Think Like Arianna Huffington: 3 Simple Tech Storage Habits for a Better Night’s Sleep

Evidently, you can sleep your way to the top. At least that’s what Arianna Huffington thinks (“sleep,” to be clear, meaning a good old-fashion night’s rest). In her latest book, The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time, the Huffington Post founder, author, businesswoman, and CEO of Thrive Global is leading the charge in prioritizing getting enough sleep over being constantly plugged-in.

So how does a high-powered entrepreneur organize her bedroom for optimal snoozing? We ask Huffington about the changes she has instituted at home. Rule number one: Bed is for sex and sleep only (no work). Read on for three more small but revolutionary bedroom habit shifts to start today.

1. Store your phone—and the charger—outside the bedroom.

When I ask Huffington what’s in her bedroom, she responds: “More important is what’s not there: a charger for my phone. Our phones are repositories of everything we need to put away to allow us to sleep—our to-do lists, our in-boxes, the demands of the world.” Huffington’s company, Thrive Global, sells a charging station for phones in the shape of a tiny bed, so you can literally “tuck in” your devices before hitting the sack. But simply keeping the charger in a designated place outside of your bedroom will help your brain turn off for the night.

Then, make like Huffington and physically escort your phone out of the bedroom to the designated spot before bed (her rule: no screens 30 minutes before bedtime). “Putting my phone to bed outside my bedroom as a regular part of my bedtime ritual makes me much more likely to wake up as fully charged as my phone.”

2. When in a hotel room or studio apartment, make the bathroom your phone’s bedroom.

“If I’m traveling, my phone will go as far away from my bed as possible, which often means the bathroom,” Huffington says. Even a closet (with an outlet) works, so long as it’s not where you’re sleeping.

3. Create a yes/no list for reading materials.

Finally, return to old-school reading in the bedroom. Follow Huffington’s list of what’s allowed and not allowed: “No laptops, no iPads, no screens. I do love having newspapers all over the place—magazines and books too!” Create designated storage for screens and work-related paperwork elsewhere.

Read all of Huffington’s tips over on Remodelista. And see these three stories for more insight into how to design the bedroom for optimal sleep:

• 10 Ways to Declutter Your Tech Experience
• 10 Quick and Easy Cord Control Solutions
• 10 Secrets for a Better Night’s Sleep

N.B.: Featured photograph from The White Album: 27 Sleep-Inducing Bedrooms in Shades of Pale on Remodelista.