It’s common these days for our phones to be by our side at all times and to be on them until we fall asleep each night. And if you are like me, your phone is even your alarm clock. While it seems to be the normal way to unwind, technology has a big impact on the quality of sleep we get each night. If you are struggling with sleep, your late night Facebook and tweeting could be to blame. There are two main reasons why technology affects your sleep.
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Light prevents melatonin
The artificial light from TVs, laptops & phones can prevent your body from producing melatonin. Melatonin is released to signal to your body that it’s time to sleep. Time on your phone or tablet before bed + the lack of melatonin = feeling wide awake. #science
2. Your brain doesn’t realize you are tired.
Staying on technology keeps your brain alert. By feeding your mind more and more photos, videos and words, it tricks your brain into thinking you need to stay awake. This results in a pretty poor quality sleep. The research into this one found that we end up nodding off during the day during situations such as driving. Yikes!
If you struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep at night, make it a new habit to move technology out of your bedroom. Or at least out of your bed! Then make the effort to turn off all electronics an hour before bedtime. Another tip is to be sure to turn your phone on silent so you aren’t jarred awake by notifications throughout the night. Or follow as I do and turn your phone on aeroplane mode every night before bed.
Try out a few of these tips and let me know in the comments below if you’re sleeping better throughout the night by shutting down all of the electronics!
D