The Glitch: I Made a Screen Curfew and This Is What Happened

Blue light hangovers are almost as bad as the ones you get after you’ve been club hopping until 5am. You know the feeling. Where you wake up all groggy, then scare yourself in the bathroom mirror because it’s like a rerun of the ‘Single & Fabulous?’ Carrie Bradshaw New Yorker cover. Only instead of the wild night out, it was a wild night in wearing your cosy Papinelle Pj set and deep-creeping your neighbours-boyfriend’s-sisters feed until 1am. Tragically the secret’s out: after-dark screen time is proven to be chronically bad for your sleep. It interrupts the rise and flow of melatonin, strains your eyes, and disrupts circadian cycles, which leave you feeling bleary-eyed in the morning and severely sleep deprived, as noted by sleep psychologist Doctor Michael J. Breus. So how are us night wolves to navigate the artificial glow of digital temptations? He and newly found sleep guru Arianna Huffington, (read her book: The Sleep Revolution), recommend the power-down hour. By giving yourself a screen cut off time and stowing all smart technologies away from reach (aka not on the bed side table) prior to hitting the pillow. 

We tried it at home for a week, keeping electronics away from 9pm. The results were indisputable – skin was flawless, mood was so much less irritable, energy was enhanced, especially morning motivation to get out of bed, and focus was hugely improved making daily tasks feel so much smoother. But let’s face it, with deadlines looming, new Netflix series’ luring and late night text convos beeping for our attention, the screen curfew was a short-term solution. Instead blue light blocking glasses and downloading the screen filtering software like f.lux make a great alternative to upgrade your sleeping habits even if you can’t quite give up your late-night screen fix just yet.