How to Get a Better Night's Sleep (Infographic)
Here are some tips to help make your bedroom more sleep-friendly. (Hint: that light emanating from your smartphone isn't helping.)
By Nina Zipkin •
If you find you're waking up exhausted or having lots of sleepless nights, you can partly blame the many hours you spend staring at screens of various sizes. A number of studies that have recently emerged suggest that the closer to bedtime you use your phone or tablet, the harder it is to get a good night's sleep.
Our bodies operate on circadian rhythms that play a role in how alert we feel throughout the day. And since our brains respond to light and darkness, that blue light emanating from your phone at 2 a.m. – when you are generally meant to be having the deepest sleep – messes with your internal clock and makes your brain tell your body you should be awake.
Related: Winning the Day Starts With Winning the Morning
If you're guilty of staring at your phone late into the night, you aren't alone: 95 percent of Americans used a device or computer an hour before bedtime and 89 percent of adults have more than one device in the bedroom. Eighty percent of people aged 13 to 32 sleep next to their mobile phone (and who among us hasn't used the phone as an alarm clock lately?).
But there are solutions to improving your bedtime routine, like swapping out the e-reader in favor of a paperback (library books are always free, unless you don't return them on time), taking all the tech out of your bedroom and avoiding your screens altogether 30 to 60 minutes before you turn in.
For more on mobile device usage and sleep, check out the infographic by sheets company Boll & Branch below.
Click to Enlarge
Related: Yes, You Can Force Yourself to Become a Morning Person. Here's How. (Infographic)
