There are many things that interfere with our sleep on a daily basis. For starters, you may find it difficult to sleep when you’re constantly using electronics before bed. This can have negative side effects on rest, as you can imagine, ruining your sleep cycles and leaving you with little to no energy for day-to-day activities.
There are many causes for electronically-induced insomnia, all of which could be quite easy to fix. First, know that how long you use electronics before bed can be a big contributing factor to why you may not be able to sleep well at night.
Fear Of Missing Out -- or FOMO for short -- is basically what happens when you obsessively check your phone every single minute to get updates on social media or text messages. It is called this because you usually do it out of a desire to stay up to date on whatever your friends are doing.
While this is healthy in short bursts, it absolutely can be devastating to your sleep. We’re going to go over some ways to identify and fix this problem, leading you to getting better overall sleep and feeling much more energized throughout the day.
How do I know if FOMO is disrupting my schedule?
There are a few ways to tell if FOMO is being an active problem in your life. For starters, ask yourself if you tend to check Facebook or Twitter a lot while in bed. Do you have a nervous breakdown when you go five minutes without checking status updates before you go to sleep?
If so, you could have FOMO. It might be daunting not knowing what’s going on in the lives of your friends and family, but this can often lead to stress, which can absolutely compound a sleep deprivation problem if you’re not terribly careful with it.
Usually, when we keep our cell phones, laptops, or any other internet-connected device near us when we sleep, the constant checking of statuses can definitely cause us to get less sleep. Simply moving your phone away from your bed could have a major impact. Or try using Do Not Disturb and other bedtime modes to discourage sleep disruption.
Is it bad to watch television before bed?
You might be wondering if watching tv before bed is a good idea, but this too can damage your sleep cycles. TV emits what is called blue light, which can severely interfere with your body’s ability to make melatonin, your body’s hormone for sleep cycle regulation.
When this happens, it can be very difficult to fall back to sleep, if not next to impossible. That’s why it’s often recommended to shut down tv before bed, so you can get a full, proper night’s rest.
Falling asleep with the television on especially can do damage to sleep. So, while some people believe they cannot sleep without the sound of a TV on, you could be damaging your sleep cycle and health more in the long run by using it as a sleep aid.
What are some ways I can help prevent this?
There are a few ways you can help fix this. For starters, you need to limit how much you use your electronics at night, as well as set a day schedule for use. That way you can accomplish everything you need to do on your computer, as well as social media accounts, before you go to bed. Set early ‘bedtimes’ for your devices, turning them off a good hour or so ahead of sleep.
For social media, you can help curb FOMO by not checking updates well before bedtime. You can always find out in the morning what your friends are up to, so keep that in mind while doing this. For children, you should also help them to cut out electronics, as they too can have their sleep affected by it.
You should set a schedule for television as well, getting all of your shows and movies done before you go to bed. Catch up on the latest episodes earlier in the day, or wait until the next day to get your binge on. It might be rough going without TV before bed at first, but your sleep will definitely be improved by it.
Conclusion
It might seem difficult at first to completely adjust your life schedule around cutting out electronics before bed, but it really can do wonders in helping you to sleep more soundly. You should be aware of how your habits in the digital world can affect your sleep cycles, as well as be conscious about what it takes to fix these issues.
You can implement new schedules in your routine, so as to curb the amount of time spent on these devices, which should go a long way in improving your sleep at night. It’s vital that your body be able to produce melatonin properly, which can be interrupted by blue light and stress-inducing FOMO. Knowing balance in terms of using devices and restricting use when necessary is a great first step in fighting insomnia and sleep deprivation.
