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Using Your Phone as an Alarm? Here’s Why You Should Stop

Elizabeth Giorgi
Elizabeth Giorgi
Liz is a writer and filmmaker from Minneapolis. She was nominated for a Webby and won an Emmy for Science of Watchmen, a documentary short about the physics in the comic book movie. She’s a tech obsessive, verified nerd and total Anglophile.
updated Nov 25, 2019
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For the last few years, I’ve been using my smartphone as an alarm. It seemed innocuous enough, until I came upon an alarm clock that I found quite cool and decided to try using it instead of my mobile. The results were surprising.

Here are five reasons I’m ditching my smartphone in the bedroom:

1. When your phone goes to bed with you, you spend your last few minutes before sleep staring at a glowing screen. This is bad for falling asleep. Most sleep doctors will tell you that you should have a full hour screen-free before trying to go to bed. This is partly because the glow is tough on your eyes, but it’s also psychological.

→ How To: Dress Your Windows for Better Sleep

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2. Holding your phone first thing in the morning means you’re probably going to do more than just turn off the alarm. I often found myself checking emails before I even brushed my teeth. That made my mornings feel rushed every single day, even when the emails weren’t that important.

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3. Middle of the night Facebook sessions are never OK. Whenever I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, I had a (nearly) never-ending source of entertainment within arm’s reach. If I couldn’t fall asleep, I’d pull up the news or a game and soon I’d lose an hour and find myself even more wired than when I woke up.

→ Quick List: 5 Things to Avoid For a Good Night’s Sleep

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4. Bed time should be private time between partners. Too many couples are letting their smart phones get in the way of private time in the bedroom. If you’re spending more time Facebooking in bed than cuddling with your partner, it’s time to change that habit.

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5. It’s not the best alarm clock, anyway. At the end of the day, the noise that my phone put out in the morning just wasn’t even as loud or effective as the real deal.

→ Can’t Sleep? 5 Ways Your Bedroom is Keeping You Awake

Do you allow smart phones in the bedroom? Are you using it as an alarm too? What are the pros and cons from your point of view?

– Re-edited from a post originally published on 8.20.2014 – CM

Filed in:
Bedroom
Wellness

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