Avoid Screentime 90 Minutes Before Bed

Avoiding screentime before bed can improve your sleep, which improves your overall health.

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Healthy sleep is just as important to health and healing as physical, mental and emotional health. It is also the foundation for other lifestyle changes. Being tired or sleepy makes it very difficult to eat well and exercise. According to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, sleep delays or interruptions can cause sluggishness, low attention span, decreased sociability, depressed mood, decreased deep sleep, decreased caloric burn during the day, increased hunger, decreased performance and much more. It’s easy to see why healthy sleep is important!

If you’ve been following along with Small Steps for Better Health, you have already been working on creating good sleep habits, but today we are going to talk about a very specific habit that many of us have.

Avoid screentime (tablets and phones especially) for 90 minutes before bedtime

Scrolling on your phone in bed before drifting off may be a very difficult habit to break, but it is sabotaging your sleep.

Cell phones, computers, tablets and televisions emit blue light. Science has proven that blue light causes more alertness than other types of light and has a powerful effect on your circadian rhythm, or your body’s natural clock that regulates your sleep, hormones, digestion and other processes. That bright blue light makes your brain think it’s earlier in the day, so it slows down the release of melatonin, a hormone that helps your body sleep. This makes it harder to fall asleep.

Beyond just the effects of the light, the ways we engage with devices can keep us awake, too. Responding to work emails might get your brain running and thinking about work instead of relaxing into sleep. Sounds and colors from games keep your brain alert.

Work to rid your bedroom of distractions and screens. If you must have your phone in the room with you, make sure it’s on silent and won’t vibrate. Most phones have the option of “do not disturb” mode that you can customize to keep your phone quiet at night. Even hearing those little buzzes and pings will disrupt your sleep.

Establish a cut-off time every night and stick to it. Your brain and body will thank you. If you need something to do before bed, try reading or listening to calming music.

Sleep Medicine

If you have sleep troubles beyond what a bedtime routine can fix, like any of the following, reach out to an NMMC Sleep Disorders specialist. Sleep disorders are treatable when diagnosed.

• Snoring loudly or being awakened by your own snoring
• Awakening with choking or gasping for breath
• Excessive sleepiness during the day
• Sleeping at inappropriate times
• Temporary weakness of body or speech muscles occurring with strong emotions
• Nightmares or disturbing dreams
• Other symptoms

Small Steps, Better Health

Every two weeks we will introduce another Small Step for Better Health. Follow us on social media for more tips, and sign up for our email newsletter, True North.

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