11:59 28-11-2025

Why your phone ruins sleep: the 2-hour wind-down rule

Изображение сгенерировано нейросетью Dall-e

Struggling with insomnia? Learn how a 2-hour wind-down, less screen time, and a stable routine ease anxiety, restore melatonin, and help you fall asleep faster.

Many people complain about insomnia, yet the real culprit is often neither daily stress nor the weather. The chief spoiler of a night’s rest is the missing transition time the brain needs to move from activity to calm.

Experts point out that, just as a runner needs a breather after crossing the finish line, the brain also needs time to cool down before bed. Without that pause, the body simply doesn’t have time to switch gears.

When quality sleep begins

Good sleep starts long before you close your eyes. The brain needs about two hours to shift from active work to a state of rest. If you slide into bed straight from screens, headlines, and work messages, the mind stays tense. In that mode, it isn’t ready to fall asleep, and you end up tossing and turning in the dark.

Sleep is closely tied to lifestyle, your emotional background, and the state of the body. When the daily rhythm is chaotic, even a long night in bed won’t bring the feeling of being well-rested.

The most common evening mistake

Evening habits often rob the brain of its chance to switch off. The main irritant is the smartphone screen. Its light suppresses melatonin, the sleep hormone, telling the nervous system that the day is still on. As a result, the body stays in wake mode long past bedtime. It’s not just the light, though: a constant stream of news, messages, and alerts keeps the mind on edge.

What people trade their sleep for

The information many of us consume right before bed rarely helps. News, social feeds, investigations, comment threads, other people’s problems — all of it creates an emotional buzz that blocks relaxation. You can spend hours stuck in worrying stories you cannot influence. Sleep gets pushed back, blood pressure climbs, and anxiety hardens into a habit.

It’s a simple truth that’s easy to forget: the hour you give to the feed, you take from the night.

Phone: an ally of stress

A smartphone by the bed is registered by the brain as a potential threat — it might bring bad news or a jarring alert. That keeps the body on standby. Even in silent mode, the urge to reach for the screen remains. And that urge steals the very time the brain needs to settle.

What really keeps you from falling asleep

The main enemy of nighttime rest is anxiety. It grows into stress, and stress blocks the mechanisms of falling asleep.

Before turning to pills or miracle fixes, it’s worth asking a few simple questions:

• how much time before bed goes to the phone;

• how stable the daily routine is;

• what thoughts appear when you lie down.

If the brain hasn’t had its two hours to transition to sleep, it simply won’t have time to exhale.