If you count the most important factors that help a person lead a healthy life, sleep comes in the first place. You might be stressed, worried, or anxious, but most often, getting sound sleep acts as a cure. We may sleep weary, but wake up with zeal. That is the magic of getting a good sleep. Nowadays, the quality of sleep is highly compromised with technological advances in our lives. Our increased use of technological gadgets has disrupted the peaceful sleep of the average human being. Mobile phones stand as the main villain while considering the digital devices that cause sleep deprivation in human beings. Do you know how much the overuse of digital devices affects the sleep cycle of a person? Do you know that these devices have the potential to cause several physical and psychological problems in human beings? If not, this article will let you know how far technology has gone in disrupting the healthy lifestyle of a person.
How does Technology cause Disrupted Sleep in Human Beings?
For an average human being, imagining a pre-sleep routine without a mobile phone is beyond imagination. The most harmful effect of this practice is that it reduces your sleep duration. To be honest, haven’t you ever postponed your sleep only to watch one more episode of your favorite series? Mobile phones and the digital world it offers are indeed tempting. It can make you deliberately adopt reduced sleep time. Even though you are aware of the harmful impacts of not getting enough sleep required for the body, you choose to follow the same unhealthy routine.
In between the reduced sleep hours, you will have multiple awakenings because technology directly affects sleep quality as well. You cannot experience sound sleep and may wake up 3 to 4 times between the sleep, disturbing the balanced sleep cycle. This paves the way to several psychological problems including anger issues and anxiety and also makes you less productive throughout the day.
Falling asleep after prolonged use of digital devices can be difficult. You cannot fall asleep immediately after a long screen time because it directly interferes with your brain, making it difficult for you to go to sleep.
Have you heard of melatonin? It is a brain-induced hormone prompted by darkness. It is also known as the “sleep hormone” and is responsible for driving the sleep-wake cycle. The blue light emitted by mobile phones/laptops adversely affects the production of melatonin. This disrupted production of melatonin disturbs the sleep-wake cycle, also known as the circadian rhythm. This causes an overall imbalance in your body.
A bigger disadvantage associated with technological devices is their tempting nature. You may feel an increased urge to pick up your phone even while trying to sleep.
Children are more prone to get addicted to the usage of mobile phones and similar devices, which negatively affects their daily routines, especially their sleep routines. This makes them grow under an unhealthy lifestyle and can be harmful in the long run.
A relaxed pre-sleep time is affected by mobile phones and leads to tired wakeups.
If you are living such an unhealthy habit of spending much screen time before your sleep, it’s high time you rethink the potential issues caused by it. What can you do to adopt some healthy habits to your daily routine to reduce the negative impact of technology on your sleep?
Construct a timetable for the screen. Decide how many hours you are going to spend on technology. Instead of using it for a prolonged time without any limits, better set a timetable for when you can use your mobile phone/tablet/television/laptop. Make sure you stick to this timetable.
Keep the device away from the reach of your hand. Since you may find it difficult to adjust to the changes, you will probably make attempts not to stick to the new routine. Having the device near your reach can probably make you go back to the same practice. If possible, make an area for keeping all the devices at night, away from your bedroom.
Most mobile phones now have the feature of warning users about the daily time they spend on the screen. Turn this feature on, because it will help you understand how long you have been using the device continuously.
Do not forget to set your phone on silent before keeping it away because you may fall into the trap of going back and getting it again once you hear it ringing.
Adapting to new changes involves adopting new strategies. Replace your phone habits before sleep with alternative healthy habits such as reading a book or practicing some relaxation techniques.
Instead of using phone alarms to wake up in the morning, try using an actual alarm clock.
Make yourself comfortable in bed. The initial struggle can be hard to deal with while opting for changes in your daily routine. However, remember that stepping out of your comfort zone can be beneficial to both your physical and psychological health.
Understand that relying too much on technology can cause more harm than good. While every innovation can make human life easier, it is always important to keep an eye on the disadvantages it can create on human life. Minimizing the use of technology can be helpful to both our body and mind in the long run. After all, it is good health that matters.
