The evidence is clear, looking at your phone in bed is one of the worst things you can do for your sleep. But it goes deeper than that. If we were to imagine our dream nighttime routine, would it include feelings of rage, jealousy, inferiority, fear and stress? No, and that’s exactly what a session of doomscrolling can elicit.

So how do we do it less? 

In researching for this article, I realised that there are many deep rabbit holes I could go down. The psychology of addiction, the impact of social media, the grip that big tech companies have on our attention… But I wanted to distil some of what I read into a lighter guide that doesn’t go too far into the weeds. 

So here are 4 steps that I think actually work.

Replace the habit.

It’s helpful to understand that we are up against it when it comes to restricting phone use. Billions of pounds and millions of hours of effort have been spent in making our devices and the apps that it runs as addictive as possible. Simply ‘putting down the phone’ is incredibly difficult, and if we are trying to sleep in that moment of emotional pain, we are going to struggle. Rather than going ‘cold turkey’, try replacing the habit of scrolling with something else.

We scroll in bed when are:
a)    In bed
b)    Not quite ready to fall asleep yet

Therefore, we need to find something else to do, whilst we are in bed, that gives us a mild sense of satisfaction and entertainment, without being stressful or sleep-reducing in any way.  Something mildly stimulating, that gives you a small dopamine hit, but is still deeply relaxing. My top three? Read a book, listen to an audiobook, or sip something tasty like a can of Sleep Toniq.

Scroll somewhere else.

Our brain makes incredibly strong associations with set and setting, it’s why you (hopefully) feel less stressed when you step into your home after a hard day at work. Conversely, if we get into a habit of doomscrolling, we start to subconsciously associate the negative emotions caused by excessive phone use with our bedtime environment. As you can imagine, this association hampers our ability to feel the relaxation and peace we need to obtain a great night’s sleep.

So if you really want to look at your phone, do it somewhere else, and only get into bed when you are finished. It’s time to break the association your brain has that bed = phone = stress 

Put your phone somewhere else.

Our habits and addictions are greatly influenced by their ease of access. Imagine how much harder it is to not drink a glass of wine when you have an open bottle in front of you, compared to when you have none in the house at all and the local shop is shut. 
If you can reach your phone from your bed, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Remember, we are fighting against billions in investment into making this tech more addictive, don’t give it another advantage. When it’s bedtime, charge your phone on the other side of the room. Or in a drawer, or in a completely different room altogether! Once you get used to this it will feel like a weight has been lifted. 

Set a digital curfew.

We evolved to be highly sensitive to the natural cycles of light and darkness caused by the sun. Perhaps you’ve heard of our body’s Circadian ‘Rhythm’ that determines our own cycles of wakefulness and sleep. This rhythm is hugely impacted by the presence of bright blue screens, spewing out semi-stressful content, 10 inches from our face. 

We don’t need to give up phone use entirely, but we could at least allow our minds and bodies to wind down naturally, as we are evolved to do, by limiting phone use in harmony with the sun. As the sun sets, start using screens less. Allow the screens and artificial light to fade gently.

Then take it one step further and implement a more rigid digital ‘curfew’ in line with your actual bedtime. A hard stop. Try and keep it consistent, change settings on your apps to prevent use after this, and start your replacement habit soon after the curfew comes into effect.

Like I said before, this is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but I wanted to provide some of the most accessible, helpful and easy-to-implement tips that I found in my research, with just enough explanation for you to understand why they work. I really hope they help! Thank you for reading.