[Momup]

Hello guys, when it comes to sleep I currently do the following things:
– maintain a consistent sleeping schedule (always go to sleep at the same time even when I am not tired and always wake up at the same time even when I am not well-rested)
– don’t do sports too late or don’t drink coffeine several hours before sleep
– try to not care about being able to sleep well

Now I would say that under normal circumstances this approach works pretty well. But since I currently live in a noisy neighborhood (which I am thankfully soon moving out of) my sleep has been disrupted. Right now I haven’t slept well since Sunday night (about 5 hours per night) and whenever I don’t sleep well for a few days sleeping well becomes even harder for me. Even though yesterday I have slept in a much quieter environment (at my parent’s) I still had problems sleeping and now I ask myself whether in general gaming affects sleep.

Yesterday before going to sleep I have played a competitive online video game (League of Legends) and when it comes to gaming and sleep I am twisted. One side of me thinks that gaming before sleeping is not good because it’s too stressful but the other side thinks that it actually doesn’t matter what I do before going to sleep as long as it doesn’t affect me on a physiological level (like sports or drinking coffee) because when I start caring about what I actually do before going to sleep I nurture my insomnia even more. So I don’t know which side to listen to in this case. Maybe you guys can clarify it a bit for me.

And as usual I really appreciate your support!

Best regards,
Momup

[Martin Reed]

If something is disrupting our sleep it’s usually quite obvious. If gaming was disrupting our sleep we would find that any nights we didn’t game we’d sleep great. If coffee was disrupting our sleep we would find that when we don’t consume coffee, we’d sleep great.

If this is the case, great — problem solved!

Otherwise, if sleep issues continue or if there’s ongoing confusion and ambiguity, the sleep disruption is almost certainly caused by our effort to make sleep happen and to avoid wakefulness.

With sleep, the more we try, the more we struggle!

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Chee2308]

Ultimately, you have to accept that whatever sleep you are getting has to be the one that your body needs for that moment, regardless of circumstances. Stop chasing sleep, let it chase you. Stop making great sleep (whatever great sleep means to you) a goal for every night, if you slept badly, fine just get on with your life. If you keep paying attention to it, it becomes like dealing with a spoilt brat.

[Momup]

Thank you very much for your answers! I feel like I need more days to actually say if gaming actually disrupts my sleep or not. But since I am not sure if gaming is bad for my sleep then it’s quite like that it’s just my worries about not sleeping well. For now I will just keep doing what I did before, meaning that I maintain a consistent sleeping schedule and try to not care too much about sleep. Moreover I am following Martin’s free e-mail course but besides that I try to not invest too much time and effort into my sleeping problems. When it comes to gaming I will just keep allowing myself to play video games and observe whether the video games actually disrupt my sleep.

I wish you a nice weekend!

Best regards,
Momup

[Author]

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