Dr Perpetua Neo

Are you a Greedy Bedtime Reader? How to read at night and still sleep.

When I was 6, my teacher said I’d read the class library in 3 months. My mother laughed. She’d fed my reading habit back when I was swimming in her womb. Today, I read up to 10 books a week. It’s one of my greatest indulgences- a way I treat myself kindly. On most nights, I read before sleeping- my system of ensuring I read. But I’ve noticed that reading can stop me from sleeping. Because I’m a Greedy Bedtime Reader. And I know I’m not alone. Some books are simply Unputdownable. And there are others I’m too curious about. Why wait till tomorrow if it’s in my hands? To solve this, I dissected my bedtime reading habits. Project: How to sleep better? Mastered.

Know Your Bedtime Reading Personality

Fiction vs Non-fiction

  • Reading non-fiction, my brain enters creative mode. It’s Idea Machine Time. I start sketching thoughts, drawing arrows between concepts, and . . .
  • Fiction makes me curious, but my brain doesn’t transition into creative mode. 

Old book vs New book

  • New books require a lot of strength to stop. Sometimes I turn off the lights and then run back into the book’s embrace.
  • Old books I’m re-reading are easier to stop. Or I start from the middle or last 3 chapters.

My solution: If it’s really late, I only re-read fiction books. 

How about you?

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