Martina
Everyday Health | Martina

Published: 22 Apr 2026

How does screen time affect sleep?

Using screens before bedtime disrupts the sleep hormone melatonin by emitting blue light.

This stops the brain from getting sleepy and will keep it awake by tricking it into thinking that it's daytime.

Using screens before bed can also take away from the time that could be spent sleeping, meaning that there is less time to get a good night's rest.

Phone use changes the brain's reward system so that each time a notification or message is received, dopamine is released, which gives a feeling of always wanting more.

This can make it hard to stop or know when to stop.

If you're struggling to go to sleep because of the use of screens, having protected time before going to bed for non-screen time can help.

Breathing exercises can help with unwinding and becoming ready for sleep.

An idea for a breathing exercise could be counting your breaths from 100 backwards and bringing yourself back to the breath when you've noticed you've drifted.

Having screen time before bed can be incorporated into a sleep routine, which is recommended to help your mind and body get ready for a good night's rest.

Being in a calm environment with low lighting and doing activities without screens, like reading or listening to the radio, can help let your body know when to trigger melatonin to be released.

Other changes that can help with this are getting up and going to bed at the same time every day.

If putting boundaries in place to reduce screen time hasn't been effective and sleep is still disturbed, a visit to the GP might be the best option to get some support around getting sleep back on track.

To set boundaries around phone use, some phones will have settings that allow you to limit your access to certain apps, or alternatively, downloading a third party app blocker.