As we all know all too well, breaking bad sleeping habits is rather difficult – whether you are one of us, who loves eating trash food late before going to bed or one of us, who likes scrolling through social media on your mobile phone. Some of us cannot even fight the need to check their professional mailbox before resting and that is a real problem – we set our alarm to 8:00 a.m. and stay awake thinking of work, and all the important things we have to do the next day. In the morning we do it again – it is the second thing many of us do just after turning off the alarm. We go to sleep stressed, and we wake up stressed, while the solution to our sleeping problems is simple. Put your phone away and invest in a minimalist alarm clock.
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Keeping your smartphone nearby the whole day may affect your health
Some experts recommend that you stop using your smartphone as an alarm clock. Why? Well, many people claim that radiation may cause problems with sleeping, although there is little scientific evidence to support this hypothesis. Cell phone radiation has not been proven harmful by scientists. Still, many physicians claim that having a phone nearby all the time may affect your mood by increasing stress and anxiety levels.
This is mainly because we do not let ourselves disconnect from digital communication – we check our social media profiles, chat with friends, make plans or get updated on what has been going on at work. We do not seem to have a moment to go offline and get some rest.
There is also a matter of the light emitted by most of the electronic devices – so-called blue light. Blue light may cause sleeping problems and tire your eyes.
Best practice for preparing to sleep
As you know now what may cause you difficulties with falling asleep (blue light from your mobile devices and stress resulting from permanently being online), it should not be so difficult to work on your bedtime routine. The point is to create a peaceful atmosphere without stress about an hour before you go to bed. How can this be achieved?
- Avoid strong and blue light – reduce the light exposure in the room you are spending your evening in and – when you actually go to sleep – use a mask that can block the light, or alternatively use some curtains.
- Keep the noise down – the best choice is leaving all electronic devices except your alarm clock out of your bedroom. If you use an alarm in your smartphone, turn off the notifications and any noises at all. You can switch to airplane mode. The best choice would be to invest in an analog alarm clock and leave the cell phone in another room altogether.
- Ensure optimal temperature – it can be difficult to fall asleep and sleep at all in the room where the temperature is not optimal. Optimal temperature means not too hot and not too cold. It is also good to let in some fresh air into the bedroom before going to bed.
There are multiple other practices you can leverage to personalize your bedtime routine. Find the best solution for you and enjoy the rest.
Why not use phone alarms?
Most of us use phone alarms. It seems so convenient, as we already have alarms built-in in our cell phones, but the thing is that it is really easy to postpone such an alarm, when we want to sleep 5 minutes longer. In the end we set up 3 alarms – the first wakes us up, the second irritates us, and after the third one we are already late and extremely tired.
It is the smartphone alone that makes us so exhausted. We go to sleep stressed with the accompaniment of social media notifications, then the blue light keeps us up at night. Some of us even wake up in the middle of the night and reach for the phone to check something. Using the alarm in your smartphone certainly does not contribute to getting good rest. That is exactly why you should keep your smartphone outside of your bedroom. Instead, you can try a minimalist, analog alarm clock like Mudita bell. Wondering how it is better than any other alarm solution?
As technology develops, some companies specialize in developing minimalist gadgets that will suit the needs of most people. Some alarm clocks and minimalistic phones are using E-Ink technology to reduce blue light exposure and let your eyes rest. Such devices come with a minimum of additional features (e.g. meditation timer) that enable the user to live a simpler life and reduce stress levels. Its creators followed a progressive wake-up approach and designed it to make the first minutes of your day a peaceful and pleasant experience.
How alarm clock can be beneficial for us?
The biggest advantage of using an alarm clock? Of course, awakening you in the morning. You already know the negative impacts of mobile phones. In addition to using it, even keeping it around yourself will expose you to various radiations. But not with an alarm clock. Thus, you will remain healthy and will also wake up on time.
The human brain works with a cycle. If you have a set routine of sleeping, you will wake up at a set time too. And this will become your habit.
So how does the alarm clock will work?
What happens with an alarm clock is that your brain will know when it is time for you to wake up. After your set routine of 7 or 8 hours of sleep, you will wake up just a few minutes before your alarm goes off.
Get a happy morning
Your alarm clock will help you out in getting a happy morning. We are all getting addicted to using the mobile phone after going to bed and before getting up. So when you turn off the alarm from your mobile phone, you will use it for a while and see some news reports. Or you might see the message that might offset your mood. So instead of getting all tensed, you need to relax.
Wake up from the sound of your alarm clock, get up and have a nice shower. You will have a relaxed mood on a nice morning. Getting bad news in the morning puts you in a bad mood and ruins your whole day. You won’t be able to do anything properly. Therefore, a fresh start to the day is essential for a healthy life.
Study reports show that people who avoid using a mobile phone before and after sleep gets a better mood. So if you try this routine, you will see a significant difference.
A better quality sleep
Another biggest benefit of using a traditional alarm clock is better to sleep quality. Keeping a mobile phone near your bed not only harms your body but also your sleep quality. If you are getting messages and emails while you are trying to sleep, they will disrupt your sleep. Even if you are not getting any messages, you will get attracted to check the phone.
It is hard for some people to fall asleep. So if they are trying to sleep but have to take turns, they would like to use a mobile phone even for a short time. Thus, they will ultimately start using it and won’t be able to sleep on time. But if you have an alarm clock that will wake you up, you can put your mobile outside your room. Consequently, even if you want to pick it up, you will feel tired to get up and go out.
Final words:
We are getting used to using mobile phones too much, which is affecting our sleep quality. However, shifting to the traditional alarm clock can help us to get better sleep that will improve our mood and health.