These days, almost everyone uses technology consistently throughout their day—they’ll check their phone immediately upon waking and use their smartwatch to set an alarm in bed. All this tech can mess up your good night’s rest, and here are the features that do the most harm.
Online Shopping Temptations
For anyone who loves online shopping, it can actually be really addictive, so much so that it can lead to late-night browsing sessions. The excitement of finding deals or tracking packages that may not be available during the day can keep you mentally alert, so it’s best to put away your credit card in the early evening.
Video Game Intensity
If social media, movies, and shopping aren’t your cup of tea, you’re likely a gamer, playing long sessions with your friends long into the night. These games, especially intense ones, can heighten adrenaline levels significantly, which is terrible for your sleep. So, set yourself a limit, ensuring that you shut down any games a couple of hours before your bedtime.
Work Emails and Notifications
A lot of people struggled to leave work in the office, stressing about work-related emails and notifications well into the night. This will leave them going to bed stressed, preventing them from being able to relax and get to sleep. That’s precisely why it’s so important to set boundaries when it comes to work communications; otherwise, you won’t get enough sleep to be productive at work the next day.
Blue Light Emissions
Perhaps the biggest technological suspect for ruining our sleep is the blue light from screens, which Harvard Health explains disrupts your circadian rhythm. This light affects melatonin production, the hormone responsible for regulating sleep-wake cycles. As a result, it’s significantly harder to fall asleep, so try to limit screen time for at least an hour before you go to bed.
Social Media Engagement
The intense stimulation of social media interaction will keep your brain active well into the night, ruining your ability to relax. Notifications and updates further stimulate the mind, with many people even continuing to use their phones in bed when they’re supposed to be sleeping. So, it’s very important to assign yourself a strict digital curfew, helping to ensure you get to sleep at a reasonable hour.
Streaming Services Binge-Watching
If you’re not scrolling through social media, it’s likely that you’re binge-watching TV shows on streaming platforms instead, extending your screen time late into the night. Aside from the blue light, the engaging content could keep you awake longer than planned, with some binge-watches lasting well into the early hours of the morning.
Fitness Trackers and Sleep Apps
Another surprising way that technology is affecting your sleep is obsessing over fitness and sleep-tracking apps. Ironically, while these apps are supposed to provide you insights into improving your health, they can actually cause anxiety that prevents you from sleeping at all. Obsessing over sleeping stats pulls you into a vicious cycle of anxiety, so it’s best to use these tools in moderation.
E-Books and Digital Reading
There’s no denying that reading is the ultimate sleep aid, but this isn’t so true if you’re using an e-book. Just like your smartphone, these expose you to blue light, interfering with your melatonin production. So, try to stick to physical books during the day, which truly are fantastic for getting you relaxed and ready to drift off.
Smart Home Devices
Nowadays, a lot of people install smart home devices in their homes, and while these can be convenient and provide security, they also tend to be disruptive. Notifications and LED lights from these devices can disturb your sleep, so ensure that they’re set to “do not disturb” mode during bedtime to prevent them from becoming counterproductive.
Online Learning and Courses
While it’s amazing that we can now learn anywhere and anytime, thanks to online courses and learning platforms, they can quickly lead to late-night study sessions. The content is designed to be stimulating, almost like a video game, capturing your attention and delaying your sleep. So, schedule some dedicated study time earlier in the day and don’t get carried away in the evening.
Digital News Consumption
One of the worst things you can do to relax in the evening is watch the news because this not only exposes you to even more blue light but also distressing content. Sadly, the news is rarely positive these days, and this can increase anxiety and make it difficult to fall asleep. ,
Virtual Meetings and Screen Fatigue
There’s nothing worse than your boss calling you into a virtual meeting late at night, dragging you into further screen fatigue, crossing your work boundaries, and making it harder to relax. It’s absolutely essential that you make it clear to your boss that you won’t accept such invitations; otherwise, you won’t be able to perform your job properly during the following workday.
Smart HVAC Devices
Our bodies require comfortable temperatures to fall asleep comfortably, and this is precisely what smart HVAC devices are supposed to help us with. Ironically, they can be counterproductive, though; if you don’t set up your automatic settings correctly, you’ll be shivering or sweating in bed, and there’s no chance you’re getting to sleep in that state.
Online Banking and Finances
While there’s no denying that online banking has made our lives easier, it can make checking our finances a little too easy. Some people even continue obsessing over their finances long into the night, so it’s important not to get carried away. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re being “productive” because you’re still exposing yourself to even more screen time and stress before bed.
Digital Alarms
Another irony of today’s technology is that while digital alarms are supposed to help wake us up at sufficient times, they use screens, leading us to stare at blue light moments before shutting our eyes for bed. Consider using an old-school alarm clock to prevent this, or at least turn down the brightness on your device before you set your alarm.
Virtual Reality Experiences
Perhaps the worst form of a screen out there is Virtual reality (VR), which, while immersive, is highly stimulating, blasting blue light just centimeters from your eyes. It’s incredibly difficult to wind down after having such an experience, so give yourself even more of a curfew on VR, giving yourself plenty of time to recover.
Online Fitness Classes
While it’s true that we need exercise to be sufficiently tired for our bedtimes, exercising too late into the night will give you an endorphin boost, keeping you awake. These days, it’s easier to do this than ever due to online fitness classes, so don’t be fooled into thinking you’re being healthy with that late-night spin class–save it for the morning.
Smart Beds
Technology has come so far that some people even have “smart beds,” which can provide all sorts of fancy features such as heated blankets, adjustable mattress angles, and massage pillows. There’s no denying that they’re cool, but they’re also incredibly distracting, so put the remote to one side, and if you can’t do that, it’s time to switch back to an old-school bed.
Digital Content Overload
Overall, the biggest way that technology is negatively affecting your sleep is the sheer amount of digital content available these days. It doesn’t matter if you’re obsessed with social media, VR, or even sleep; it’s all hyperstimulation, so remember to always set limits on your usage and ensure that technology is helping you sleep, not preventing it.