The worst app to use before trying to get to sleep has been revealed & it can lure you in for over AN HOUR
WE all know we shouldn't be looking at our phones before bed.
But for a lot of us, grabbing a book before we snooze is just a little too hard, and 78% of us drift over to our phones in the last hour before falling asleep.
A survey of 2,012 adults by looked at how using certain apps just before bed affects our sleep quality.
The most disruptive app was TikTok, with the majority (89%) of participants waking up feeling tired, compared to a quarter (24%) of those who had zero electronic engagement before sleep.
The number of TikTok users has risen from 700 million at the start of 2020 to over one billion today.
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TikTok users also took over one hour longer than average to fall asleep and spent 14% of their sleep in the REM phase.
Which is half the recommended amount for a healthy adult, making Tiktok the worst app to use before bed.
Sleep Junkie recommends not using any electronics for at least two hours before bedtime because of the blue light they emit.
Blue light stimulates the brain and reduces melatonin production, making people feel more alert before bed which can lead to poor physical and mental health.
Average percentage of sleep spent in the REM phase & average time taken to fall asleep after using popular apps before bed
- TikTok - 14% / 1 hour 07 minutes
- Instagram - 15.5% / 58 minutes
- Snapchat - 16% / 56 minutes
- Twitter - 18% / 50 minutes
- Facebook - 19.5% / 45 minutes
Dorothy Chambers, a sleep expert at Sleep Junkie, said: “This past year people have been struggling to sleep more than ever, and with 78% of adults admitting to partaking in revenge sleep procrastination, it’s no surprise sleep hygiene has taken a hit.
"There is a lot of information online around the best ways to fall asleep, but it seems that using social media apps is preventing many of us from getting the rest we need.
“We hope that our research provides more of an insight into some of our worst pre-sleep habits, and maybe encourages members of the public to put down their phone and quit scrolling so they can wake up feeling refreshed and energized.”
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