Have you ever had trouble sleeping?

I, personally, keep falling into this pattern where I stay on my phone for hours in bed and don't end up sleeping until 5 in the morning. I've lost track of time many nights while aimlessly scrolling through social media and then by the time I put my phone down, I find it hard to not pick it back up again. On many days, I do.

It's just downright unhealthy for me and has effectively ruined my sleep schedule.

Then, one night, my roommate put on a podcast of sleep sounds that literally made me snooze in 15 minutes. It's surprising how well it worked on me.

The podcast is called "Deep Sleep Sounds" and you can find it on Spotify. It's absolutely amazing.

They have a variety of sounds to help your slumber, including nature soundscapes, binaural sleep music, and calming white noise. Here are some examples of some of the episodes:

"Distant Thunder Sounds for Sleep"

"Rustling Bamboo Sound"

"Into the Clouds: Piano Music for Sleep"

"Driving in the Rain Sounds for Sleep"

"Ocean Ferry Sound: White Noise and Relaxing Waves"

Many of the sounds aren't just for sleep, they have options that help you work, study, or meditate. It adds a calming background that really helps block out any distractions and put your mind at ease.

My personal favorites to help me drift off into sleep are "Camping by the River: Crackling fire and river sounds" and "Storm on the Beach: Thunder, Rain and Ocean Waves".

It's kind of funny how specific their list of sounds are, like for instance, "Baby Shushing Sound" or "Starship Sleeping Quarters: Sleep in Outer Space", but they are all very peaceful and have helped put me in a more restful state.

Don't get me wrong, my sleeping schedule is still pretty bad. This might not magically make you fall asleep at 11 PM, but it does do a pretty good job of making you go to sleep in no time. I just need to be better about putting my phone down at a reasonable time and not using it in bed.

The blue light emitted by your phone screen actually decreases melatonin production, the hormone that regulates your sleep wake cycle, so it's recommended to not use your phone before bed in order to be able to actually fall asleep.

Will I still continue to use my phone in bed? Probably. But I'm gonna try to use it for less and less time every night until I won't need to anymore. Except to put my sleep sounds on because they're very soothing. Baby steps!

I know this sounds like an ad or promotion for Spotify but I swear it isn't! This podcast has seriously pushed me in the right direction though and I highly recommend it to those who need some help in the sleep department.

Sweet dreams!