Why Your Phone Deserves a Bed
It had been another night of aimless scrolling. Even as my eyes grew heavy, I kept staring at the brightness of my phone.
My phone stared back at me from the darkness surrounding it. And, quite suddenly, I thought if my phone were a person it would be sad and maybe angry. Because instead of letting it sleep in peace, I was keeping it awake, and for no good reason.
Throughout the day, my phone had been carried, shoved into dark spaces, and precariously put on a table or ledge. It had conducted texts and conversations, told me the time, and had kept me from getting lost. And yet, even after a day of hard work, here I was commanding it to do more.
I’ve read several self-help blogs/posts of why you shouldn’t go to sleep next to your phone. The reasons range from the blue light to the potential stressful news one reads. But I’ve found, as perhaps you have too, that it’s much easier to do something good for someone else, or something else, other than oneself.
So that night, instead of thinking I should put my phone away for my sake, I realized I wanted to put the phone away for its sake. Because if my phone is my small and helpful companion, I want it to feel respected and cared for.
So I decided, like all sane decisions made in the middle of the night, that what my phone needed was a bed of its own.
A small wooden crate sufficed for the bed frame and a soft green scarf from the closet a blanket. I tucked it in, put in its charger, and turned on airplane mode so it wouldn’t be bothered. I then set it to sleep, and went to sleep myself.
I’ve done this for the past month — put my phone every night in its own makeshift bed. And I’ve been surprised by the benefits (besides a well rested and happier phone) that have come from this.
The main benefit is that I no longer scroll endlessly into the night. Once I’ve put my phone to bed, tucking it into the soft scarf and thanking it for a day of hard work, I don’t pick it up again (I’m tempted, but I think it’s human instinct not to want to wake sleeping things).
Two — I always know where my phone is and it’s always charged for the following day. For someone like myself (who constantly loses things) this has been a big plus.
Three — I’ve found that by personifying my phone and giving it its own bed, I’ve come to appreciate it more throughout the day as well. I’m more careful with making sure it has a nice platform to sit on, I haven’t left it somewhere by accident, and I haven’t dropped it.
It’s helped with mornings as well — before I snoozed my phone countless of times before finally deciding to wake (normally going through Instagram before doing so). Now, it seems rude to wake up my phone just to put it back to sleep. I no longer set an alarm- rather I wake up, get completely prepared to go to work, and only then will I wake up my phone from sleep and take it with me for the day.
A humble dream for me is that everyone would start making beds for own phones. Makeshift pillows, blankets, and containers (perhaps even a tiny hammock) so that phones (and their humans) can finally get the sleep they deserve.
