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Comment by rootusrootus | Hacker News Reader

> they didn't have smartphones to fiddle with in bed

This is solvable for people who want to. We have a dedicated charging station in our house for all electronic devices. Before bed, all of those devices get put there. Including me and my wife's phones.

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This definitely is the way to do it. I have started keeping my phone in my living room at night instead of my bedroom, but am still bad about doing this every night. Phones are addictive and it is mentally hard to break out of the addiction. It is essentially a "you just have to do it" situation, but "just do it", while technically simple, is still difficult if you're addicted.

How can you be contacted in case of an emergency in the middle of the night?

I've made my peace with the tiny, tiny chance that I might miss my father's last moments because I didn't hear about his heart attack til the morning, for example.

Living as if it might happen any time and I must be available for it is not healthy IMO.

I figure it's a legitimate concern. One of my older brothers keeps his phone away from his room, but not close enough to hear it ring. About 10 years ago my little brother died unexpectedly in the middle of the night and all I could do was leave my older brother a message about it. He was beating himself up about it the next morning when he got the voicemail. Not that it would have changed anything, by the time I was notified it had already happened, there was no final moments to miss. But I suspect my brother doesn't keep his phone so far from his bed now.

The phone is still close enough to hear if it rings.

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