Christine Kopaczewski
The author stopped using her phone before bed and noticed some dramatic changes.
- Most nights before I fall asleep, I scroll through Instagram and watch TV on my phone.
- That routine became a recipe for stress and anxiety - so for one week, I stopped using my phone completely before I went to bed.
- I noticed some dramatic changes in that short time, from an increased attention span to more relaxing sleep.
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Bedtime for me usually means curling up around 10:30 p.m. with my husband and pup, scrolling through Instagram, watching an episode of "Veep" or two, and then futzing around on my phone for hours until I inevitably drop it on my face or floor and go to sleep for good.
My husband falls asleep at the drop of the hat, mostly because he has to be in work an hour and a half before me. So, while he peacefully slumbers, I hide the light from my phone (like a 10-year-old kid reading "Harry Potter" with a flashlight) and settle in for several episodes of "Golden Girls." Those gals just get me.
Sounds great, right? It is, until it's 2 a.m. and I'm still wide awake, anxious about how tired I'm going to feel tomorrow. Then I wake up just as tired as I anticipated.
I knew it was time to make a change.
So for one week, I decided to ditch my smartphone before bed. In that week, I found I slept better, my attention span increased, and I woke up readier than ever to take on the morning.
Here are my four biggest takeaways from my week without using my phone before bed.