Whenever you are looking for a way to sleep better, it seems that all hacks have one thing in common: the very Boring rule “No phone before bedtime”. Advice has meaning – maybe it is really this tempting screen that keeps you standing – and yet many people say they cannot fall asleep without scrolling.
If you are one of those people, you are lucky. According to Dr Michael GradisarThe Head of Sleep Science at Sleep cycleYou should not feel the need to force you to turn off your devices and go to bed in an abject bed. In fact, your phone could even help you drift to the country of dreams.
While some experts say the blue light of the screens Disturb your sleep by removing melatoninGradisar says this advice is actually based on a study who exhibited participants at abnormally intense levels of it. “Over time, it has become simplified in a wide recommendation,” he told Bustle. “This is one of the most persistent myths of sleep science.”
Last year, he published a study In Sleep Medicine Reviews Showing that the blue light of everyday devices is simply not bright enough to affect your sleep significantly. “For the context, the screens that we usually use at night Emit light under 80 luxWhile significant circadian changes generally require exposure to the intensities of light around 500 lux or more, ”he says.
Eventually, have a good night’s Consists less in abandoning your devices and more than the way you use them in the hours preceding the rehearsal. Here’s what you need to know.
Phones in bed? Seriously?
If you want to scroll, play a podcast or even watch TV before bed, don’t hold back. For many people, enjoying the screen time before sleep could even be useful.
“Using a phone or having background noise from the TV helps calm the mind, especially if your thoughts tend to spiral when the room is silent,” explains Gradisar. “In Sleep Science, we often see that the real barrier to fall asleep is not the screen or the light, but racing thoughts, concern or stress.”
Relaxing with your phone goes very far. “This distraction can really reduce cognitive excitement, which is a key factor in insomnia,” he said.
Although scrolling can quickly become an adaptation tool, which facilitates sleep, Gradisar recommends studying the deep cause of your sleep problems, whether stress or a problem of circadian rhythm.
“If you are awake every night and blame your phone, it may be time to appear more deeply,” he said. “Telephones can be part of your routine at bedtime, but they are rarely the basic problem. Instead, it is often your thoughts, stress levels or your internal clock that require attention.”
With other researchers, Gradisar has led A complete review Nearly a dozen experimental studies on the question of whether the blue light has significantly affected sleep. They found that the screens are not the bad sleep they have made. What really has an impact on your rest is to stand too late. “It’s a behavioral problem,” he says. “Not biological.”
Advice to put you to sleep
All the screen time is not equal. “Don’t be constantly scrolling, stress on emails and don’t continue one more episode in the night,” he said. Instead, browse a soothing subreddit, organize a Pinterest table or play a simple game and limit yourself to a single device.
If you can support your phone, even better. The less you press your screen, he says, the more likely you are in sleep.
“Try not to start anything too stimulating near bedtime, and ideally, aim to protect your sleep window,” he said. “In the end, it is not a question of eliminating the screens. It is a question of being intentional with them.”
Referenced studies:
Bauducco, S., Pillion, M., Bartel, K., Reynolds, C., Kahn, M., and Gradisar, M. (2024). A bidirectional model for using sleep and technology: a theoretical review of how much, for whom and what mechanisms. Sleep medicine reviews. DOI.ORG/10.1016/J.SMRV.2024.101933.
Chang, Am. (2015). The use of the evening of electroluminescent egs negatively affects sleep, circadian timing and vigilance. Proc natl acad sci us A. DOI: 10.1073 / PNAS.1418490112.
Source:
Dr Michael GradisarHead of Sleep Science at Sleep cycle
