Last week, I turned myself into a test subject in the much-discussed matter of eliminating all screens before bed 鈥� and I鈥檓 entirely gutted to report that I did, in fact, sleep very well. All week, every night.

What a terrible discovery.

I should let you know that I also spent a lot of that unplugged time reading Charles Dicken鈥檚 massive work, Great Expectations, hence the wordiness. So, I鈥檒l rewrite that first sentence in a more modern way.

No TV before bedtime? Thanks, I hate it.

It鈥檚 something we鈥檝e read about for years now, collectively, isn鈥檛 it? Turn down the screen use for a better sleep, the researchers say. Well, easy to say, but so much harder to do as everything from phone calls to shopping lists are now online.

But since I ran out of the high-speed data on my cell phone plan, and the costs today being what they are to eat and drive, I decided not to buy more. It was a radical idea, I know.

Especially so since I got rid of my home internet last year, because the connectivity in my apartment is so bad that it was more an exercise in frustration than relaxation to kick back and stream a series, upload content to social media, or even just send a text.

I walk around my suite like a tourist dropped on a deserted island, searching for a signal most days.

Put these two things together, and I effectively had no way to stream, chat, or connect for a week, lest I went to a coffee shop or was at work. And I don鈥檛 drink that much coffee.

After just one night of unplugging several hours before sleeping, I was already being led much more nicely into dreamland. I woke up that first morning fully refreshed, energized 鈥� and at least an hour earlier than usual.

After a few days of waking up feeling gloriously recharged, I started to realize that there must be a connection, so to speak. I was needing less caffeine, I was arriving to work earlier than usual, and by the time I had eaten dinner and read for a few hours, I was heading to bed early and falling asleep easily.

It was a miracle. Or maybe, just science. Or the miracle of science. Something about circadian rhythms, internal clocks, blue light, and so on. I鈥檓 sure I saw it on a Netflix doc. Or maybe in a long stream of articles in news feeds. Probably both.

It鈥檚 not that I鈥檓 not using screens. I haven鈥檛 shrunk back to being a troglodyte. At work, I have three screens to keep an eye on 鈥� two computers running different programs, plus my cell for texts and various social media channels.

Then at home, I usually would fire up my laptop while also keeping an eye on my cell. All the while, I鈥檇 be running the obligatory 鈥済uilt鈥� program in the back of my mind, thinking of all the things I could be doing instead of whatever that was.

Last week, I did so many of those things.

I hiked a very small mountain, twice. I gave myself a proper manicure. I got up early one morning and made brownies. I read half of Great Expectations, along with several other books I鈥檝e been ploughing through. I finished almost all of my crossword puzzle books that have been yellowing with age.

And I thought about how I would sheepishly admit, through this column space, that I have been devoting way too much time to the screens in my life, instead of the passions in my life. And then I got back to doing things.

I went to the library, and I鈥檓 not going to lie, it was because I needed a strong wifi connection. But while there, I spotted a jigsaw puzzle laying out on a table. The edge had been done, but little else. I passed it a couple times before I eventually hovered and started placing pieces.

I am a puzzler. I love every sort of puzzle and game you could divine. I鈥檝e written about that previously when Wordle was sold to the New York Times, so I won鈥檛 rehash it.

Let鈥檚 just say that that was Saturday, and I went back on Sunday to work on the puzzle some more. It had barely been touched, which I found shocking. So I sat down for an hour and worked at it again. This time, the draw was the puzzle and the bonus was the free wifi.

Now, I鈥檓 not going to say that this is a sustainable practice. There were plenty of times I really could have used a quick internet hit, such as when I had questions about baking, or needing to check my bank account, or staying connected with my family members.

But the rest of it? I didn鈥檛 really miss it at all. And what鈥檚 more, on Sunday afternoon I got the iPhone message about usage that I usually dread. And it came bearing good news. My screen time over the week was down a whopping 54 per cent, and down to an average of three and a half hours a day.

Just don鈥檛 ask me what it will spike back to next week, as I catch up on all that I鈥檝e missed. Hopefully, happiness will be somewhere in the middle. And also hopefully, I鈥檒l find the time to continue reading about Pip鈥檚 greatness.

COLUMN:

jessica.peters@abbynews.com
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