Breaking Free from Nomophobia: How Your Smartphone Affects Your Sleep

By: Michael Beiter

In today's digital age, our smartphones have become inseparable companions. They're with us everywhere we go, from our pockets to tucked into our bras – always within arm's reach. While our phones have revolutionized the way we communicate and access information, there's a phenomenon lurking in the background that affects our health, particularly our sleep: nomophobia.

Understanding Nomophobia

Nomophobia, short for "no mobile phone phobia," is a genuine fear of losing touch with one's smartphone. It might sound surprising, but it's a real condition. This fear is driven by four primary factors:

Anxiety around not being able to communicate with others.

Fear of not being able to connect to the outside world.

Fear of not being able to immediately access information.

Fear of losing the comfort provided by smartphones.

Much like chronic stress, nomophobia activates the cortisol-driven HPA axis, putting our bodies in a constant state of alertness. Our smartphones can become so integrated into our lives that they feel like extensions of ourselves.

For some individuals, especially teenagers, the thought of not checking their phones during the night can induce intense anxiety akin to a mother's worry for her newborn child. The attachment and fear of separation from smartphones are remarkably potent.

The Stats Speak Volumes

Consider these statistics that reflect the extent of our smartphone attachment:

Nearly the whole world is experimenting with a technology that is still in its infancy

One-third of the population would rather give up sex than their smartphones.

Approximately 20% of adults would rather forego seeing their spouse for a week than give up using their smartphone apps.

One third of Americans conscious hours are spent on a technology that is less than two decades old.

Nothing has ever captured and maintained our attention so thoroughly.

Before you criticize the younger generation for their smartphone reliance, think about how you feel when you're stranded somewhere without a working phone, like on a subway with a dead battery. It's a universal feeling of unease.

Do you recall waiting in line or at a doctor's office without a phone? Or embarking on a long car trip without devices? If you were born after the 1990s, you might not. Our constant connection to smartphones means we've forgotten how to calm, comfort, or entertain ourselves without a screen. When that connection is severed, we often feel adrift and sometimes even panicked.

The Impact on Sleep

Beyond the anxiety it causes, our attachment to smartphones has a more direct consequence: it disrupts our circadian rhythms and interferes with our sleep. The light emitted from digital screens, especially when we use our phones at night, plays a pivotal role.

Our bodies have evolved to respond to light as a regulator of our circadian rhythms. Bright light during the day signals wakefulness, while evening darkness signals the need for sleep. Our eyes transmit this information to the brain's suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which controls our circadian rhythms. The SCN sends a crucial signal to the pineal gland, instructing it to release melatonin, our primary sleep-promoting hormone.

However, the light from screens hinders this signal, suppressing melatonin production and impairing our ability to fall asleep and sleep deeply. Even when we get eight hours of sleep after reading on a bright screen, our sleep quality is still compromised.

The Magic of Powering Down

So, how can we counteract this negative impact on our sleep? The answer lies in a simple yet powerful change: powering down our screens 1-2 hours before bedtime.

By allowing our brains to settle into darkness and transition naturally into sleep, we trigger a chain of positive effects:

Deeper, more consistent sleep

Improved focus and energy levels throughout the day

Enhanced coping with daily challenges

Increased productivity

This, in turn, makes it easier to unwind mentally at the end of the day.

In line with our "little bit better" coaching approach, you can change this by placing your phone a few feet away or in another room rather than keeping it on your body. Alternatively, consider investing in an alarm clock to reduce the temptation to check multiple apps before bedtime and upon waking.

Some of my favorite advice comes from Cal Newport, author of several books on productivity and work, who suggested we dumb down our smartphones. I followed his advice around 2020 and haven’t turned back since!

I successfully maintain my smartphone with limits to accessibility from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. I cannot access social media, my business app, email, or payment processing from my phone. I have a fifteen-minute window to use YouTube; otherwise, It’s just calling and texting, like the non-smart cellphones that I grew up with.

When I set my boundaries around my phone use, I experienced withdrawal symptoms and had to break the thinking of ‘how can I capture my life to share with others in a unique and creative way.’ That thinking had become insidious in my life and robbed me of what are very enjoyable experiences.

Take it from me; concerts suck when you’re more worried about the video you record than connecting with the music. Friends you only interact with through button clicks, memes, and quick messages aren’t really friends, but a decade of smartphone use convinced us so.

It took me the whole summer of 2022 to reduce my phone use from multiple hours per day to less than one, but now I will never go back. As the averages indicate, my daily use was in the 4-5 hour range. The biggest daily time use I’ve observed in my work is 11 hours 32 minutes daily.

I regularly get asked what would happen if someone called during an emergency, and I respond that I would get to it as quickly as I could, circa 2005 style. I have to use my laptop's ‘Find My’ function to locate my phone all the time because I leave it places and forget about it for hours or days on end. My relationship with my phone is so far from what the engineers want it to be that it’s almost comical.

My iPhone XR notification on 9.17.23 letting me know I didn’t spend more than an hour on my phone daily

In conclusion, understanding the impact of nomophobia and screen use on our sleep is vital for our overall well-being. By reducing our smartphone attachment, we can enjoy better sleep, improved daily performance, and a healthier, more balanced lifestyle. It's time to break free from the shackles of nomophobia and reclaim our restful sleep.


Sources:

Precision Nutrition SSR L1 Course Study

Zippia. "20 Vital Smartphone Usage Statistics [2023]: Facts, Data, and Trends On Mobile Use In The U.S." Zippia.com. Apr. 3, 2023, https://www.zippia.com/advice/smartphone-usage-statistics/