Finding Focus: Building a New Sleep Mode to Improve Discipline, Support Better Habits, and Save Me from Myself
For many, sleep is a complicated matter. It is vital to our health and well-being, yet many struggle to get adequate rest. According to the CDC, 36 percent of adults in the United States, approximately 120 million people, sleep less than seven hours each night.
Over a quarter of the US population needs to sleep more. Regretfully, since becoming a parent, I've become part of this unfortunate statistic.
Like most parents, The struggle became greater after having children. As if inconsistencies of sleep that are beyond my control aren't enough, I've recently started doing something that is certainly not in my best interest: staying up well after the kids are asleep and things are cleaned up. I don't do this every night, but I cycle through a couple times a week where the desire to just stay awake and enjoy some quiet time to decompress wins out over the better angels of sleep. My wife, who deals with the same sleepless nights but is far wiser than me, prioritizes what little sleep she gets over anything that doesn't involve her family. She's an intelligent woman, and as I often tell her, when I'm learning from her, I'm taking notes.
Some nights things works out. I go to bed later than I should, and everyone sleeps through the night. Other nights, I only get a few hours of sleep before the waking up begins. After a particularly tough week of this cycle, I made a conscious decision to take action and make a change.
The Goal
I started this project by making a short list of my goals. Here's what I came up with:
Aim for seven hours of sleep every night
Access to apps that promote relaxation and sleep
Limit access to apps that inhibit sleep
Turn on automatically 30 minutes before ideal bedtime
Use context shifting to reinforce sleep time
With these goals in mind, I set out to reduce distractions during the time that I want to be sleeping and also improve my sleep discipline. After some planning, I started building a revamped sleep Focus mode.
Letting the Right Apps In
Okay, I have an admission to make. I use my devices in bed before going to sleep. Most often, I'm on an iPad Air or iPad Mini, writing a journal entry and reading on the Kindle app. Sometimes, I do this on my iPhone if I'm traveling or don't have an iPad near me.
I know that using technology before bed can contribute to sleep problems. More specifically, I know the apps that can distract me and present problems. I keep the few social media apps I use, streaming apps, email, and the open web, off limits.
So, what's allowed? Honestly, not much.
The Home Screen
I Have one widget and four apps that are a part of my Sleep Focus Mode. Phone and Messages are also accessible, but let’s be honest, they are easily ignored.
The Kindle Widget
I read when I wake up and before I go to sleep. I read several short passages from "daily" books in the morning, while I usually read one or two full-length books at night. The content of these vary, but it's typically nonfiction. Lately, I've been rereading Kitchen Confidential and The Diary of Anne Frank. The first is an old favorite that I'm rereading for the first time since It was released nearly 24 years ago, and the second is part of my research into journaling. The Kindle Widget is ideal here because it's bigger than any other app icon and will get me right into reading a book.
Ulysses
I do all of my writing in Ulysses. I like accessing what I'm working on quickly, especially if I'm in bed early. While that's rare, it's often because I want to do a little writing before I call it a night.
MindNode
I'm a nerd. Nerds mind map. I'm working on several active mind maps for various parts of my life, including management and team-building ideas, journaling, event or trip planning, and general content for this site.
Dark Noise
I often use Dark Noise while I sleep. I've always been a fan of white noise, and having two kids who like white noise machines has just reinforced my preference for it. I set up this simple shortcut to turn on brown noise, which I prefer over the more traditional white noise option in this app.
Gratitude
As part of my journaling practice, I use this shortcut to create a new daily gratitude entry in Day One. That's table stakes for my journaling practice. Some days, I write in other journals or do multiple entries, but at a minimum, I post a photo and a sentence or two that share something I'm thankful for.
Moving Safari
I've always kept Safari on my dock on all my mobile devices. It's one of my most frequently used apps, yet it's one of the apps I don't want easy access to in Sleep Mode. Right now, Apple doesn't let you have different docks for different focus modes, so now Safari lives on the Home Screen of my iPad and iPhone.
The Apple Watch
Most days, I wear my watch until I go to bed, so I have an automation set to change the face from California to the Breathe face an hour before my ideal bedtime. This furthers the shift from where the day-to-day noise of calendar, fitness, weather, etc., can become overwhelming to where the focus is much more on winding down.
The Honor System
I am at my best when I follow this simple rule: if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, I can pick up my iPad or my iPhone, and I can do anything I want as long as it's reading a book or choosing an option on my Home Screen.
Having used this Focus mode for more than a month since beginning the first draft of this post, I can report that it works well. The context shift does make a difference. It reminds me that my interests are best served by not accessing social media, news apps, or any noisy inputs the broader net offers. Anytime I ignore this reminder and abandon my responsibilities around getting the best sleep possible, I am worse for it.
Finally, I know Focus modes can only do so much. It’s as much about making the right decisions and advocating for myself. Still, using the tools at hand to make it a little easier to make the right decisions is worth doing.
Cal Newport on Slow Productivity
This week’s quote comes from Cal Newport’s latest book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout.
The trap of unlimited time is rather easy to fall into, especially when you are working on a passion project. Add to that the rigors of everyday life, family, and day job stuff, and that unlimited time can quickly morph into infinity. I’m speaking from experience here, as I have projects I’ve lost track of because I haven’t been able to set the right kind of deadlines and actually make the right kind of effort to match them. I’ve written before about how practice makes progress, and this idea speaks to this quote. We needn’t forge a masterpiece here; we need to make something that causes those we want to reach most to take note of.
I’m taking the advice here to heart and seeing how I can make some slow progress on the work I’m doing. I hope you’ll do the same, and in doing so, be kind to yourself. Your circumstances are what they are, and they’re real. Even Newport mentions that what he suggests in this book won’t work for everyone, or at least not in its totality. Remember that, and do your best to accomplish the things you want to get done.
Weekly Quote: David Sparks on Carrying Less Water
This week’s quote is from the recently released Productivity Field Guide from David Sparks. I’m a big fan of David’s work, including MacSparky and The Mac Power Users. I’m also a member of the Labs, where he shares even more to help us get the most out of our technology and be more productive and focused in the process.
He’s been working on the ideas in the Productivity Field Guide for a long time, and it shows. He takes a thoughtful approach to the topic and looks at It through the lens of planning and crafting your arete, that is, your ideal roles in your life. David is inspired by philosophers from the ages, citing some of my favorites, including the Stoics.
David encourages us to find a balance. We shouldn't do too much, likening that to trying to carry more water than our bucket can hold. But we also shouldn't allow fear to stand in the way of doing the work we are meant to do. That's an important balance, and again, the focus on your individual roles is a way to effectively measure how you're doing in the most critical parts of your life.
It’s also worth noting that David is a really nice guy who’s offered encouraging words in my creative journey and was even kind enough to feature my Home Screen when I was first starting out. Check out The Productivity Field Guide page out for a free 30+ minute sample and see if it’s for you. I bet it could help you in more ways than you realize.
David Sparks on Journaling as a Maker, a Manager, and a Consumer
Last week I wrote a piece for the Finding Focus series about the benefits of waking up early and quoted podcast host and MacSparky Labs founder David Sparks' idea that, as creators, we should make before we manage.
David wrote more on this idea a few years ago and shared his thoughts about how being a maker, a manager, and a consumer impacts the purpose of his journaling process. He writes about the evolution of his journaling:
My purpose in journaling is tracking how I'm spending my time in these roles. I don't view any of them as inherently good or bad. The magic is in the balance. While making is most important to me, both managing and consuming enable making. I want to spend more time making than consuming. I need to spend time managing, but not go down the management/productivity rabbit hole so far that I don't make anything.
So with this in mind, I've been focusing my journaling lately not so much on what I had for lunch, but what I make, manage, and consume. Using tags, I can then see it on a daily, weekly, and even monthly basis. If I look at my week and realize I spent most of my time sharpening pencils and sorting tasks (manager) and not enough time producing content (maker), I know I need to make changes. You can get similar information by tracking your time, but I think there is something more concrete looking at a list of things you've made, managed, and consumed over a period of time.
David suggests using Day One and assigning a tag to each role as an effective way to aid in planning and review. More good advice from someone who, to quote another often used Sparks phrase, pays for his shoes as a self-employed creator.
A journaling practice is a powerful way to see where and what you've been doing. Of course, your journal cannot predict the future, but you can certainly use it to forecast where you might end up.
I’ll be doing more writing about journaling here and in the monthly newsletter. The April issue focused on the topic and offered some ideas on how to get started or stick with your own practice. You can subscribe here if you’re interested. Just be sure to check your email (and spam folder) for the opt-in confirmation that’ll get sent. If you're interested in the April issue, let me know and I’ll get it to you.
Finding Focus: Why Waking Up at 5 AM Helps Me Get More Done
I've long been the kind of person who likes to wake up at 5 AM. The time before the day starts is one of reflection and personal development for me, whether through physical exercise, journaling, or reading. I've discovered since launching 24 Letters that this time is where some of my most productive work on content and ideas comes from.
Here are a few reasons why being an early riser helps me get more done.
It's Quiet
I get distracted easily and also have plenty of responsibilities once the kids are awake, so having a quiet house helps me get into the writing groove. Once I've made coffee and fed the cats, I come into the studio and get started. I use a focus mode to keep the digital distractions at bay, and I have a shortcut to launch my preferred mix in Dark Noise. My mind is quiet, and if I can keep it from getting polluted with notifications and calendar items for the coming day, I'm much more likely to get work done.
It's my Margin
Whatever you're doing with your day, you likely have something that takes up the bulk of your time that, in most cases, is not your creative endeavor or passion project. I'm a stay-at-home dad, which requires a lot of attention and care. Finding the margins means figuring out the time that works around your other priorities. Unless my kids are awake extra early, the predawn time is usually available for me.
It Starts the Day Strong
When I get some work done on a post or a draft of the next newsletter started, I start the day with an accomplishment that is meaningful to me. As a result, I find myself in a better mood and can better focus my attention during the day instead of becoming distracted by the projects I'm falling behind on.
It's Incremental Growth
An hour or 90 minutes a day may not seem like much, but that adds up to a few weeks' worth of writing time if you do it every day. Realistically, it doesn't happen daily, but even three or four days a week moves the needle. For me, it's about progress over time, and I’m happy with that as long as I can build content that helps people.
It's my Peak
In his book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Daniel Pink writes about Your Daily When, the natural fluctuations in energy and alertness that everyone feels throughout the day. Dan's research shows that most people peak in the morning, and I'm in that group. I'm often happiest and most effective at getting things done between 5 am and 12 pm.
What I Work On
I try to make before I manage, as David Sparks frequently says. The early hours are reserved for creative work. I either get stuck into an ongoing draft in Ulysses or begin pulling ideas and sources together to prep for a new piece. This work usually takes place in apps like Craft and Mindnode.
I have a weekly planning document in Craft that I use to roughly map out what I want to get done with the week, and I also have a simple review process built-in with that.
Navigating the Ups and Downs
We sometimes have less attention or time to devote to the things we would like to get done than we would like.
It's frustrating to have a plan and then watch it not happen. We all have more practice with that than we realize, yet it's still difficult to experience. My rule is to start with kindness and understanding. It's helpful to remember the first principle of Stoicism, shared by Ward Farnsworth in The Practicing Stoic:
I like starting the day by acting on something important to me. It improves my mood, sharpens my senses, and helps me achieve the goal of creating content that can help people become a better version of themselves by learning something new. It doesn’t always work, but it did today and I will try for tomorrow too.