More social media means worse sleep quality

Few things will give you as much of a return on your performance and recovery than your sleep quality. Hydration is right up there too but let's focus on sleep for now! When we are asleep is when our body's are able to be the most effective at repairing the body and recovering after the exercise/work done during the day. If sleep is negatively impacted, so too is recovery and performance in direct response. One of the biggest impacts on sleep amongst everyone has been technology. Technology has certainly provided a ton of benefits in just about every aspect of life but it does have some negatives. Amongst all the technology, social media is front and center of it all.

Modern technology's impact on sleep quality

Technology is everywhere you look. Case in point you wouldn't be reading this if it wasn't for technology. The vast majority of technology that is used in our lives though involve screens. Starring at these screens exposes our eyes to blue light that is coming from them. That blue light exposure can mess with the body's ability to produce melatonin which is what signals that it's time for bed. Melatonin helps the body to fall asleep quicker, sleep deeper and for a bit longer. And no piece of technology is arguably used more than that of social media.

Social media usage

In a recent study, college athletes with asked how much time they spent on social media and evaluated how their sleep quality was. Now I expected it to a decent amount but I wasn't expecting this. On average, athletes in this study were spending 4.6 hours per day on social media. It wouldn't be a stretch either to say a large chunk of that time occurred lated in the day. With the ease of access to social media on phones it's all too easy to pull it up while laying in bed as the last thing to do before sleeping. But it also is easy to lose track of time resulting in a lot less actual time to sleep. This is in addition to the negative effects the light from the screen is having on melatonin production. As a result there was a very strong correlation with increased social media usage and decreased sleep quality.

Less phone time = better sleep quality

If looking to improve your sleep quality (who of us isn't?) stop scrolling on social media. Social media is great for a whole lot of things. It can be a source of wonderful information from reputable people and help to connect with people easily from all over. But set limits for yourself on your screen time. If setting a specific amount of time is too tough, start with setting a "bedtime" for your phone. Avoid mindlessly scrolling while in bed before falling asleep. Your body will thank you and those social media posts will all still be there in the morning.

Study referenced: click here