I never consciously thought about sleep until I started working. During the days I was growing up, I had never felt sleep deprived ever. I also slept early, well into the mornings and there were too less of distractions to keep me out of bed.

Things started to change as screen time started to conquer the lives. My grandfather used to call the TV as the idiot box, even though there was only 2 hours of watchable programs every day. He said that this makes people lazy consumers and not able to do anything productive. He said that entertainment should only be used like medicine not like food.

The screen addiction was very evident even without smart phones, I have played snake game for hours together on the old Nokia phones often postponing sleep. It is very hard to limit screen time, often those endless titbits we read/watch is not of so much use and the games we play does not relax us but bait us into playing more.

If I look back, many of my bad days were due to having a bad sleep the previous night. Sleeplessness increases the fatigue, turns it into a chronic cycle of yawning, lethargy and sleepiness. Often this impairs judgement because a sound body is a higher priority in hierarchy of one’s needs.

How to sleep well, it is very hard to find a rhythm that works for a person as each person is unique. The ones which has always worked for me very well are; social media off at least an hour before bed, reading a light book to switch off the buzz in the head, keeping the room cool, a cozy bed, dim lights from an hour before bed, enough physical activity during the day to make me tired but not fatigued. This setting worked like clock work for me for years. I used to go to bed same time everyday and wake up at the same time every day.

If I succumb to the temptations of sleeping late for a few days, then things go out of gear which takes a few weeks to get back into rhythm. For me a good night always meant a good day next day.