Mac mini M1 sends no signal to external monitor... solution

I have recently been having a very similar issue to others. At certain times I get no signal to monitor via usb-c or display port. And like many I have been trying to figure out what's going on. Here is my situation and what I see is happening and my workaround. (And yes, I now leave the "prevent your Mac from automatically sleeping when the display is off" checked.)

I have a usb-c dell 4k monitor model P2721Q. (Great monitor except, careful, the hub only works at full speed through via a usb 3.0 to usb-c connection thereby taking up the usb-c port.). When I shut off the monitor thinking it is good for it, and then come back and turn it on, I can't get the display to come up, even if I click around on the keyboard. Here is what I realized is happening. The mini's display functionality is actually still on, i.e. the display is not sleeping . After reading several forums saying to disable sleep, I realized that this was what is causing my particular issue. Basically, waking from sleep in any way possible also reawakes the monitor.

I got the idea from someone stating to set a hot corner for to display sleep (I didn't see that option, but it got me thinking. I set it to be a way of activating monitor sleep. So that is what I do when I think the computer thinks the display is not asleep: I sleep it and rewake it. It works. Similarly, when I let it sleep automatically when not in use, coming back to it sleeps the monitor. Anyway, try the hot corner idea. It seems to activate something and I avoid taking out the plug all the time.