Get an early night!

Paul Gringras, a doctor at Guy’s Hospital in London, runs a sleep clinic. Over the last ten years he’s noticed something interesting. Teenagers and young adults sleep 90 minutes less per night in 2013 than they did in 2003. There’s been a 90 minute shortening of sleep in just ten years. The reason, Gringras says, is the light given off by phone, tablet and TV screens. People who use screens late into the night are, “switching off the hormone that allows them to sleep by their exposure to a bright light source, particularly the blue-green spectrum given off by computers.” So it’s apparently much harder to sleep immediately after screen-use. In fact, studies show, “only a brief exposure – around two minutes – is enough to put off sleep by two hours.” That means a quick check for text messages – a final look at Facebook or Twitter, or a jump across a few websites to see what’s happening – could keep you awake another two hours. Not that big a deal, you might think; strong coffee in the morning and everything will be alright again. We’ve all been guilty of that way of thinking at one time or another.

But here’s the interesting thing. A study of 3,000 American college students showed that those getting marks between C and F were going to bed 40 minutes later than the students with As and Bs. And more than that – a greater number of the C to F students reported feeling depressed. So it’s worth remembering if you’ve got into a pattern of late-night laptop or smartphone use. Going dark – that is, switching off all mobile devices – is something you should try and do now and again. Who knew sleeping might help boost grades…