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gwern comments on Thoughts on designing policies for oneself - Less Wrong
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Love this.
How do you feel about using rituals to reinforce habits and create momentum for new policies? It's basically outsourcing willpower to past selves.
For instance, I've always had a hard time regulating my sleep schedule. It's not always that I can't sleep, but that I seldom want to go to sleep and lack the willpower to not do whatever I want to do instead, no matter how sleepy I am. What finally worked was a ritual that served as both positive reinforcement and physiological manipulation. I love bubble baths, and they put me in a relaxed mindspace where much less willpower is required to go to sleep. Bubble baths are now my bedtime ritual. Between 9 and 11PM, I shut off my laptop, don my robe, light scented candles, and draw a bath. Exactly like that, every single time.
It's not difficult, in part because a ritual doesn't really feel like my decision. It feels more like an external way the world is, something it would take effort to change, like the lunch meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Taking a bath is the last thing I'm allowed to do before sleeping, and it's something I always look forward to. Sleeping is simply the conclusion of the ritual.
Obviously, rituals are dangerous, especially in group contexts. But they're dangerous because they really are powerful. We can delude ourselves with rituals, but we can also use them as cheat codes for winning. We just have to use them judiciously.
I'd point out that there's a plausible physiological mechanism here: aside from a nice hot bath being relaxing (no doubt there's research on this), avoiding electronics may also mean avoiding blue light which suppresses melatonin secretion.
There's a program called f.lux that you can download on a computer/laptop, and it senses your current location, looks up time of sunrise and sunset, and changes your screen to warm hues only after your local sunset. It's not distracting at all–I only notice it if I actually see the transition happen. However, I don't know if it makes any difference.
I also turn the screen brightness down if I'm on the computer right before bed, i.e. now.
I love Redshift myself, but he didn't mention taking any such precautions.
(As for difference - well, I've been randomizing use of Redshift since 11 May 2012, so in a few months I'll finish the experiment and look at the results.)
Also, I'm not a he. ;-)
How did your randomized trial with Redshift work out?
It's not done yet. If it was, it'd be written up in the link.
I do use Redshift, actually. Color change at sunset, computer off by 11. The first part's about melatonin, the second is about getting out of my head. Very interested in the results of your experiment.
I tried f.lux, but hated the color change with a passion. As usual, there's a lot of individual variation-- I notice colors a lot in general. Do you?
I use Redshift, and while I do notice the change (so it'd be impossible for me to tell how much of the insomnia-preventing effect is due to placebo), it doesn't bother me at all.
(Edit: BTW, with Redshift the transition is gradual throughout the day, rather than near-instantaneous at sunset and sunrise.)
f.lux offers fast (20 seconds) and slow (60 minutes) transitions.
Yes, this is what I meant by "physiological manipulation". The dropping of body temperature as you cool down from a bath may also induce sleepiness. I try to make my rituals as efficient as possible.