If you’re one of those people who swears you’re going to go to bed early only to find yourself scrolling through your go-to social media app until you finally notice you’re scrolling at an ungodly hour and start to feel a sense of shame, you’re not alone. Also, this one’s for you.
As smartphones become the all-in-one device, one you can do work on, stay on top of news, call loved ones and browse the Internet through, they have quickly overtaken our lives. Not only has it been found through studies that many people are sleeping with their phones at night, it’s also been found how smartphone usage has impacted overall sleep, which in turn contributes to major health risks, including obesity, leading to type 2 diabetes, heart attacks and more. So what can we do to decrease the time we’re wasting on the phone when we should be asleep?
Here are a few tips in an effort to help smartphone addicts cultivate better sleep habits.
Enact a cut-off time.
Article continues after video.
Is your phone the reason you’re going to sleep later? Choose a time to go in your room and lie down, and when you do, try at least an hour before to leave your phone to charge, not touching it for the rest of the night. Sticking by that time can help you get more rest, and give your phone a rest, too.
Utilize DND
Cut-off times can be hard to follow if your phone is still lighting up with messages, from texts to Instagram DMs, at all times of the night. (Some people send messages late due to time differences, while others simply don’t know when to quit.) Make use of options to put some of your most used apps to sleep and on “do not disturb” so that you won’t be notified during certain hours when new messages come in.
Two phones?
A wise woman once said that if you want to set boundaries with work, which can be a major reason for some people not being able to get a good night’s rest, have a phone for life and one for work. The latter, which can be an affordable option (I love a wallet-friendly Google phone) can house your work email, whatever app is used for employee communication, and anything else that allows your employer and those affiliated with your job to have access to you at all hours. As you get prepared for bed, cut that thing off, or turn on those DND tools as mentioned, and don’t pay them any mind until scheduled work hours.
Charge your phone at a distance
Instead of doing it bedside, a great place to charge your phone is in your kitchen. Unless you live in a studio, a kitchen is a good distance from where you rest your head, requiring effort to get up and get your phone to scroll, read or do whatever else tempts you when you should be asleep.
Cut it all off and go old-school
Instead of having your phone do everything, which makes it almost impossible leave alone, cut it off at night and go back to the original gadgets and methods that would inform us and help us get things done. Instead of using your phone as an alarm, buy an actual alarm clock. Instead of using your phone to answer emails, relegate that to your work computer only. Enjoy an old-school record player to listen to music, and enjoy TV shows on your actual TV, sis.
