Sleep, Screens and the Shape of Your Evenings

Most conversations about phones focus on what happens during the day-at work, at school, in social situations.

But one of the most powerful leverage points is much more ordinary: the last hour before bed.

For many people, that hour has quietly become a blur of scrolling. It doesn't feel dramatic. You're tired. You're winding down. One more video. One more article. One more check.

The impact often shows up the next morning.

You wake up feeling slightly flattened. Sleep happened, technically, but it wasn't particularly restorative. Your brain feels foggy. The first instinct is to reach for the very device that contributed to the problem in the first place.

The link between screens, sleep and mood is well documented. Blue light affects melatonin production. Emotional content affects nervous system arousal. Information affects worry.

But you don't need the science to know the feeling. Compare two evenings:

One where the phone is the final thing you see.

One where the last half hour is intentionally low-screen: reading, stretching, conversation, journalling, music, nothing at all.