You probably have been there before. It is 11:00 pm and you just checked one more notification, and the next minute it is 2:00 am and your eyes hurt like sandpaper. Yep, we all had that experience before. This glowing rectangle in your hands steals you of the precious time, yet the very phone is not the issue at all. It is this bright blueish light that ruins your sleep cycles.
It is the light of the midday sun. Your brain perceives it and thinks that it is time to wake up. As a result, the melatonin production is blocked and this is the way your sleep cycle gets damaged. Yet, it is quite easy to fix it. You do not need to bury your phone in the lake. What you only need is to ask your phone to put on new clothes in the evening.
Here is where Night Mode comes into play. This is a piece of software which puts an orange tone on your phone's screen after sunset. Instead of this chilly blue light, your screen gets covered by warm, almost amber or sepia tone. It is simply putting on a pair of digital sunglasses but these are special sunglasses meant for evening. There are enough studies proving that warmer light is less disturbing for your natural sleep cycle.
The great thing is that you will not need to think about it anymore. Setting this feature manually every day is something that you will eventually forget about. That is why the scheduling becomes the key thing here. You set it once and your phone does all the job. It automatically adjusts the colors of your screen and brings it back to the normal state in the morning. It is an automatic protection of your sleep hygiene.
Now let me guide you how to set it up. First of all, if you use an iPhone, you have all the necessary settings already. All you need to do is to open your Settings app, go to "Display & Brightness" and tap on "Night Shift." Then you can choose between "Manually Enable Until Tomorrow" or a schedule of your choice. Tap on "Scheduled" and choose the time range you want. The best place to start is from 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM. Additionally, you can adjust the color temperature of your screen with a slider. Do not be afraid to make it warmer than the default one – you will get used to it soon.
If you use an Android phone, the process is the same but with a different title. On Google Pixel phone you will find "Display" and then "Night Light" in the Settings menu. On Samsung phone you will find it under "Display" and "Eye Comfort Shield." Again, the interface can be different depending on your phone but Night Mode feature is common for modern Android phones. You will definitely find it in your phone display settings menu.
Now you are wondering whether it will change anything. Yes, it will. I have been using this feature for two years and the change in my scrolling in the evening is quite noticeable. Screen is not that jarring in the darkness of the room. It is not the solution to all the sleep problems but it removes a major obstacle. You can imagine it as a curfew of your phone. It tells your device that the party is over.
But there is one more thing worth discussing. The most applications like Instagram, Twitter, as well as Kindle app have its own dark modes. These modes can help you to decrease the screen brightness but most likely they won't adjust the color temperature of the screen. You can have the dark mode of your application working while the screen is still emitting sleep-ruining blue light. The best way is to use them both. Let your phone deal with the color change and use dark modes of other apps to decrease the glare even more. It is like a one-two hit for your sleep.
There are some people who are worried that amber tint will affect their picture perception and ability to watch videos properly. It will, a little bit. Colors will be changed while the mode is active. But the thing is: you do not take any professional photos at 11:00 pm. You are watching TikTok videos or sending messages to your friends. And the color shift is a worthy price for better rest. Additionally, if you need to see colors in the true light, you can turn it off temporarily.
The goal is to develop a healthier attitude towards your gadgets. Your phone is your tool and not your boss. Scheduling of the Night Mode feature is the small step to control your gadget instead of being controlled. It is a digital sunset of your screen telling your brain that it is time to sleep. You will be surprised how easy it is to switch off your phone without blinding light from it.
Try it tonight. Set the schedule and try it during a week. It is something that costs you nothing except a couple of minutes of preparation. But you will benefit from it in the long run. And who knows, maybe even your future, less-tired self will be thankful to you. 😴
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