but it really just had me asking a new one: Am I gonna die?

  • Dementia, diabetes, heart failure, death.

  • This book links all of that to bad sleep,

  • and it's freaking me out.

  • While I was reading the book, I did have some issues

  • with the way it framed some examples.

  • It was definitely written to make sleep

  • seem like a life or death issue,

  • but that is in extreme cases.

  • That being said, it was pretty clear

  • that sleep is inextractable from quality of life.

  • Kinda seems obvious, but seeing it in black and white

  • made me realize that I should take this seriously.

  • So I'm gonna do the thing that everybody says I should do.

  • I'm taking my phone

  • and I'm putting it in a different room when I go to sleep.

  • I don't wanna do it.

  • But in my defense, other than destroying my sleep,

  • my phone does serve a purpose.

  • It's my alarm clock. (alarm ringing)

  • So if I'm leaving it in a different room,

  • I need to find an alternative.

  • So I got all of them.

  • I just know I'm gonna get weird ads for a while.

  • I chose these because I wanted to target different ways

  • I could possibly wake up.

  • This is the Lexon Flip+ LCD Alarm Clock.

  • It tells the time. It has an alarm.

  • If you wanna turn it off, you flip it over.

  • Of course, we have the Philips Sunrise Simulator,

  • and this will slowly get brighter to simulate the sunrise.

  • Next, we have this.

  • It's an alarm clock with a bed shaker,

  • so it uses vibration to wake you up.

  • I believe these are especially useful

  • for people who are hard of hearing.

  • (tape ripping)

  • In hindsight, I'm not sure the sound is the thing

  • that's satisfying, but look how shiny that is.

  • Bed vibrator.

  • Don't demonetize this video.

  • The SoundSpa Slumber Scents.

  • So I can use stink to wake me up.

  • Reminds me of a rice cooker.

  • We've got a bit of target practice.

  • When your alarm goes off, this target should go up,

  • and then you have to use like a little laser pointer,

  • oh my God, to stop the alarm.

  • Notice how I'm avoiding using a certain word.

  • That's on purpose.

  • The final alarm clock, it runs away from you.

  • The idea is that once your alarm goes off in the morning,

  • this thing will just run away.

  • So you have to get out of bed

  • to go catch it and shut it off.

  • I wrote up a quick script in Python

  • that'll set the order for me.

  • We are starting with the stinky alarm clock.

  • All right, let's figure out

  • how to get this thing working.

  • So we've got the big old egg thing.

  • "Plug the adapter into the diffuser,

  • then plug the adapter into the outlet."

  • Seems pretty straightforward.

  • (alarm beeping)

  • Putting some stuff in.

  • Day one. Let's do it.

  • Wait.

  • I need to put this.

  • (phone clattering)

  • Bye-bye.

  • Okay, let's get to sleep.

  • Nope. (latch rattling)

  • Smells like onions. I can't take a nap.

  • Were you guys just hanging out without me?

  • - You said you were going to sleep.

  • - Why do you look so tall?

  • You stood in the middle.

  • - Why? - This is like,

  • like a bad Scooby-Doo.

  • - (laughs) I wanna know how you guys fall asleep.

  • (playful music)

  • - I look at the inside of my eyes.

  • - Shut up.

  • - Like I'll just lay there and let sleep take over.

  • But if that doesn't work,

  • then I'll listen to like soundscapes, a rainy day cafe.

  • But it's the 1970s or something. I don't know.

  • It's like someone else is in the other room, and then-

  • - There's someone else in the room.

  • - Like, but it's normal. It's calming.

  • - Look at the inside of my eyelids

  • and really focus on the darkness.

  • You spend all your time trying to see the black.

  • - But how do you look? It's closed.

  • - But I put a pillow on my head.

  • The room doesn't exist anymore.

  • The pillow exists only.

  • If it's a problem with my brain,

  • then I need to like have my brain

  • think about something else.

  • I listen to podcasts at half speed.

  • - If you watch this video at half speed...

  • - It's time for you to go to sleep.

  • - We should make sleep stuff.

  • - What do you mean by that?

  • - Here's what I mean by that.

  • We both know that sleep is really important,

  • and I'm trying to help us get more of it.

  • So I've compiled and will continue to compile

  • all of the things that I find helpful,

  • like sources, sleep aids, and other advice

  • that might not make it into this video.

  • Luckily, I can still share it with you

  • using a website I made with Hostinger

  • who sponsored this video.

  • When you have an idea,

  • I think it's important to make it as quickly as possible,

  • because then you can see it in real life

  • and test if it's actually a good idea

  • or find ways to iterate and improve.

  • Luckily, that's easy with Hostinger,

  • an all-in-one website solution.

  • With their premium plan,

  • I was able to claim snoreville.com for free

  • and got a unique website in seconds

  • by typing my idea into their AI website builder.

  • Then I just added in our unique sleep advice

  • and sleep aids, like making cookies really quietly

  • or talking about Cookie Clicker.

  • - Yeah, You start by hiring some grandmas.

  • - With analytics, SEO, and an AI heatmap

  • to predict which parts of the page

  • will get the most attention,

  • that's everything Snoreville needs.

  • But if I feel like I'm ready for more advanced features,

  • I can easily migrate to WordPress.

  • It is genuinely amazing

  • how quickly I was able to bring this late-night idea to life

  • in just a few clicks.

  • It's empowering, but also just really fun.

  • If you wanna bring your idea online with a free domain,

  • professional looking emails

  • and dozens of other premium features,

  • Hostinger is here for you with 24/7 customer support

  • and some incredible limited-time offers.

  • The plan I use is just 1.99 a month,

  • and you get an additional 10% off

  • if you use our coupon code ANSWER.

  • So get started today at hostinger.com/answer10

  • and find everything you need to create a website.

  • Now, I should follow our own advice and get to sleep.

  • (device crackling)

  • I don't know why I thought waking up

  • to the sound of a crackling fire was a good idea.

  • I didn't even smell anything.

  • Oh, so I couldn't figure out how to turn it off.

  • This sucked.

  • Hopefully tomorrow's better.

  • (device whirring and beeping)

  • Why?

  • (device whirring and beeping)

  • (pistol shooting)

  • (device beeping)

  • (device vibrating)

  • (device beeping)

  • (device thudding)

  • (objects clattering)

  • This is- (coffee grinder whirring)

  • By the way, I have still been drinking coffee

  • throughout this whole thing.

  • I didn't wanna change too many variables at once.

  • And after watching Melissa's experience quitting coffee,

  • - It's hard.

  • - things might get too bleak.

  • Anyway, I was absolutely convinced

  • that getting rid of my phone would've like changed things,

  • and that at least one of the alarm clocks

  • would help me feel better.

  • But I've used all of them and it's not great.

  • Turn off the light. (device buzzing)

  • I thought that putting my phone in the other room

  • would solve my problem of going to sleep late,

  • but it hasn't.

  • I didn't realize, but I guess I'd been using my phone

  • to silence the part of my brain

  • that has, ow, generalized anxiety disorder.

  • So yeah, now instead of doomscrolling

  • before turning on a podcast and falling asleep,

  • I just feel a sense of doom for a few hours

  • before eventually falling asleep.

  • And this anxiety also means

  • that all of the alarm clocks are basically the same.

  • I'm a light sleeper. I know that I'm a light sleeper.

  • I don't know how I convinced myself

  • that a gentler sound would make me feel better.

  • Bro, I think birds chirping are a jump scare.

  • Now, I have noticed two benefits, right?

  • First, when I wake up in the middle of the night

  • due to any given sound, I can't use my phone.

  • It's annoying, but it probably means

  • that I'm getting more sleep as a whole.

  • Two, I have more hours in my day.

  • Because I'm not using my phone in the morning,

  • I get through my morning routine way faster

  • because I'm not doomscrolling on the toilet.

  • It's the little things in life.

  • Those are two great benefits, but hasn't solved my problem.

  • I am still tired. So plan A has failed.

  • I need to take a different approach.

  • So I went back to researching.

  • But instead of just focusing on the relationship

  • between phones and sleep,

  • I tried to get a better sense of the bigger picture.

  • I look like an inverted pumpkin.

  • Anyway, I've looked into culture and society,

  • psychology, biology,

  • and it turns out sleep is a little more complex

  • than just closing your eyes for a few hours.

  • The quality of your sleep depends on a lot

  • of biological, environmental, and social factors.

  • And the quantity of your sleep can be out of your control

  • because of things like school, work,

  • and familial obligation.

  • These are all things that I kind of knew

  • from my last round of research,

  • but now that I am trying to actually process all of it

  • instead of just blaming my phone,

  • I realize I have no idea what I'm doing.

  • There are like 1,000,001 interdisciplinary things

  • that might be impacting my sleep.

  • And I studied math, guys.

  • The only thing I can do is count sheep.

  • So I think it's finally time that I ask for some help.

  • - My name's Vanessa Hill. I'm a sleep scientist.

  • And I research specifically mobile phones

  • and bedtime procrastination.

  • I think that a lot of people have an unrealistic expectation

  • of what their sleep should look like,

  • and they think that they're getting bad sleep

  • or that they're a bad sleeper,

  • and you should never label yourself that way

  • just when you're getting kind of normal sleep.

  • - Can I be honest with you for a second?

  • It was only after she said that

  • when I realized that I have no idea

  • what I'm trying to get out of this.

  • Like I assumed that if I slept good enough,

  • I'd just wake up and be a stock image model.

  • But it turns out that the result of good sleep

  • is basically just are you awake enough

  • to do the things you need to do

  • without being in real risk of falling asleep

  • at any given moment?

  • I do that already.

  • I thought there was another level to unlock.

  • It's like learning Santa Claus isn't real.

  • But despite how disappointing

  • and honestly kind of vague the idea of good sleep is,

  • the science on how to get it is surprisingly clear.

  • - [Vanessa] So I want you to imagine that when you wake up,

  • you are at zero.

  • You are hypothetically well rested.

  • So throughout the course of the day,

  • you build up something that's called sleep pressure.

  • It's also sometimes called a sleep drive.

  • And it's one of the processes that dictates when you sleep.

  • Your sleep pressure increases and increases and increases

  • until you get to this point at night

  • when you have so much sleep pressure

  • that you can't stay awake anymore

  • and your body physically needs to sleep.

  • - This process should work in harmony

  • with your circadian rhythm,

  • which uses your body's internal clock

  • to dictate things like appetite and alertness.

  • So ideally when you sleep, you relieve your sleep pressure

  • and wake up feeling alert.

  • But these processes can fall out of sync with shift work,

  • jet lag, sleep procrastination, or even blue light.

  • Blue light is the reason I've heard

  • for why I shouldn't have my phone at night.

  • It's also why I thought putting it away

  • would solve all my problems.

  • But it turns out there's nuance.

  • - What I'm concerned about

  • is what people are doing on their phones.

  • In some research,

  • this is referred to as passive media and active media.

  • So you can imagine passive media

  • is things that help you relax.

  • Active media, you could define more as things

  • that are kind of keeping you hooked.

  • So you could be using your phone to de-stress,

  • to watch a comforting YouTube video

  • to kind of relax and like get in the mood for sleep.

  • If that works for you, then go for it.

  • You need to make your sleep work for you

  • rather than to try to conform to society's expectations

  • of when you should sleep and when you should get up.

  • There's a lot of shame around not sleeping well

  • or being a bad sleeper,

  • but it's just like an area of health.

  • Like you can just keep working at it

  • and keep trying to get a little bit better,

  • but your best is okay.

  • - It was only after like that hour-long conversation

  • I had with Vanessa when I really started to accept

  • how much I'd let my feelings guide my research.

  • It was bound to happen

  • because this subject really matters to me,

  • and I wanted an answer as quickly as I could.

  • But it's a whole field of research,

  • and there's so much information and I got overwhelmed.

  • So I just let my gut decide what to focus on.

  • However, my gut isn't always right.

  • For example, the reason I feel tired all day

  • might not have anything to do with sleep.

  • - Quite often you can feel tired

  • because you're just not moving your body enough.

  • You're not spending enough time in the natural sunlight.

  • You're not eating things

  • that are giving you like the right nutrients.

  • All of these things can contribute to how you feel,

  • and they're all kind of interconnected.

  • - Even Canada's sleep recommendations

  • is sandwiched in between movement guidelines.

  • I just totally ignored it

  • because I thought if I was tired,

  • I had to fix my sleep.

  • - Wrong.

  • - So with that lesson learned,

  • I decided to give this experiment one more week

  • with some changes.

  • Instead of trying to find one big fix,

  • I focused on small tweaks to my sleep hygiene.

  • I kept my phone to listen to podcasts,

  • but I set it to airplane mode to avoid social media.

  • I set my alarm on my phone,

  • because it turns out every alarm clock sucks.

  • At least my phone keeps track of the time zone.

  • And when my alarm went off, (alarm beeping)

  • I got up to keep my bed associated with sleep.

  • And then this was the biggest change.

  • I went for a morning walk,

  • just pumped some daylight into my eyes

  • and reminded my circadian rhythm what time it is.

  • Plus, it was a chance at some exercise

  • and to catch up on the playlist Melissa curated

  • for our newsletter.

  • Throughout the day,

  • I try to stretch and drink water at least once an hour.

  • And when it was time for bed, (alarm beeping)

  • I'd do it all over again.

  • I didn't stop drinking coffee.

  • I didn't go to sleep at the exact same time every day.

  • And I just stared out the window one morning

  • when I was too lazy to go for a walk.

  • Thank you so much.

  • But one week later I could say that these changes

  • were way more effective

  • than any of those wacky alarm clocks.

  • Like I'm still not a stock image model in the morning,

  • but a more consistent routine has made it easier for me

  • to predict my energy levels throughout the day,

  • helped me notice some details

  • that I might need to see a doctor about.

  • Oh my God, that's delicious.

  • I didn't realize how much guilt I carried

  • about being a bad sleeper,

  • and how it created like this cycle of pity

  • where I didn't even get to appreciate the times

  • when I do have like a lot of energy,

  • because I thought that I just needed

  • to be tired all the time.

  • But now when I do feel like the sense of tiredness

  • that a quick stretch and some water can't quite fix,

  • I take a nap.

  • And guess what? I sleep like a baby.

(alarm ringing)

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