Tip #36: Say No to Blue Light Before Bed

How to Wake Up Early
Tips , Sleep
February 26, 2026

Smartphone glowing on a nightstand in a dark bedroom at night

If you struggle to fall asleep on time, your morning alarm probably isn’t the real problem. Your evening light might be.

Phones, tablets, laptops, TVs, and even bright LED room lights emit a lot of blue light. During the day, that’s actually useful — blue light helps you feel alert and focused. But at night, it sends exactly the wrong message to your brain: “It’s still daytime. Stay awake.” (Sleep Foundation)

And when your brain thinks it’s daytime, it delays sleep. Which means you fall asleep later. Which means waking up early becomes a battle every single morning.

Why Blue Light Makes It Harder to Sleep

Your body follows a daily rhythm — the circadian rhythm we talked about in Tip #2. In the evening, as it gets darker, your body starts producing melatonin — the hormone that makes you feel sleepy and eases you into sleep.

Light suppresses melatonin. And blue light does it more strongly than almost anything else. (Harvard Health)

As Tip #21 explains, light is your body’s primary clock signal. In the morning, light exposure is one of the best things you can do to wake up properly. In the evening, it’s one of the worst.

So what actually happens when you scroll your phone in bed?

You don’t feel sleepy when you should.
You fall asleep later than planned.
Your sleep quality suffers — lighter, more fragmented.
Waking up early the next morning becomes much harder.

One habit, compounding against you every night.

What to Put Down Before Bed

In an ideal world, avoid all bright screens in the hour or two before bedtime. The usual suspects:

Phone — the closest and brightest screen most people use
Tablet
Laptop or desktop
TV
Video games
“Just one more email” on any of the above

Even relaxing content can keep your mind more active than you’d think. And if the content is stressful — news, social media arguments, work messages — you’re making things significantly worse. (AASM)

When to Turn Screens Off

Here’s a simple rule that works for most people:

Minimum: no handheld screens for 30–60 minutes before bedtime. (AASM)

Better: stop bright screens 2–3 hours before bed — especially if you’re sensitive to light or have trouble falling asleep.

In Tip #32: Create an Evening Ritual, the “put screens away” step comes 2 hours before bed. That’s a good target. But if two hours feels impossible right now, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

Start where you are, like Tip #25 suggests:

This week: 30 minutes screen-free before bed
Next week: 60 minutes
Then try: 90 minutes or more

Small steps, done consistently, change everything.

What to Do Instead

The most common pushback is: “But screens are how I unwind.” Fair enough. The goal isn’t to leave you staring at the ceiling. Replace screens with something genuinely easy:

A paper book
Light stretching or gentle yoga
A warm shower (also helps lower your core temperature, which helps sleep)
Journaling
Calm music or a podcast
Prepping your bag or clothes for tomorrow

You’re not losing downtime. You’re just shifting what downtime looks like — and getting better sleep as a trade.

If You Really Can’t Avoid Screens

Sometimes it’s unavoidable — work deadlines, travel, family. When that happens, at least reduce the damage:

Dim the screen as low as comfortable
Enable night mode or warm colour settings (reduces blue light output)
Keep the room lit so the screen isn’t a bright beacon in total darkness
Avoid stressful content — no news, no arguments, no endless scrolling

These help at the margins, but the best solution is still the simplest one: put it down. (Sleep Foundation)

The Bigger Picture

Waking up early isn’t just about discipline in the morning. It’s about setting yourself up the night before. Tip #32 covers the full evening wind-down — blue light is just one piece of it, but it’s the piece most people ignore.

Cut screens before bed, and you’ll often notice:

You fall asleep faster
You wake up less during the night
Mornings feel less brutal
Your early-rising habit actually starts to stick

Start with one rule: no phone in bed. Then build from there.

For the full evening wind-down approach, see Tip #32: Create an Evening Ritual. And if you want to understand why morning light is equally important, Tip #21 explains the other side of the same coin.