Why you should put the phone away at bedtime

Why you should put the phone away at bedtime

In 2019, it's hard to go anywhere without having your phone on you.

We get it. That thing has your whole life on it, and between that and your computer, it's almost impossible to not have some kind of electronic device with you at all times. 

But there are consequences to that constant presence that you may not even realize. The screens on your phones, tablets, and computers almost all have LED displays, and even if they don't, the bright lights that they emit can be very harmful to your body's sleep cycle. And while we're obviously advocates for the "food" part of your health and wellness habits, we also need to tell you this: sleep is a really important part of that process. 

These bright lights on your electronics are emitted from the blue aspect of the light spectrum. A ray of blue light has a shorter wavelength than that of a red or yellow light, which means that it contains more energy. That high amount of energy can really mess with your body trying to wind itself down. If you're looking at a blue light right before you go to bed, you're telling your brain that it needs to wait a while before going to sleep. 

All light can affect your sleep patterns, but blue light, in particular, will have a more detrimental effect on your body's efforts to put you to sleep. Light is a very important part of your body's internal clock and is largely responsible for setting your circadian rhythm. There's a reason that we wake up when it's light and want to sleep when it's dark.

So, if you're keeping a particularly powerful light in the bed with you every night before you go to sleep, you're going to run into some problems. Even if your phone has a "night shift" feature where it darkens the screen, it can still negatively impact your sleep patterns. 

Try this in your house for a week: no electronics allowed within 30 minutes of bedtime. We'd love to hear how it works for you!

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published