Why we sleep better without our phone - unlock the power of sleep

Our bodies work way more at night than we previously thought. Getting too little, or even bad sleep, leads to serious health issues.

And for some reason, we humans are the only species that will deliberately deprive ourselves of sleep without legitimate gain. And now, the world health organization (WHO) has declared "a sleep loss epidemic" throughout industrialized nations. 

How can we let it go this far? If we look at some statistics for phone usage, screen time, and social media interaction, we might find some answers. 

Entertainment sector (Netflix, Disney, HBO, etc.) and social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok etc.) has one goal in common: get the user to stay as long as possible. Teams of people work towards this everyday. Optimizing every single interaction possible to get longer time with the user. 

Why we sleep better without our phone:

On a psychological aspect, the constant interaction and roller coaster ride of emotions going through content keeps or brain in high gear, especially when it's time to wind down. 

But on the biological aspect, the exposure to blue light from the screens is directly affecting the chemistry in our body and the signals it sending our brain. Let me try to explain:

By the end of each day or body starts releasing what is called melatonin. This has been producing in our body throughout the day. And when the sun goes down it starts releasing. 

The release of melatonin tells the brain that it's time for bed. It is not the only cue. Our circadian rhythm, bedtime routine and more is also cues for getting sleepy. But melatonin plays a big role. 

The exposure to the blue light that phones, computers, and televisions reflect tricks your body into thinking that the sun is still high in the sky, and the day isn't over.

This is bad. 

Laying in bed, scrolling on your phone endlessly, or binge watching tv late at night is keeping the melatonin bouncing around like a 5 year old with a full bladder and nowhere to release.

Fix your sleep with some simple solutions:

1. Minimize screen time before bed.
   try to not look at any screens 1-2 hours before your normal bedtime. One trick is to leave your phone outside the bedroom and use a dedicated alarm clock.
   
2. Minimize exposure to other bright lights.
   If your light can change color try setting them to a red hue or warm color to mimic a sunset.
   
3. Wind down.
   Try to get to a calm mood. Read a book (both paper and e-paper like a kindle is great), talk with your partner, analog or crafty hobbies.

For the first tip (or perhaps all three of them?) we recommend getting an alarm clock, and starting new healthier habits in the bedroom. Our Habity Bedside clock will be a great companion as it uses e-paper display and therefore has zero blue light, a built-in wind down routine, and plenty of customization when it comes to sounds and time schedule.