Use a tray and a wall shelf

The trick is to give each item a designated home, and move anything you don’t use nightly off the surface.

Get a small tray (like a shallow dish or a nice wooden one) and put it on your nightstand. That’s where your glasses and phone go. Keeps them together and easy to find in the dark. For water, use a bottle with a lid so it doesn’t get knocked over onto your book.

The book and any extras can go on a small shelf mounted above the nightstand, or a magazine rack attached to the side of the bed frame if you have one. If you don’t have a shelf, just put the book on the floor next to the nightstand. Nobody’s grading your decor.

Your nightstand should just be a landing pad, not a storage unit.