Health and sleep experts often say that one of the best ways to get a good night’s sleep in bed is to avoid using your phone — or any other screens — for a few hours before you try to fall asleep. The light emitted from phone and tablet screens is particularly disruptive to your body’s circadian rhythm — essentially tricking your brain into thinking it’s still daylight and disrupting the process of preparing for sleep.
At the same time, social media platforms are designed to keep you scrolling. If you lie in bed at night and look at your phone, you can be stuck for hours.
Journalist Jenna Campbell says she often falls for it, sometimes lying in bed at 2am scrolling through her phone when she should be asleep. In an article for MEN, she said: “Not only have I lost precious hours of sleep, but I also feel completely wired. At one point I’ll succumb to sleep but wake up feeling groggy, irritable and disappointed with myself. Summer should be about putting my health first and although I’ve managed to cut down on alcohol and exercise more, some of my unhealthy habits persist.”
A recent YouGov Sleep Study found that 87% of people in the UK say they check their phones or tablets within an hour of bedtime. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the blue light from our smartphones suppresses the production of melatonin, a crucial hormone that helps regulate sleep.
The advice is to stop screen-related activities at least an hour before bedtime, so that your brain has a chance to wind down and signal to your body that you are ready to sleep. If this can be extended to 90 minutes or even two hours, the benefits should increase.
Jenna said: “To get my sleep patterns back on track and take full advantage of the other new healthy habits I’ve adopted over the past few months, I decided to set a time when I’m not allowed to be on my phone in the evening and create my own bedtime routine.
“I started by picking a week where I knew I would be less socially active and could actually stick to a curfew – although sticking to it was another story. I would normally go to bed around 11pm, set a target of 9pm, and throw the phone across the room in a rather dramatic – but ceremonial – way to get things started.”
She added: “The main goal was to see if spending less time on my phone would improve my sleep quality. Along with cutting out alcohol and exercising more, not being on my phone before bed has had a significant impact on my sleep quality and mood.
“Instead of waking up feeling anxious about the day or disappointed with myself for not disconnecting from my phone earlier in the evening, I now wake up feeling refreshed and more ready to take on the day. In fact, I would go so far as to say that, aside from a few nights of feeling a little restless due to deadlines, I’m sleeping better than ever before.
“Being on my phone less has had other positive effects too. I feel more engaged in conversations, my focus has improved and I can concentrate on tasks for longer without interruption. I’ve managed to start and finish a book during the challenge, get outside more, meditate properly for the first time in years and go to sleep without too many worries.
I know I have to be realistic moving forward. While I would like to have the same curfew every night, I also have to work late sometimes and go out with friends other times. I will continue with a social media curfew and try to stay off my phone for longer periods of time on the weekends.”
Jenna kept a diary of her process:
First night:
I feel irritated. ‘What if I miss an important email from work?’ I say to myself before running back upstairs to grab my phone and blow the whole thing off.
Through some minor divine intervention, or just sheer clumsiness, I fall up the stairs, stopping me in my tracks and forcing me to redo the task at hand. Instead of scrolling, I start to form a bedtime routine—something I’ve never really committed to in any meaningful way.
I buy herbal tea that promotes sleep, start a new chapter in the journal in which I keep track of my ongoing alcohol-free challenge and choose a book from the shelf that I will take with me for the next ten days of this challenge.
I also set an alarm for the next day a few hours earlier so that I wouldn’t look at my phone that night and would go to bed with a few hours of screen-free time. I find it pretty easy to fall asleep and sleep undisturbed.
Night two:
I wake up feeling refreshed, but I also know that one night of discipline isn’t necessarily enough to see long-term changes. I’ve been working a few nights to catch up on admin and this is shifting my general routine, meaning I’m checking my phone later in the evening, so instead of switching off at 9pm, it’s 10pm before I put my phone away.
I have a whole hour before bed without screens or devices, which feels very peaceful. I read for an hour, which is very relaxing and nice not to be interrupted by my phone lighting up or social media. I would have liked to relax a little longer without technology and staring at my computer screen, but I tell myself that sometimes compromises have to be made.
Night three:
After waking up really refreshed after a night of uninterrupted sleep, I started the day feeling positive, despite being busy at work. In the evening I play with the idea of changing the curfew to 9:30 pm. That feels more realistic with what I wear and I can catch up with friends and family.
If this sounds like bargaining, it is. I think this is where I really start to rethink my relationship with my phone and admit to myself that I might be addicted to it.
Scrolling through social media, texting, or checking the news online activates the brain’s reward center by releasing dopamine—a feel-good chemical associated with pleasure and reward. Every like, comment, video, and message keeps us engaged, but we keep chasing that high.
I’ve been aware of it for a long time, but I’m also drawn to it. It’s not only affecting my sleep, but also my mood, stress and anxiety levels. 9:30pm is the new time I’ve set and I’m sticking to it for the next week, except for one night when I see a friend.
Fourth night:
I’m starting to notice that I feel much calmer when I wake up. The feeling of disconnecting, even if it’s just an hour or two before bed, is really beneficial.
For the first time in my adult life, emails go unanswered, texts go unread, and social media feeds go untouched. To say it’s liberating might be an understatement, but it helps put the daily stresses and worries into perspective.
That night I actually didn’t touch my phone at all because I was out with a friend so I left it on airplane mode. Just a few days into this experiment I notice my focus also increases, meaning I concentrate and listen more.
Last year I was told that I sometimes seem a bit distant or distracted because I am thinking about work or things I need to do. By putting the phone away – possibly one of my biggest distractions and sources of stress – I can get back to doing something.
Although I go to bed later, the less time on my phone that night leaves me feeling pretty relaxed and ready to sleep. I wake up the next morning with the best night’s sleep of the week and feeling positive about the challenge.
Nights five and six:
I combined the two because over the weekend I really started to notice the benefits of being on my phone less and consistently adhering to the 9:30pm curfew.
I spend one day mainly outdoors in Yorkshire Sculpture Park with a friend, and although I take some photos, my phone is mostly switched off and out of sight. As was Friday night, and my more restful sleep makes me feel more connected and involved.
I try to put my phone away in the evening and watch a movie without interruption or distraction. Besides another walk and a bath, I read for a while and noticed how quiet it all was, which seemed a bit eerie at first, but as the rain tapped softly on the windows, I started to feel very calm and ready to go back to sleep.
Sundays are spent on admin, going to a pilates class, and grabbing a bite to eat, all things I try to avoid my phone for. Sunday nights would normally be spent getting worked up about work and the week ahead, but I take the time to get away from my screen to write a plan, read, and do some meditation.
By the time I go to sleep, I feel positive about the week ahead. By leaving my phone away for a few hours, I can bring about this change in my mindset.
Nights seven, eight and nine:
The first few days of the week are busy and although I still use my phone a lot for work during the day, at 9:30pm I put it on the other side of my bedroom and turn it around so that I don’t see any notifications flashing up. I stick to my routine of herbal tea, journaling and reading and this has a direct impact on the quality of my sleep, which is generally both restful and uninterrupted.
It’s interesting not to have to reach for my phone when I need to quickly check something, like the name of a song, what the weather will be the next day, or a word or phrase that popped up in my book. It’s a reminder that most things aren’t urgent and don’t always need to be solved right then and there.
Night ten:
The last night before I wrote the piece in full, I am in a reflective mood. My sleep has definitely improved, especially in terms of how well rested I feel.
Anxiety, agitation and irritability are significantly reduced and I can let go of the stress I normally feel before going to sleep.
There’s something very liberating about half-finishing a conversation, or not scrolling through the news before bed. I’m not saying we should always disconnect or stop communicating, but some semblance of balance seems to be really good for sleep and rest – at least in my case.