Always putting your phone next to you while sleeping? That’s the reason why you’re always sleepy

Last Updated on 2016-09-25 , 1:27 pm

It is not uncommon for most of us nowadays to sleep with our phones by our bedside after we spend hours in the dark scrolling through social media or messaging people.

Now that we rely on our phone for so much, from entertainment and socializing to even being  our alarm clock, we find it really difficult to put it out of reach for just a second or even when we’re supposed to be resting.

However, did you know that this very act of leaving your phone next to you at bedtime is contributing towards your lack of sleep and general tiredness and fatigue in the day after?

From a scientific point of view, research and studies have found that exposure to mobile radiation could result in difficulty falling asleep, as well as a less deep slumber, which in turn impacts the quality and quantity of rest you get. In addition, it was found that if our eyes face bright lights, we are not able to enter sleep as easily as we usually do.

The average person takes approximately 7 minutes to fall asleep, but when your phone is right there next to you, a portal to unlimited entertainment and fun, you probably won’t find it easy to fall asleep. How many of us has lied down in bed, then decide we shall scroll through our smartphones until we buay tahan? The answer is probably most of us.

Having your phone within reach poses a temptation to keep checking it, since we probably think “What if someone has something urgent to tell me?” and if we maintain this mentality of anxiety and a need to always be contactable, we are not surprised that it is hard to fall asleep. After all, we all know that when you want a restful sleep, you need to relax as much as possible.

Therefore, if you wish to get more quality sleep and wake up the next day feeling refreshed and well rested, a solution would be to place your phone outside your room before you sleep.

Yes, the first few nights will probably feel awkward as you lie in the darkness without your phone conveniently next to you, but when you wake up the next morning you will probably feel that it has actually all been worth it!

You will definitely be able to get more quality sleep since you won’t be checking your phone every 5 minutes to see if anything important has happened. It will take a while to get used to, but soon you will realize that being well-rested is more important and that no one is actually going to message you (ouch sorry).

Finally, investing in an actual alarm clock would be useful because then you won’t have the excuse of saying you need your phone as your alarm clock. While you’re at it, you could also buy alarm clocks for ALL YOUR FRIENDS and encourage them to embark on this new habit of staying away from their phones at night. Think of how many lives you’ll be changing!

Top Image: Piotr Marcinski / Shutterstock.com