I normally have trouble falling asleep and tend to wake up at least three times during the night. This means that I often worry about whether I’m going to sleep at all.

This is why I decided to try to stop using my phone two hours before going to sleep for two weeks.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a miracle. I was mostly just curious. The whole “no screens before bed” thing is something my mom kept telling me to try. I wanted to see if it actually makes a noticeable difference.
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There is some science behind the advice. According to sleep experts, screens produce blue light, which suppresses the body’s production of melatonin – a hormone responsible for controlling our sleep patterns. It also affects our circadian rhythm, our body’s internal clock.

 

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The content we consume matters too. Scrolling through social media, answering messages or watching videos can keep the brain stimulated when it is supposed to be winding down.

This is why scientists recommend reducing screen time before bed. There’s no set period, but as a rule of thumb doctors recommend 1-2 hours before going to sleep.

Days 1 and 2

The first thing I noticed was how automatic it was to reach for my phone. I’d finish doing something and instantly look for it. Two hours felt much longer than I expected.

There was also this strange feeling that I was supposed to be doing something. I wasn’t waiting for an important message or actually missing anything, but without my phone there was suddenly a lot of empty time I felt I had the obligation to fill.

I also got really bored.

My sleep itself didn’t actually change. When I eventually went to bed, I fell asleep pretty much as usual. This wasn’t unexpected, since I hadn’t expected to become a perfect sleeper after only two nights.

Days 3 and 4

By the third and fourth days, not having my phone started feeling less weird.

My evenings still felt longer, but instead of automatically picking up my phone whenever I had nothing to do, I started doing other things. I talked to my brother, journalled, listened to music. I mostly found small things to occupy myself with, which is something I wasn’t doing frequently before bed.

My sleep still hadn’t changed much. This kind of made me question whether the experiment was actually doing anything. But then I thought that removing a phone might not produce an obvious result for every person, especially after just a few days.

Sleep is affected by many other factors, including stress, routine, light, caffeine and individual sleep patterns. So I thought that might be the reason.

Days 5 to 7

At this point, the experiment started feeling less pointless.

Because I had relatively little to do in those two hours, I started becoming sleepy more quickly in the evening. So I began going to bed a little earlier, simply because I was bored and tired.

I used to go to bed at around 1am, but without my phone my bedtime became midnight or sometimes even earlier.

Falling asleep seemed easier too, although not that much. It wasn’t like I put my phone away and immediately fell asleep. It was more subtle. But I think there was a difference.

There were nights when I wasn’t particularly tired, but also I didn’t have anything else I wanted to do. Going to bed early just because I was bored felt pointless, so I sometimes wished I could text my friends or my boyfriend for a while.

That made me realise my phone wasn’t always something I was using because I actually wanted to. Sometimes I was using it because I didn’t know what else to do. This made me reflect on whether young people use their phones that much in order to avoid boredom.

Days 8 to 10

By this point, it stopped feeling like an experiment.

The first few nights felt strange, but now it felt a lot more like a routine. I didn’t have to constantly remind myself that I wasn’t supposed to use my phone.

Something else changed that was more personal to me: sleep started feeling a bit less intimidating.

That doesn’t mean every night was easy. I still had occasional rough nights. But I wasn’t constantly thinking about whether I’d fall asleep, and that made bedtime feel less scary.

Days 11 to 14

Would I keep doing it?

Probably – but not for two hours.

Two hours was useful as an experiment, but realistically, I don’t think I need such a strict rule every night. One hour before bed would be enough, I feel.