A good night’s sleep is essential for our well-being and overall health, but it’s often a luxury for working moms.
There are lots of reasons we might miss out on sleep at night, some of which are out of our control – like staying up late to finish household tasks or waking up frequently because our kids can’t sleep.
Sometimes it’s because we’re so overstimulated after a full day of work and parenting that it’s hard to relax before bed.
In those cases, many of us will grab our phones and start scrolling mindlessly through social media reels in an effort to wind down.
Here’s the bad part about that. Blue light – the kind that comes from electronic screens like our phones – actually makes it harder for us to fall and stay asleep.
Yep, that means that scrolling through social media reels before bedtime might be doing us more harm than good.
Blue light also comes from many other sources, too. In our modern society, it’s almost everywhere. No wonder we can’t fall asleep.
How blue light affects sleep quality
During the day, exposure to blue light is actually not a bad thing. It helps to improve cognitive functions like memory and attention while we’re working and alert.
The problems start when we maintain that exposure into the late evening and night hours before bedtime. Exposure to blue light in the evenings can:
- Affect our ability to fall asleep
- Suppress melatonin, the hormone that regulates our circadian rhythms
- Cause us to wake up more during the night
- Reduce how much time we spend in deep sleep, and
- Reduce our overall sleep quality
Evidence suggests that blue light exposure too close to bedtime affects our sleep quality, including the time it takes to fall asleep, next day alertness, and the time spent in the REM phase of sleep.
Basically, more blue light exposure at night = worse sleep.
Sources of blue light
Where does blue light come from?
Apart from the sun (which is the biggest source of blue light), most artificial light sources emit it. That includes:
- LED lights
- Fluorescent lights
- Cell phones
- Computers
- Tablets
- Televisions
- E-readers
It’s not an overstatement to say that basically all of our modern devices and technologies emit blue light.
Avoiding it completely isn’t realistic, but I’ve found some strategies to limit it as much as possible that I think have been helpful for my sleep.
5 ways I limit blue light at night for better sleep quality
1. Replacing social media scrolling with self-care
I have a bad habit of scrolling through social media reels at night for way longer than I should after my son is asleep.
It’s basically how I shut my brain off and wind down after a long day of work and parenting.
But I’ve started realizing there are other, better ways to wind down. That 30 minutes (or an hour, but who’s counting) I spent on social media could be used to do other, more fulfilling things.
I’ve been making an effort to replace the unproductive mindless scrolling with a self-care activity that doesn’t involve any screens. Here are some of the things I’ve started doing instead that have made a difference:
- Reading a book
- Listening to a mindfulness meditation or practicing mindfulness
- Doing some reflective journaling
- Practicing gratitude
- Doing a breathing exercise
- Putting on a face-mask
2. Using blue light blockers
Sometimes I just can’t get around to ditching my devices at night because I legitimately need to work or finish a post.
In these cases, I use blue light blocking glasses to help block out some of that light from reaching my eyes. That helps to minimize its negative effects on my sleep.
I recently got some prescription glasses with built in blue light blocking lenses, but these non-prescription ones worked pretty well before I started wearing my glasses.
livho High Tech Blue Light Glasses
3. Turning off TV, tablet, and computer at least 30 minutes before bed
Sleep experts recommend powering down devices somewhere between 1-2 hours before bedtime.
In my household, 1-2 hours is absolutely not happening… but 20-30 minutes is doable.
We naturally don’t just switch from alert to drowsy mode; we need a little buffer time to wind down.
By turning our devices off, we’re signaling to our brains that the day is over and giving ourselves some time to relax before we get into bed.
I try to give myself as much time as I reasonably can without screens, tablets, or televisions to wind down and prepare for sleep.
4. Adjusting the settings on my devices
Many phones and devices have a “night mode” or other display option that allows us to shift the colors on our screens to warmer shades that are a little easier on the eyes.
Changing these settings won’t exactly eliminate all blue light exposure, but it will help to reduce it.
I have my phone and computer automatically set up to switch to night mode at around 6pm every evening.
5. Turning off LED lights and using lamps with warm lighting
LED light bulbs have become popular in many homes because of their energy-efficiency compared to other types of artificial light, but they do emit a fair amount of blue light (particularly the ones on the cooler color spectrum).
I try to minimize LED light exposure in the evenings and try to use lamps with red or amber lighting as my nighttime light source instead.
Sleep is important to our daily function and overall health and well-being.
We can have a positive impact on the quality of our sleep by limiting blue light as much as possible before bed.
There are many ways to do this, and one method alone may not be sufficient. Combining different strategies has been helpful for me when it comes to limiting blue light at night, and has made a positive impact on my sleep.
We might not be able to completely cut out all sources of blue light, but minimizing exposure is a good step towards maximizing the quality of our sleep.
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