In this modern day of technology, it seems that almost everyone is using their mobile phones 24 hours per day. We use it as our alarm clock, our email, our internet, our newspapers, our music devices and even for our play time. We take pictures, make to-do lists and store our contacts in them, so much so that we feel naked if we’ve left it behind.
But we weren’t intended to work and play the entire day and throughout night with no break in between. Our bodies need rest; and being woken up by a ding, a bell and a vibration at crazy hours does not constitute a refreshing night’s sleep.
Studies, like the one here have shown that texting right before falling asleep can lead to negative affects like “burnout, sleep problems and emotional well-being.” Personally, I’ve found that if I check my emails too late at night, I can tend to get “all worked up” when there’s really nothing I can do about the situation until the morning!
The bottom line is that we know a little less phone time and a little more rest time would do us all a great deal of good. In the spirit of making New Year’s Resolutions, try to resolve to put the phone down earlier, on silent (not vibrate) or maybe even in the other room. Your emails can wait until normal business hours and the social media world can handle one less “about to fall asleep” update.
We are interested to know: Do you sleep with your cell phone in your bed? Go to Facebook to let us know what YOU do. Everyone who responds will get entered into a drawing for a $5.00 Starbuck’s gift card (and we suggest decaf after 5:00 PM!)
