IS YOUR PHONE STOPPING YOU SLEEPING?

What if the key to better rest lies in something a little more old-fashioned – like a good book, asks Camilla Foster

- Camilla Foster

You know the drill – after hopping into bed nice and early with a plan to curl up and get a good night’s snooze, you just nip onto your phone to check what that notification was... and reappear three hours later, after doomscrolling your lovely, restorative evening away.

It’s a common picture. Distraction is now one of the leading obstacles to reading for pleasure, according to a new report from The Reading Agency, and only 53% of UK adults now say they read regularly, compared to 58% in 2015.

But reading aside, is this late-night screen time affecting our sleep? And could swapping it for a book make a difference? We asked the experts to find out...

‘Use of any screen late at night means your body continues to be alert, with the light exposure pushing back the natural timing of your body clock, making it harder to fall asleep,’ explains Dr Katharina Lederle, sleep and circadian rhythm specialist at The London General Practice.

Light exposure can cause less deep sleep, adds Lederle, meaning even if you do get a good amount of sleep, you may not feel well-rested.