01-04-2025
How to stop scrolling in bed as night-time phone use linked to insomnia
Many people are in the habit of using a screen last-thing at night. In fact, a YouGov study on sleep found that a whopping 87% of Britons look at their phone or tablet within an hour before bedtime.
But if you're someone who struggles with sleep, you might want to rethink your digital evening habits, as scientists in Norway have found that in-bed screen time increases the risk of developing insomnia by 59%.
The study, which surveyed around 45,000 students, found that scrolling at night can have disastrous consequences for your sleep, causing an average loss of 24 minutes of kip per night.
And while it's easy to assume that lack of sleep is exclusively linked to the negative effects of social media, the study found that any kind of screen activity can disrupt sleep - whether that's reading news articles on your phone or flipping through a book on your Kindle.
Commenting on their findings in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, the Norwegian team said they "found no significant differences between social media and other screen activities."
If these findings have encouraged you to set some fresh boundaries with your tech, there are a few things you can do to reset your nighttime habits. We asked a tech addiction expert to share their top tips.
Science on habit formation tells us that healthy behaviours are built on repetition. Chartered psychologist Dr Manpreet Dhuffar-Pottiwal says that setting a consistent time to put away devices each night is one of the most effective ways to nix screen use.
"Digital features on smartphones like 'Night Shift' or 'Do Not Disturb' hide distracting notifications, which can help to automate this transition,' she says.
"By cutting off screens an hour before bed, you allow your brain to transition into rest mode naturally. It disrupts the dopamine-drive cycle of 'just one more scroll', encouraging your brain to associate evenings with relaxation and not stimulation."
In his bestselling book Atomic Habits, habit researcher James Clear says that making bad habits less convenient can make them less appealing to our brains.
"Since the mere presence of a smartphone, laptop or tablet next to your bed can exert an unconscious influence on you, it's a good idea to charge your devices in another room," says digital detox coach Colin Corby. "This creates friction, giving you time to consciously interrupt any automatic screen-based habits, like unlocking your phone and scrolling on social media.
"If you need your smartphone in your bedroom for the alarm function, try placing it on the other side of the room. Keep a notepad by your bed to jot down any urgent thoughts or forgotten appointments," he adds. This way, you can drift off safe in the knowledge you'll add them to your phone calendar in the morning.
When it comes to breaking deep-rooted habits, relying on sheer willpower alone can be tough. Draining the colour from your smartphone could be an effective way to wean yourself off using it.
"Setting your phone to greyscale (black and white) mode dulls the visual appeal of apps, making them less enticing to your brain," says Dhuffar-Pottiwal. Both iOS and Android devices offer this function.
"Over time, setting this nightly this boundary reinforces the idea that your bed is for rest, not stimulation," she notes. A 2022 study backs up this theory, reporting that undergraduate students who changed their phones to grayscale significantly reduced their screen time by an average of 37.9 minutes each day.
When the urge to scroll hits, Dhuffar-Pottiwal recommends substituting it with a relaxing activity that engages your senses differently. "Try listening to a sleep meditation using a non-smart device, practicing the 4-7-8 breathing technique (inhale for four seconds, hold for seven and exhale for eight), or jotting down worries in a 'brain dump' journal,' she advises.
While nighttime scrolling often starts as an well-natured attempt to unwind, it can often backfire by flooding the brain with stress-inducing content or endless dopamine loops. 'Replacement rituals fulfil the same psychological need for distraction or comfort but without the sleep-disrupting side effects,' explains Dhuffar-Pottiwal.
'For example, journalling externalises anxieties, while rhythmic breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting lower cortisol levels. These activities signal to your body that it's safe to rest, paving the way for deeper, more restorative sleep.'
Read more about insomnia:
Why can't I sleep? (Yahoo Life UK, 8-min read)
I've had insomnia since I was 18 and it's affected my whole life (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
This Powerful Sleep Method is Helping People Beat Insomnia For Good (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)
