In the digital age, most people use gadgets for long periods of time due to school, work, and even entertainment purposes. Unfortunately, researchers have discovered that people who like to engage in high discretionary screen time are more likely to have poor or moderate sleep patterns. The researchers pointed out that using gadgets for more than four hours a day can increase your risk of snoring, experiencing infrequent daytime sleepiness, and suffering from insomnia or getting inadequate sleep.
The sleep conditions associated with prolonged gadget usage can be quite concerning because they can affect your overall physical, mental, and social well-being. Fortunately, there are many solutions to help you mitigate the effects of prolonged screen time and maintain your sleep quality. So, without further ado, here’s how you can protect yourself from the effects of too much screen time:
How to Manage the Effects of Too Much Screen Time
Use glasses with special lenses
If you spend long hours in front of a computer or phone, you can use these special glasses to prevent eye fatigue and improve your sleep quality over time. For example, blue light glasses can manipulate incoming light and block out glare for optimal vision, helping protect your eyes from damage over time. These glasses have lenses with strong anti-reflection properties and UV protection to improve your visual comfort and clarity while you’re working, studying, or simply scrolling on your phone.
Add screen filter to your phone
Aside from wearing glasses, you can increase your protection by adding blue light filters to your smartphone screen. Companies now offer screen protectors with blue light filters, due to the health effects of prolonged gadget usage. There are even screen protectors with both anti-glare and anti-blue light protection, which can improve your visual clarity and user experience while browsing through your phone.
Follow the 20/20/20 rule
Using your computer or phone for work or school means you’ll likely get absorbed in your task for hours. After focusing a lot, you may not realise that you haven’t taken a break and your eyes are fatigued. As such, you need to make it a habit to take more frequent breaks by following the 20/20/20 rule. After 20 minutes of screen time, take a break for 20 seconds and stare at a target 20 feet away. It takes energy to keep your eyes focused on what you’re looking at on a screen, so the 20/20/20 rule gives them a much-needed break.
How to Boost Your Sleep Quality After Using Digital Devices
Have a healthy nighttime ritual
It may seem fun to scroll through your phone before bed. However, sleep experts warn that it may even take you longer than usual to fall asleep, especially if you’ve been using your phone, tablet, or laptop before going to bed. So instead of scrolling on your phone, try to do fun activities that can help you go to sleep, such as enjoying a warm bath or reading an interesting book.
Read before you go to sleep
Reading can help you go to sleep by making you feel calmer through the immersive stories. Unfortunately, you may find it painful to read books and even experience difficulties with sleeping, especially if you have dry eye disease. This type of disease can be caused by digital eye strain and affect both your sleeping patterns and your quality of life. Fortunately, you can mitigate the effects of digital eye strain and dry eye disease by wearing prescription glasses that are thoroughly prepared by qualified opticians. You can even have your glasses customised with quality frames and lenses to reduce the strain on your eyes and protect your eyes from environmental factors that can dry them out. By wearing these glasses, you can read comfortably during bedtime and fall asleep faster.
Treat yourself to a relaxing bath
Aside from reading a book, you can also relax by having a warm bath before you go to sleep. You can even drop 100% therapeutic-grade essential oils into the bath water to make it more fragrant and soothing. You can choose essential oils with a blend of lavender, geranium, eucalyptus, bergamot, and clary sage so that you can breathe in its calming scent as you enjoy the warmth of the water. Doing this regularly can reduce the pain, stress, and fatigue that you can get from working or studying all day long. Thus, bathing can be a good lifestyle habit, especially for those who struggle to sleep after a long day.
You deserve a good night’s rest, especially after you’ve been studying or working in front of a computer all day. You can boost your comfort and sleep better by using our sleep products that are suitable to your needs. Wearing the right sleepwear or adding certain bedroom interiors can create a profound effect on your sleep quality.
