How to play video games without sacrificing restorative sleep

Playing video games all night is not a strange phenomenon. It used to be a “teenager” thing, especially with Gen-Xers like me. We were around for Atari and didn’t stop there.. From Space Invaders 8-bit on a black and white TV to MMORPGs on your phone, we grew with the games.

It made sense to us, as young adults, to learn that playing games all night will have a negative effect on your sleep and energy in the morning.

I flashback to my undergrad days of playing Doom with my friends in the little-used computer labs.

Don’t ask how it got installed over multiple towers.

We could stay up through the wee-hours and slink into class the next morning , barely alive to take notes.

Anything you do to get less than 6 hours a night is bound to hurt your sleep.

But what I didn’t know is that even playing video games a couple of hours a night, and going to bed at a decent hour can still mess with your sleep.

How so? And how do you fix it so that you can keep going without losing the snooze?

It’s all about the 20 watt energy in your brain.

Brain Waves

It’s well-known that the brain is our most powerful organ that runs everything from growing the hairs on your head to killing the fungus in your toes. That level of responsibility doesn’t come without generating some heat and energy.

Your brain can, in fact, produce enough electricity to power a 20 watt light bulb.

That electricity is generated from neurotransmitters operating at various speeds, depending on the task. The more complicated the task, the higher speed; and vice versa. The speed can be measured via EKG hook ups and is categorized. Beta waves, the measurement for the highest speed, occur when you are doing concentrated work. They oscillate between 12 and 40 hz, depending on what’s going on. If you are doing focused, steady work, waves are on the lower end of the spectrum. Anxious, or high energy and arousal waves show up in the higher range.

When your body is on it’s way to sleep, ideally your brain would be in Theta Wave mode, which operate between 5 and 12hz.

Where Video Games Interrupt Sleep

If you ever stole a car on Grand Theft Auto and drove it fierce into the chop shop you probably didn’t slow down enough to fill up the tank, keep the engine cool, check the oil, or anything like that.

You probably went 100 mph, slammed on the E-brake, and got into that garage ASAP.

That is essentially what you do to your brain when you keep it in beta wave mode until your eyes and body quit on you. You are asleep, but it isn’t restorative, because your brain is still generating heat without a break.

Think about the high strategy and deeply coordinated logistics involved with a first person shooter team up. Or the goosebump- inducing VR horror-themed games. They might be a welcome diversion from your day, but can keep your brain from getting that needed restorative sleep for improved concentration, and immune system building.

(It’s one reason why I quit playing Sims- too much like real life!)

Even if you’re trying to be in bed by 10 and stop playing your high-powered games by 9:45pm, your brain could be burning that 20 watt energy for a couple of hours and you truly don’t pass out until well past midnight.

How To Keep Playing and Get Restorative Sleep

The simplest way to do this is to scale your way down before bed instead of the sudden stop.

Plan to stop playing at least an hour before your target bed time.

And it’s not enough to just “stop” the button pressing. You have to slow down the mental planning and re-hashing that happens after the fact.

Or for your horror-game fanatics, getting rid of the goosebumps and grotesque imagery.

Plan your bedtime hygiene to serve as the change over from games to sleep. Have your special set of PJs, your hot shower, your kitchen clean-up happen start as soon as you’ve shut the system down.

Put something on in your ears that is either peaceful (ocean waves, for me) or semi-boring (financial podcasts). That’s one of my suggestions to my sleep coaching clients when they want to take their minds off of work before bed. If it’s too quiet, you can start reflecting into your recent game play.

In Forza Horizon terms, you want to slow down from 200mph to 60 to 40 and make that car last longer.

When you make this a healthy habit, you can still have your games and your sleep, too!