Stop scrolling at bedtime to sleep better

Stop using social media around your bedtime to avoid getting animated right before you turn off the lights or delaying your bedtime by getting sucked in. Using social media close to bedtime can overstimulate you and create the wrong conditions for you to fall asleep and stay asleep.

• Scrolling through social media can expose you to stressful content, including news, heated debates, or negative comparisons with others. This can lead to elevated stress levels, making it harder to unwind and relax before bed.

• Social media is designed to be engaging and stimulating. The constant stream of ever changing content and interactions can leave your mind racing, making it difficult to "switch off" when it’s time to sleep.

• Using social media is associated with ‘fear of missing out’ which can cause you to avoid going to bed in the first place to check in on your friends. Spending time on social media can easily turn into more time scrolling, also causing you to go to bed later than planned. This can reduce overall sleep duration and lead to fatigue and reduced focus the next day.

Want to learn more? Check out these studies.

• Sleepless due to social media? Investigating problematic sleep due to social media and social media sleep hygiene | ScienceDirect

• The Sleep and Technology Use of Americans: Findings from the National Sleep Foundation's 2011 Sleep in America Poll | Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 

• “To sleep, perchance to tweet”: in-bed electronic social media use and its associations with insomnia, daytime sleepiness, mood, and sleep duration in adults | Sleep Health Journal

• Social Media Use and Adolescents’ Sleep: A Longitudinal Study on the Protective Role of Parental Rules Regarding Internet Use before Sleep | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  

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