By Kiarma Webster, MSW, LCSW

Sleep and technology seem to have a love/hate relationship. On one hand, technology can enhance our sleep, but some electronics can inhibit our sleep and maybe even cause insomnia. Fitness trackers and their associated apps can provide us with information about the quality and duration of our sleep. That information gives us new insight about how we sleep so we can make changes to improve it. Other smart phone apps and websites offer us the opportunity to be lulled to sleep by warm colors and soothing sounds. This is the “pro-sleep” technology, but what about when technology keeps us awake?

We all know that it’s best to engage in a relaxing activity as you wind down before bed. Some of us sip herbal tea, read a book or listen to music. But what if your relaxing activity is playing a puzzle game on your tablet or watching television? Does that help relax us to embrace sleep or does it make it harder to go to sleep?

Researchers compared people who read before bed on tablets with people reading paper books. They found that the tablet readers produced less melatonin (which helps regulate sleep). The tablet readers took longer to fall asleep and had shorter REM sleep than their book-reading counterparts. Other research findings suggest that blue light from most electronic devices (tablets, computers, cell phones, some TVs) keeps us alert and inhibits our body’s natural melatonin production. Playing video games, checking email and scrolling through social media timelines stimulates the cognitive functions of the brain and winds us up rather than winding us down. 

The bottom line is, most of the devices we’ve been using at bedtime are foes of sleep rather than friends of sleep. So what should we do?

Make your bedroom a tech-free zone. Buy an alarm clock and use that to awaken you. Leave your phone, tablet, laptop, e-readers and hand-held video games in a different room of your house during bedtime and encourage the younger members of your household to do the same. With all devices piled on the dining room table, not only will you sleep better, you won’t have to worry about your teens Snapchatting and texting their friends in the middle of the night. 

One to two hours before bedtime is the best time to stop using devices. If you do choose to use devices closer to bedtime, consider using an app or setting that filters out blue light. The latest IOS update offers a “nightshift setting” so you can program your iPhone or iPad to transform the screen to a less sleep disruptive hue. Many Android devices offer similar options and older devices run apps that function in the same way.