Why you check LinkedIn at 3am (and what to do instead)

Stop looking at LinkedIn in the middle of the night. I know quite a few people in other time zones and I’m noticing that many of them are checking LinkedIn in the dead of the night. Or at least that’s what LinkedIn suggests—indicating they’re active when I know it’s 3, 4 or 5am in their time zone.

Derailing your sleep cycle

I get it. Because when you’re lying awake and can’t sleep, it’s all too tempting to check social media. And then LinkedIn might feel like the most useful or productive version of that.

I’m guessing you know social media is addictive thanks to the lovely dopamine boost it gives you. And that looking at your screen—even when set to night mode—can signal to your brain that it’s daytime. As a result, your body produces melatonin—which only makes you more awake.

In addition, your brain gets fired up when you’re reading all these things. You’ll be inspired and come up with new ideas or tasks for your to-do list. That wakes you up even more.

Why do you feel the need or desire to go online in the middle of the night?

This is the sneaky part. As I’ve mentioned before, 95% of our thoughts and actions happen on autopilot. And there are three behaviors or beliefs that might be at play here.

1. Soothing your need to be productive

Chances are being on LinkedIn makes you feel productive. Because you’re doing something work-related. You tell yourself you’re networking, building your personal brand or visibility, or you simply remembered you still needed to get back to so-and-so.

When we’re accomplishing, we often feel better about ourselves. For years a good day for me was a day in which I got a lot done. But when you’re tying self-worth to productivity that might be a subconscious reason you’re hanging out on LinkedIn when you should be sleeping or at least relaxing.

2. Fighting boredom

Maybe you’re just bored because you can’t sleep. Rather than stare at the ceiling you grab your phone to have something to do. Chances are it’s pure habit as well.

3. Numbing your feelings

Perhaps the most dangerous of these three is numbing yourself. When you’re reaching for your phone instead of dealing with your pain, disappointment or lack of satisfaction, you only postpone the problem. Now there might be reasons to not give in to sadness in a meeting for example, and that’s valid. But when you’re in bed you have all the time in the world to process your feelings. If you don’t know where to start, this article can help you process your emotions.

What to do instead

These practical tips will help you shift this behavior.

Start by putting your phone further away.

Help yourself by placing your phone out of reach, forcing you to step out of bed to get it. That ensures you can’t unconsciously grab your phone. Ideally put your phone outside your bedroom. If there is no reason to use your phone in the middle of the night then it has no business being there. 😉

I always turn my phone to flight mode. I do have it by my bed because as I live alone, I just want to make sure I can get in touch with the world if needed. But because it is in flight mode and in ‘do not disturb’ my phone won’t be the one waking me up.

Do some grounding.

An reason to get out of bed is when thoughts are running around in your head. In that case I recommend you stand up to ground for a moment.

Because once you’re grounded, it’s much easier to get back to sleep. It helps deepen your breathing and slows down your thoughts. Being more present and aware of your physical body makes it easier to fall back asleep.

Tip: grounding while lying in bed doesn’t really work (unfortunately). I’ve tried enough times…

This audio helps you ground:

Give your brain something else to focus on.

Try breathing exercises, meditation or a body scan.

A body scan means consciously relaxing each part of your body, moving from top to bottom. Or tightening your muscles one by one for a few seconds and then relaxing them.

If none of that helps, read a book. Be sure to use a reading light that has no white or blue light so you don’t mess up your circadian rhythm.

Next time you’re awake in the middle of the night thinking you should definitely check your LinkedIn DMs or respond to someone’s comment, I hope you remember to suppress the impulse to grab your phone.

Pause long enough to remind yourself that going online or checking messages will only wake you up further. Plus you’ll perpetuate the problem.

Because when you wake up often enough and always grab your phone, giving yourself a hit of dopamine, your body gets used to that pattern and it will start waking you up even when there’s no real reason for you to be awake.

It’s a little bit like breaking an addiction, not easy at first. And you might cuss at me the first few times you’re lying awake, annoyed you’re not supposed to grab your phone. Because it will feel like it brings you relief for a moment.

And that’s the dangerous part. Because once these become ingrained habits, it’ll be so much harder to break the pattern and tear yourself away from your phone.

You and your body deserve better than that. And you’ll be rewarded by better sleep and more energy. Likely feeling more like yourself when you stop hiding or numbing.

And if you find it very hard to relax and unwind, you might be in overdrive. That’s something to pay attention to because when you keep pushing through you risk burnout. If you’d like help getting out of this cycle or to ensure you’re not stuck in overdrive, my private mentoring might be perfect for you.

Here’s to a good night’s sleep!