Should I Turn Off My Phone At Night? Easy Steps To Improve Your Sleeping Time

should i turn off my phone at night

Sleep is the natural mechanism adopted by our body to recharge. After a stressful day, it is only natural to get a good night’s rest.

Our cell phones are one of the major hindrances to a healthy sleeping pattern. We recommend turning off our mobile phones at night to facilitate a better sleeping experience and also for safety issues.

Should I turn off my phone at night? This post will answer your question and show why you should. Furthermore, we’ll look at some tips you can use to improve your sleep experience.

Should I Turn Off My Phone At Night?

Smartphone on Bedside Table near Sleeping Man

When people ask this question, the accurate interpretation is, should I turn off my phone when I sleep? Yes, it is highly recommended that you deactivate your mobile phones when you sleep.

Night is the natural time for the body to shut down and recharge. You’re expected to get up to eight hours of sleep daily. Although getting eight hours of sleep daily might be difficult, we still owe it to our bodies to try.

Several factors affect a healthy sleep life, but the major sleep thief remains our mobile devices. We spend most of our daytime on our phones and often carry them into bed with us. It is normal to get carried away with our phones and end up depriving our bodies of precious sleep hours.

Using our phones affects our sleep patterns, but that is not the only reason we should turn them off. We recommend turning off your phones at night for your safety and the safety of your device.

This post will examine why you should turn off your phone at night. We’ll also look at some habits you can cultivate for a better sleeping experience and answer some key questions.

Why Should I Turn My Phone Off At Night?

Woman Sleeping in Bed

For convenience, we’ll discuss this segment in four parts. Each part will focus on why you should turn off your phones which includes: your health, the environment, your device, and sleep.

Your Health

First, you should turn off your phone for your health. Our mobile phones are complex devices capable of numerous operations, and most of these operations function with wireless signals.

Among these signals is the Radio Frequency (Rf), an electromagnetic field (EMF) type. Our phones use this radio frequency to transmit signals to receptors around us, which is how we communicate.

Radio frequencies and other electromagnetic fields can cause damage to our bodies when we are exposed to unhealthy amounts. Government agencies usually set a rule that states the permitted frequency a device can emit, and all manufacturers must maintain that limit.

While this is true, what’s the assurance that constant exposure to these waves is safe or that the manufacturers follow this limit? To be on the safe side, you should reduce how often you expose yourself to these harmful signals to be on the safe side. ‘

Furthermore, our bodies are more receptive when we sleep, and it’s easier to get affected by external forces. This is why switching off your phone at night is an effective precaution against harmful electromagnetic waves.

Your Device’s Health

Our phones are the most used devices among all our gadgets, which is understandable. Just as you need to rest your body after a long day, your phone also needs a resting period. If you pay close attention, you’ll realize that you are on your phone 80% of the day.

Unfortunately, our phones don’t have a mind of their own and can’t decide to take a nap unless we let it. Even when we finally fall asleep, our phones are still running. Several apps and background functions operate when we’re not actively using the phone.

The only way to truly put your phone to sleep is by switching it off. Cultivating a habit of switching off your phone will preserve the battery and maintain the smooth operation of your device. The best time to switch off your phone is when you’re not using it: when you’re sleeping.

It is better to charge our phones at night because we won’t need to use them. It should also be noted that the battery charges faster and more effectively when the phone is off.

Your Sleep

Sleep is the main reason you should turn your phones off at night. We mentioned earlier that our phones significantly affect our sleep cycle. Now, let’s read on to see how our phones prevent us from sleeping.

Keeps Us Active

We can all attest to how addictive our phones can be; we might intend to use them for a few minutes and end up doing hours. Using our phones requires using our bodies: our fingers are constantly tapping or scrolling, and our eyes are wide open.

Also, our brain is stimulated by the things we see, and our body keeps active. All these things are processes that occur during the day, and our body interprets them as such. This means that with time, our sleep cycle gets distributed, and we end up having sleepless nights or difficulty falling asleep.

Even in cases where we’ve dropped our phones, the notifications are enough to pike our interest or wake us. This is why you should switch off your phone when it’s bedtime.

By turning off your phone, you limit the need to reply to a message, check a picture, or do anything that keeps us awake. If your phone is off, there is no chance for a tempting notification to come in or any distracting calls.

The Light Effect

Woman Lying in Bed and Using Phone at Night

The human body is an amazing work of art and science. There is something called the circadian rhythm that tells our body when to sleep and when to be active—furthermore, the circadian rhythm functions with daylight and darkness.

We start feeling drowsy at night because our brain tells our body that it’s time to sleep and reverse for daytime; however, this rhythm can be disrupted by constant interruptions in our normal sleep cycle.

The light from our phones is one subtle way that messes up our sleep cycle. Constantly exposing ourselves to the lights from our phones can trick the brain into thinking it’s still daytime. As a result, we don’t get the sleepy effect that signals the body to sleep. If we keep this up, it can lead to insomnia and erratic sleep patterns.

Distressing Content

Our phones give us access to an infinite amount of content, and there is no telling what we might see. Our emotions are strongly related to our sleep. It is easy to fall asleep when feeling relaxed, comfortable, or happy. The reverse occurs when we’re anxious, angry, or upset.

There is no assurance that we won’t come across content that will upset us when using our phones before bed. It becomes harder to sleep because the active brain will keep churning over what we see.

We’ve seen how our phones can affect our health and sleep. 

Improving Your Sleep Life

So far, we’ve seen why you should switch off your phone at night and how it affects your sleep. Now, let’s dive into some tips you can use to facilitate a better sleeping experience.

Use An Alarm Clock

Sleeping Woman and Alarm Clock

Often, we use the excuse of alarm to keep our phones on when we sleep. However, we can solve this problem by using a good old-fashioned alarm clock or other substitute that is not our phone. By doing this, we’ve eliminated the possibility of getting distracted by our phones.

Switch Off Electronics a Few Hours Before Sleep

Switch off all electronic devices around you and go to bed. Instead of using an electronic device, you can pick up a book to read or listen to music.

These activities can help us get into a relaxed mood, which makes it easier to fall asleep. 

Dim Lights Or Dark Room

Bright lights tend to stimulate the brain and can keep you awake. It is best to switch off all the lights to stimulate sleep, but you can also use dim lights. Low light helps set the mood and induces drowsiness.

Take A Shower

woman taking a shower

 

A cool shower is a great way to calm the body. You will feel relaxed after a cool shower, and it will be easier to drift off to sleep.

Conclusion

Our mobile phones are a blessing but can also be a curse. We’ve examined how our phones affect us and our sleeping patterns. We’ve also answered the question you may be wondering – should I turn off my phone at night?.

Furthermore, we’ve looked at some steps we can use to improve our sleep and the importance of a good night’s rest.

You can learn more interesting facts regarding your electronics and unseen signals. 

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