Read This If You Have A Smartphone
You know this thing well. Most likely, it goes everywhere with you.
This thing can take you many places in life. It’s hard to get around without it these days. This thing can save you when you need help.
It even gets to sleep with you sometimes and occasionally gets to go to the bathroom with you. This thing is practically an extension of your hand, and without it, you may feel lonely.
Often it’s the last thing you see before going to sleep or the first thing you think of in the morning. You may even rely on it to wake you up!
This thing can pay for something for you, and it’s even a great listener if you let it.
Can you guess what it is?
No, it’s not a boyfriend or girlfriend.
It’s your smartphone.
Are You In Love With Your Phone?
What a weird relationship we have developed with our phones.
Hey, I am just as attached to my device, so no judgment.
There are many benefits from using a smartphone, but this marvelous piece of equipment can rob you as well. The area of life that this device likes to steal you of is your sleep via blue light.
Your Smartphone Is Disrupting Your Sleep
As humans, we have a natural circadian rhythm regulated by the sun. The sun wakes us up in the morning and goes down at night to help us sleep. Natural sun exposure is a great way to set your natural circadian rhythm if you are having trouble, but one of the worst things you can do before bed to disrupt this pattern is use your phone in bed.
The blue light (which is a type of light that the brain interprets as daylight) emitted by your cell phone screen suppresses the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle (aka circadian rhythm).
The result: Your brain feels WIDE AWAKE. Our phone’s blue light signals wakefulness, just like the sun, but in a nasty unnatural way, especially before bed.
When I coach my clients on their habits, this is something almost everyone struggles with.
To untangle this habit, we can install a one time action that will nip this thing in the bud.
Enter downtime.
Ditch The Phone At Night With Downtime
Downtime is like your phone’s bouncer. It won’t let you in the club after a particular hour.
Downtime Installation 101:
Go to settings, screen time, downtime, and enable downtime.
From there, you can customize the days you want to set downtime to and the hours you want to put a phone curfew. I choose weeknights from 9 PM and 7 AM. Ideally, nobody needs to reach me before then or after then on a weeknight.
You can also customize which apps you want to block and if you’re going to allow phone calls or messages. You can add people to your favorites (like your kids or spouse) so downtime can override the contact. I block all communication and all apps from being used.
Why I Stopped Using My Smartphone Before Bed
I love my phone, but I know how much the light impacts my sleep. Even with blue light blocking glasses, this device is still a distraction at night.
Through downtime, I can set boundaries with a piece of equipment that I otherwise spend almost every waking hour with.
By enabling this feature, I don’t have to worry about blue light disrupting my sleep, and I can feel more rested the next day. It’s a small trade off with a huge ROI.
Try this out yourself. If it’s past 9 PM and you are reading this blog post via your phone right now, ESPECIALLY. Here is your cue 😉
Krista
PS. I’m officially at capacity right now and not taking clients at the moment. You can jump on my waitlist by applying to become a client here.