Challenges
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Quick Win
Avoiding screens before bedtime can make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Try This Today
- Avoid bright screens two to three hours before bedtime. You don’t need to turn off your devices yet — just check the settings and reduce the brightness.
- Thirty minutes before bedtime, shut down all devices.
- Use red-spectrum bulbs for night lights: This light is less likely to interrupt the body’s natural rhythms, research suggests.
Why
Blue light from digital screens makes us more alert and suppresses the release of the sleep hormone melatonin. According to a 2019 review of research published in the Journal of Biophotonics, “chronic exposure to low‐intensity blue light directly before bedtime may have serious implications on sleep quality.” Given everything we know about the importance of sleep for brain health — AARP’s Global Council on Brain Health produced an entire report on the subject — powering down your devices before bedtime is a smart strategy.
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