Why you should try to not fall asleep with the TV on

Why you should try to not fall asleep with the TV on

Do you find yourself falling asleep while watching TV? It might be a nice way to drift off and unwind after a busy night out socializing, but it’s not such a good idea to make it an everyday habit. Aside from wasting electricity and waking up to spoilers, there’s quite a few reasons why using your favorite dramas to soothe you from the real world can harm your sleep. Studies have shown that screens right before bedtime can lead to poorer sleep quality. However, a TV before bed can also help with the right settings. The kind of media can function similar to white noise, especially if it’s a mellow documentary or lighthearted sitcom -- nothing that makes your heart race like an action thriller or horror flick rife with jump scares and screams. Here’s some of our positive and negative thoughts on falling asleep with a TV on:

1. The TV emits light, which isn’t so conducive to falling asleep.

You might have heard that scrolling through your phone right before falling asleep can actually delay sleep onset. That’s because of the blue light the phone emits, which has been known to mess with melatonin production. There’s also the potential to come across stimulating content, such as devastating news concerning something you care about. That’ll get your heart racing when it really should be winding down!

2. If you really want to fall asleep to video, use the TV rather than a phone or tablet.

A TV is likely to be farther away from you, which means you might absorb less blue light. You can also set the TV to automatically turn off after a certain time. The sound will also be farther from you, sounding more diffused throughout the room and less in your face.

3. If having the TV on isn’t helping, slowly switch out the TV for a quieter activity like reading.

As mentioned earlier, watching the right stuff can function like white noise, such as cooking shows or calmly-narrated nature documentaries. The sounds and overall content can help distract you from your worries. But if you feel like you really need your action flicks and they’re keeping you up, you’re going to have to switch them out for more mellow activities like meditating or reading books. Reading books is an excellent escapist alternative that doesn’t involve any electronics, screens, or light.

4. For real, pick something that isn’t going to have sudden changes in light or noise.

You don’t want to be woken up minutes or hours after falling asleep to a loud scream or flashing lights, so don’t play anything that’s likely to have that. So a lot of horror, fantasy, and action flicks are likely to be out of the picture. Your safest bet is to go with something you’ve already watched before, which can give you a sense of comfort and familiarity. A study actually found that watching violent media within 90 minutes of sleeping can lead to that violence entering our dreams, which is not something you want to be thinking about the day after. Leave the scary dragons and ghosts for movie nights with friends or family, not for a day at work! Whether you’re deciding to leave the TV on or swap it out for a novel before bed, one thing that’s guaranteed to make it easier to sleep is a higher quality, soft, luxurious mattress. And if you’re reading this before Labor Day 2021, you’re in luck -- Lull is having a $250 off sale of our premium memory foam mattresses! Just a peek at the 43000+ positive reviews will show you how easy it is to fall asleep on them.
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