Sleep wasn’t built for smartphones

Are you reading this in bed while trying to sleep?

Is the exact device you're reading this on messing with your focus on getting rest?

Our smartphones come with built-in modes that tell us exactly how distracting they can be: Focus, Bedtime, Driving. I have previously explored the dangers of phone distraction while driving; this time, let's look at the phone's role in preventing a good night's sleep.

Our phones and our bedtime routines are often at odds. This screen, emitting its artificial light, is constantly trying to pull our attention away from the simple fact that we need sleep to renew our energy for the next day.

As Janine de Veer puts it in her article, "The Dopamine Trap: Why Your Phone Feels Like a Magnet You Can't Escape":

"The gravitational pull toward your screen, even when you know there's nothing waiting for you there."

What other time are we left more alone with our thoughts than in a dark room, trying to fall asleep or drift back into a slumber? I recently stumbled across an insightful Instagram post (on my smartphone, of course) that delves into the idea that human evolution simply wasn't built for this modern-day level of brain activity and light.

"Sleep didn't evolve for smartphones," says the post by Millionaire Steps. "It evolved for darkness. For centuries, humans woke in the middle of the night and didn't panic. They treated it like a quiet chapter, not a malfunction."

That makes sense, considering mankind didn't even have electric light 200 years ago.

We've come a long way since then, but in our modern world, we have become distracted by technology and artificial light.

"Screens teach your brain 'daytime,'" the MS Instagram page writes to its 2.2 million followers. "Anxiety teaches your body 'threat.' Stillness teaches your nervous system 'safe.' If you wake tonight, don't fight it."

For those of us who have recently experienced a night of tossing and turning, that's advice from our ancestors (curated by a modern-day social media page) that we should probably pay attention to.

We may want to seriously consider exactly how close our phone is to our bed when we try to fall asleep.