Started a show on night shift and it broke my sleep for a week

I finally got around to binging The Bear last month, and I made the mistake of watching it during my night shifts at the shop. You know, thinking it would just be background noise while I did wiring. But that show is so fast paced and loud that I couldn't shut my brain off after. I got home at 6 AM and just laid there staring at the ceiling for two hours. Then I switched to watching it on my days off instead, but the damage was done. My schedule got all twisted and I was falling asleep at 4 PM. So here's the debate: do you watch intense shows during the week and deal with the fallout, or do you save the good stuff for weekends? I'm leaning towards saving it now, but I've got friends who say they can watch anything anytime and still sleep fine. What's your take on this?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_hayes714d ago

Wait, haven't you heard that study or whatever about how blue light from screens messes with your sleep even more when you watch high intensity stuff? I read somewhere that your brain treats fast paced shows like a real stressful event, so it pumps out cortisol or something. For me, I got stuck on that exact show too, same thing happened. I tried watching it on my phone in bed with the brightness all the way down, but I still couldn't sleep. Now I just save shows like that for the weekend, my sleep schedule isn't worth the headache.

juliahall4d ago

Totally agree with you @spencer_hayes71. I actually read something similar about cortisol levels and how the brain can't tell the difference between real stress and intense TV drama. It said your nervous system stays on high alert for hours after, even if you feel tired. I tried the same thing with my phone brightness down, but the fast cuts and loud explosions still kept me wired. Now I just stick to chill nature docs or old sitcoms before bed, anything too gripping gets saved for Saturday morning coffee. Better to lose an hour of a show than a whole night of sleep.