This week, we’re continuing on a health-related theme and focusing on blue light. You may well already be aware that blue light can affect sleep quality because it represses the release of melatonin, the sleepy hormone.1 So staying up late surfing and scrolling probably isn’t going to help you or your children get to sleep.
One alternative is to stop using technology that releases blue light 30 minutes before you go to bed.2 If that isn’t possible, there are settings on your phone that allow you to reduce the amount of blue light it releases.
On your iPhone, navigate to Settings > Display and Brightness.
On an Android device, navigate to Settings > Display.
Both types of device offer similar options:
- Dark mode: You can schedule dark mode to come on automatically between sunset and sunrise or at times that suit your specific schedule. The darker background saves battery life, and though not fully backed by science, it may reduce eye strain as well as the amount of blue light your phone releases.3
- Brightness: By reducing the brightness of your screen, you can limit how much blue light is beamed your way throughout the whole day.
Additionally, you can alter the colour temperature of your screen. Doing so changes the light your screen releases to warmer colours (i.e. from colder blue to a warmer red) when it’s dark outside. On Apple devices, this is called Night Shift. You can set custom times when this feature is enabled or use the preset sunset to sunrise.
Android devices offer similar alternatives; for example, the Samsung Galaxy A32 offers Eye Comfort Shield as an equivalent. And the Android model you have will determine the specific function available, but any option will be under Settings > Display.
Naturally there are people claiming blue light is not so bad after all, so why not try a week without and see if it makes any difference at all?
Sources
1 https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side
2 https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/how-to-determine-poor-quality-sleep
3 https://www.healthline.com/health/is-dark-mode-better-for-your-eyes#takeaway
