It can be hard to sleep smart.
In our increasingly digital age, screens and streams have the ability to keep us up much later than we’d like, leaving us cranky during the next work day. do not worry; It happens to everyone.
It’s a familiar story: Netflix asks, “Are you still watching?” We agree with the broadcast program we chose: only one episode before bed. Another episode could roll into the rest of the season and maybe some from the next season.
Overeating happens, but it can intrude the way you function in your daily life.
According to the Sleep Foundation, watching TV before bed is the best ritual for adults. Over 72% of those surveyed admitted they had been watching TV before it was bad, going so far as to describe it as a habit. About 50% of adults who watch TV before bed say they sleep seven hours or less each night.
88.6% of Americans overeat — they watch a show at least once a month — while 80.6% say their TV habits have “remained the same or increased” since the start of the pandemic.
The most important bedtime rituals for Americans are watching TV (52.7%), taking a shower (32%), talking to a partner (22.9%), and reading a book (20.4%).
Some less common rituals may be the best for your sleep health.
The least common practices are yoga (9.6%) and aerobics (10.6%). Meanwhile, 16.6% of Americans admit to checking email before bed, another clue that finding work-life balance can be challenging at a time when so many Americans work remotely.
“My husband needed the TV to fall asleep at night,” says Jenny Smith, functional medicine health coach. She was just the opposite, she needs quietness in the bedroom to fall asleep. Like most couples, Smith had to find a middle ground. “We used to sleep in bed with the TV on, but we turned it off as soon as we went to sleep,” she explains.
Today, Smith and her husband have eliminated TV from their bedtime routine, opting for healthy rituals instead.
“Watching TV or being on your phone prevents our brains from producing melatonin naturally,” Smith told us. In addition to blue glasses, she recommends that people stop their exposure to blue light at least two hours before bed.
It’s all about setting our daily clock. She recommends exposure to the sun in the first minutes of waking up. And at night? “Diming the lights in your home as soon as the sun goes down helps to get excellent rest,” she says.
Between 50 million and 70 million adults suffer from sleep disorders, which may explain why so many people feel the need to watch TV before bed. Rituals we think might help us sleep can, in fact, contribute to underlying problems.
Sleep disturbances come in many forms, from snoring – which affects 48% of the population – to insomnia. About 30% of the population suffers from insomnia, while 10% suffers from chronic insomnia.
Healthy sleep habits start with finding a bedtime routine that’s right for you and your interests. Not everyone will want to write a diary before bed, but some find it useful. Another bedtime ritual that people find helpful is a cup of tea, meditate, or read a good book.
Some people recommend “priming your bedroom.” This process might include tidying up your room, pulling down the curtains, or running an essential oil diffuser. It’s a theatrical process meant to tell your body: OK, it’s time for bed.
Finding the best bedtime ritual will vary from person to person, and there will still be people who want to watch TV before bed. And let’s face it, sometimes you want to watch another episode, and that’s okay.
“Watching TV before bed can be part of a healthy, relaxing routine that helps fall asleep if done right,” says Jeff Kahn, CEO and co-founder of Rise Science. He wrote a lot about sleeping habits.
He recommends wearing blue-light-blocking glasses and keeping the lights low if you’re watching TV before bed. And what about that craving for gluttony? Khan says to choose something casual, not sequential. “A cliffhanger rather than a show with a chic bow at the end gets our brains racing and challenges the smooth ride to sleep,” he told us.
For sleep experts like Kahn, the bedroom environment is just as important as the activities you participate in. This means making sure your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet.
With so many streaming platforms and binge-watching opportunities, it can be challenging to practice a healthy sleep routine. However, following some of these steps can make all the difference, ensuring you get the rest you need for a better tomorrow.
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