The seventh transmission from The Dispatch. Not a trick question. The answer tells you more than you'd think.
Where does your phone sleep?
Not a trick question. Think about it for a second before you answer. Nightstand. Under the pillow. Charging on the floor within arm's reach of the bed. However you answered, there's a decent chance the answer is: close enough to touch without sitting up.
This week's diagnostic is smaller than last time, and it only takes one night.
Put the phone somewhere else. Not off. Somewhere else. Another room, a bag, a drawer you'd have to get out of bed for. Then just notice what happens.
Most people report the same three things, in this order: a check for it that doesn't land on anything, because it's not there. A longer stretch of just lying there before sleep actually shows up. And a specific kind of morning: waking up before checking anything, instead of the other way around.
That's DIAG-03. The overnight test. It's not about sleep hygiene. It's about finding out how much of your night was actually being run by something in the next room.
Run it once this week. If something happened worth mentioning, reply to this. I read them.
Also ran EXP-05 again this month. Apps off the home screen, one layer deeper, and a look at which ones you go back for anyway. Field notes are in Issue 006 if you want the long version.
If you want to run all twelve, the full 7-Day Planner is free at slateandsilicon.com. It uses your actual Screen Time data. It doesn't tell you what to think. It just shows you what's already there.
Get the Free PlannerIssue 008 ships next Tuesday. Every Tuesday. No noise.
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