When I\u2019ve had a long day, for instance, I get into bed and scroll on Instagram before turning off the light. I tell myself that my feed is calming \u2014 cake decorating, ducks on a farm race-waddling to be fed \u2014 so it will soothe me to sleep.<\/p>\n
It never does.<\/p>\n
No matter what your social media feed looks like, \u201cit\u2019s still stimulating your brain,\u201d said Dr. Shalini Paruthi, a sleep medicine attending physician at John J. Cochran Veterans Hospital in St. Louis. \u201cThere is still so much cognitive and emotional engagement and arousal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet smartphones are the last thing many of us see before drifting off to sleep: A 2025 YouGov survey<\/a> found that 43 percent of Americans said they \u201calways or often\u201d browsed the internet on their phone before falling asleep. And, even if we\u2019re not doom-scrolling, there\u2019s evidence<\/a> linking nighttime cellphone use to interrupted sleep.<\/p>\n Starting tonight, you\u2019re going to carve out some tech-free time before bed. If the thought makes you uneasy, we have some tips.<\/p>\n This exercise was inspired by a 2025 study<\/a> in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior in which subjects who did a 30-minute digital detox before bed reported that the next day, they used their phones less and felt better, compared to days when they didn\u2019t detox.<\/p>\n So turn your phone off 30 minutes before bed to help prepare for sleep, and leave it off for the rest of the night.<\/p>\n Ideally, you\u2019re able to put your phone in another room, experts said. If not, place it out of arm\u2019s reach, so you\u2019d have to leave your bed to get it, said Kostadin Kushlev, an associate professor of psychology at Georgetown University who runs the Happy Tech Lab<\/a> and was a coauthor on the above study.<\/p>\n If there are people you can\u2019t be out of contact with, like your parents or your kids, Dr. Paruthi said, put your phone on \u201cdo not disturb\u201d mode, and set it to allow calls<\/a> only from them.<\/p>\n Plan ahead so you have some analog activities that you can do instead of scrolling, Dr. Paruthi recommended.<\/p>\n You can view this half-hour as creative bonus time: Write a letter<\/a> to someone, start a journal, do some knitting. One of my family members is working on a Lego version of the Concorde jet before bed, which may take her all summer.<\/p>\n Or you can spend that time doing something calming, like meditating, Dr. Paruthi added. I have been doing my bedtime ritual very slowly so that it fills a half hour. It includes an elaborate skin care routine, stretching, tidying up and laying out my clothes for the next day.<\/p>\n Manoush Zomorodi, the author of \u201cBody Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being,\u201d told me she rolls a massage ball under her feet, which soothes her and releases tension. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll pet my adorable dog, who\u2019s basically like my relaxation talisman,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Dr. Kushlev also suggested reading a book (preferably analog). So I sought advice from Ann Patchett, author of the new novel \u201cWhistler<\/a>\u201d and a devoted bedtime reader. She recommended reading books that are engaging and enjoyable, and nothing that you know will upset you. (In her case, that would be horror.)<\/p>\n Patchett said she loves to suggest middle-grade novels to adults, such as \u201cThe Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane<\/a>\u201d by Kate DiCamillo. The book has short chapters, so it\u2019s good for bedtime, but is \u201can entire novel that is as good as anything you will ever read in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/11Well-Summer-WK2-Sleep-02-articleLarge-v11.png\")
Week 2: Put some space between you and your phone.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/new-sleep-pup-articleLarge-v5.png\")
Make bedtime inviting.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/11Well-Summer-WK2-Sleep-articleLarge-v5.png\")
Bring a book to bed.<\/p>\n