5 reasons to ban your smartphone from your bedroom

We’re all guilty of sending that last minute email just before bed, because we feel it is far too important to wait until the morning. Or we quickly scroll through social media before we get out of bed each day. All of this might seem just like part of everyday life to us, but stepping away from our phones once in a while can actually do us the world of good.

Our 7 days to digital detox challenge encouraged you to leave your phone out of your bedroom each night, and the responses we had highlighted the importance of doing so. If this isn’t convincing enough we have five solid reasons why you should ban your smartphone from your bedroom.

#1 Your smartphone is keeping you from sleeping

You might think using your smartphone or tablet before you go to sleep each night is harmless, but your smartphone is actually the reason you might be struggling to sleep. 95% of adults admit to using some type of screen in the hour leading up to bed. The artificial blue light that our phones and tables produce increases our alertness and this results in us being unable to sleep.

Blue light has been proven to suppress the release of melatonin, the hormone that reduces alertness in order to help encourage sleep.  As melatonin isn’t released, it results in us struggling to sleep, as well as making us feel tired the next day.

#2 It’s far too easy to snooze your alarm

Most of us will finish up on our phone in bed each evening and set our alarm for the next day –  seems pretty normal. Using your smart phone as an alarm makes it easier to hit the snooze button a few times before actually getting out of bed.

When we wake up each day our body needs a little bit of time to get ready and wake up, letting yourself go back to sleep tricks the body into thinking this was a false alarm, resulting in the body not waking up.

The more you snooze (which for some of us can be quite a few times) the more confused both your body and brain become which leads to you feeling as if you haven’t actually spent any extra time in bed and results in sleep inertia, which is the groggy, fuzzy headed feeling you get each morning. Research shows that sleep inertia causes impaired alertness and performance on a wide range of daily tasks.

Leaving your phone outside your bedroom each evening and investing in an alarm clock which you can not constantly snooze will lead in you feeling much more alert and awake each morning.

#3 Social media is distracting you late at night

The urge to constantly check social media on your phone is distracting you from every day life. Many of us get into the routine of endlessly scrolling though social media before we go to bed, and then repeating this as soon as we wake up, just in case we have missed something overnight.

By leaving your phone outside your bedroom you won’t be distracted by your social media apps, and you can put the time into something more productive, such as reading a book.

#4 That smartphone in your bedroom is running your relationship

Using your smartphone in your bedroom could end up ruining your relationship. 20% of young adults have admitted to using their phones during sex, and 63% of adults say they sleep with their phone or tablets in their bed. Using your phone each evening in the bedroom results in you being less connected to your partner, and it is a distraction that makes it easy to stop talking to them and disconnect from your relationship.

By setting boundaries and leaving your smartphone outside of the bedroom you can spend quality time with your partner and, rather than wasting time looking though social media to see what you friends have been up to, you can spend the time connecting with one another.

#5 Your bedroom should be a work free zone

Being always switched on for work can affect you in many different ways. Responding to that last email at midnight is not as important as you might think. Your ‘always logged on’ lifestyle can lead to digital burnout, and having your smartphone in your bedroom is partly to blame for this.

We recommend that your bedroom is a work free zone, and removing your smartphone and tablet from your room will allow you to switch off properly each night.

Removing your smartphone from your bedroom each night is a great way to log off and connect with those around you. Our digital detox retreats are a great way to switch off and discover how logging off can have a positive impact on your life.