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Regarding the recommendation to not spend the first hour of the day in front of the screen. I found the other way around more helpful: Not spending the last 1-2

Regarding the recommendation to not spend the first hour of the day in front of the screen. I found the other way around more helpful: Not spending the last 1-2 hours in front of screens. This helps me to get better sleep. In the morning, I find it not so difficult and screen time (+coffee) helps me to wake up slowly.

siquick 2y ago
I try and avoid screens before sleep but also use a Kindle for reading before sleeping - wondering if the e-ink displays count as screen time in studies like this?
- virtue3 2y ago
  LED backlight might. If no backlight probably fine.
  - Cthulhu_ 2y ago
    Yeah but you need some light in order to read, and most lights are LED nowadays. That said, I have a Philips wake-up light that has a very pleasant yellow and dimmable light. I wonder what its frequency is though, some cheaper leds don't blink fast enough and especially when I'm tired it's noticeable. I just checked it with the slow-mo camera of my phone, my overhead lamps have a visible flickering, but the wake-up light has an interesting shuttering / interlacing effect, when I up the brightness (which increases brightness and shifts the light more to white) it seems to alternate between a white and orange light source. Might be multiple bulbs interlacing. Anyway, LED backlight shouldn't be a problem if it's not white light. Best to have some additional light in the room though, to reduce contrast / eye strain between the screen and the background.
  - kmarc 2y ago
    What about yellow(ish) backlight? I switched to Kobo bc of that
    - ywvcbk 2y ago
      No, only actually candlelight is fine. Ideally an open fire. However reading itself is unnatural so it can only lead to negative outcomes..
      - squigz 2y ago
        This is surely sarcastic, right?
      - portaouflop 2y ago
        I take it you you’re sarcastic but natural is dying at age twenty from a broken leg, miss me with natural living
        OJFord 2y ago
        I know it's just an example, but it didn't take modern medicine for us not to die of broken legs at twenty. There's some risks sure, but the norm was presumably lying down and resting because it (especially doing anything else) bloody hurts, it gradually healing, and then varying degrees of hobbling for the rest of life because it healed without a splint. (And then it wouldn't be that surprising I don't think if we figured out splints long before anything you might call medicine.)
        portaouflop 2y ago
        We didn’t need modern medicine to heal broken bones but for sure more than what was „naturally“ available. You can switch out broken bones for „being dragged from the campfire into the dark and devoured“ - another natural occurrence that I gladly live without
    - squigz 2y ago
      IIRC, most of the evidence regarding screens before bed being detrimental were focused on the "blue light" thing, so a warmer light is probably better. (I think the science behind blue light being bad for us is still up for debate, but it's hard for me to ignore the amount of anecdata I've heard, including my own experience using flux and the like)
- hug 2y ago
  From anecdotal experience, it makes essentially no difference. I read for an hour or two before bed every night. Paper, kindle, or my current iPad mini make no real difference to my sleep. Dim lights, relaxing, and trying to clear my brain of distractions other than what I’m reading make more of a difference. It’s almost but not quite like meditation.
simmerup 2y ago
What do you do instead of TV/Computer before bed?
- gyosko 2y ago
  What about a nice book?
  - simmerup 2y ago
    I read but every night for 1-2hours? No way.
    - globular-toast 2y ago
      Why not? You can make reading a habit if you want to. I find it highly rewarding and glad I have this habit instead of something else like scrolling social media.
      - simmerup 2y ago
        Not disparaging your hobby, its just not for me. I already read enough
    - Scarblac 2y ago
      There's also chores, talking with people, board games, going for a walk, a bath, sex, exercise, just doing nothing in particular for a bit, etc. The choice isnt only screens or books.
      - SamPatt 2y ago
        Doing the dishes is a nice balance of meditative, boring, and feeling accomplished. A good nightly chore. Exercise can backfire in terms of sleep. A bit earlier in the day and it's great. But not right before bed, at least not in my experience.
    - NamTaf 2y ago
thelittleone 2y ago
I think both make sense. Although I go through phases of following it. I find that in the first few hours of the morning, I prefer to limit inputs to things I don't have control over but instead achieve some small to do list items (starting with making bed). Things I know I can get done and build some momentum. A few hours of productivity gives me enough momentum to take in external inputs.
darkstar_16 2y ago
I am the first one to wake up (with an alarm) in my house on weekdays. I also find the light from the phone actually helps me wake up slowly. If I don't wake up early (get ready myself) and get the kids ready for school, it'll have a cascading effect on the whole day, so screen time works for me for that purpose. And it's usually only 10-15 minutes max. In that time, I don't see or do work stuff. Since, we have family around the world, I usually just go through the family chat messages, some light social etc in that time. I get why it's a bad habit but I also have a reason why it works. On weekends, of course the alarms are off and I wake up when I wake up.
greg_V 2y ago
No screen before bedtime/no screens in bed is like the easiest health improvement hack that anyone can implement. With that said, anecdotally I can vouch for the "no screen in the first hour" suggestion the article is making. I've been working for home for the past few years, and I feel more sluggish since I just move to my laptop first thing in the morning, instead of having that preparation-breakfast-commute routine. Granted I live in a walkable city so commute doesn't mean what it means in SV, but it's the same idea.
- A_Venom_Roll 2y ago
  When the pandemic forced me to work from home, incorporating a 20 minute morning walk in the neighborhood before work was one of the first things I added to my routine. It's great to make the 'transition' and also starts up the body faster.
Toorkit 2y ago
I open the lichess app in bed and do chess puzzles. Not even 2 minutes and I'm out like a light.

siquick 2y ago

I try and avoid screens before sleep but also use a Kindle for reading before sleeping - wondering if the e-ink displays count as screen time in studies like this?

virtue3 2y ago
LED backlight might. If no backlight probably fine.
- Cthulhu_ 2y ago
  Yeah but you need some light in order to read, and most lights are LED nowadays. That said, I have a Philips wake-up light that has a very pleasant yellow and dimmable light. I wonder what its frequency is though, some cheaper leds don't blink fast enough and especially when I'm tired it's noticeable. I just checked it with the slow-mo camera of my phone, my overhead lamps have a visible flickering, but the wake-up light has an interesting shuttering / interlacing effect, when I up the brightness (which increases brightness and shifts the light more to white) it seems to alternate between a white and orange light source. Might be multiple bulbs interlacing. Anyway, LED backlight shouldn't be a problem if it's not white light. Best to have some additional light in the room though, to reduce contrast / eye strain between the screen and the background.
- kmarc 2y ago
  What about yellow(ish) backlight? I switched to Kobo bc of that
  - ywvcbk 2y ago
    No, only actually candlelight is fine. Ideally an open fire. However reading itself is unnatural so it can only lead to negative outcomes..
    - squigz 2y ago
      This is surely sarcastic, right?
    - portaouflop 2y ago
      I take it you you’re sarcastic but natural is dying at age twenty from a broken leg, miss me with natural living
      - OJFord 2y ago
        I know it's just an example, but it didn't take modern medicine for us not to die of broken legs at twenty. There's some risks sure, but the norm was presumably lying down and resting because it (especially doing anything else) bloody hurts, it gradually healing, and then varying degrees of hobbling for the rest of life because it healed without a splint. (And then it wouldn't be that surprising I don't think if we figured out splints long before anything you might call medicine.)
        portaouflop 2y ago
        We didn’t need modern medicine to heal broken bones but for sure more than what was „naturally“ available. You can switch out broken bones for „being dragged from the campfire into the dark and devoured“ - another natural occurrence that I gladly live without
  - squigz 2y ago
    IIRC, most of the evidence regarding screens before bed being detrimental were focused on the "blue light" thing, so a warmer light is probably better. (I think the science behind blue light being bad for us is still up for debate, but it's hard for me to ignore the amount of anecdata I've heard, including my own experience using flux and the like)
hug 2y ago
From anecdotal experience, it makes essentially no difference. I read for an hour or two before bed every night. Paper, kindle, or my current iPad mini make no real difference to my sleep. Dim lights, relaxing, and trying to clear my brain of distractions other than what I’m reading make more of a difference. It’s almost but not quite like meditation.

simmerup 2y ago

What do you do instead of TV/Computer before bed?

gyosko 2y ago
What about a nice book?
- simmerup 2y ago
  I read but every night for 1-2hours? No way.
  - globular-toast 2y ago
    Why not? You can make reading a habit if you want to. I find it highly rewarding and glad I have this habit instead of something else like scrolling social media.
    - simmerup 2y ago
      Not disparaging your hobby, its just not for me. I already read enough
  - Scarblac 2y ago
    There's also chores, talking with people, board games, going for a walk, a bath, sex, exercise, just doing nothing in particular for a bit, etc. The choice isnt only screens or books.
    - SamPatt 2y ago
      Doing the dishes is a nice balance of meditative, boring, and feeling accomplished. A good nightly chore. Exercise can backfire in terms of sleep. A bit earlier in the day and it's great. But not right before bed, at least not in my experience.
  - NamTaf 2y ago

thelittleone 2y ago

I think both make sense. Although I go through phases of following it. I find that in the first few hours of the morning, I prefer to limit inputs to things I don't have control over but instead achieve some small to do list items (starting with making bed). Things I know I can get done and build some momentum. A few hours of productivity gives me enough momentum to take in external inputs.

darkstar_16 2y ago

I am the first one to wake up (with an alarm) in my house on weekdays. I also find the light from the phone actually helps me wake up slowly. If I don't wake up early (get ready myself) and get the kids ready for school, it'll have a cascading effect on the whole day, so screen time works for me for that purpose. And it's usually only 10-15 minutes max. In that time, I don't see or do work stuff. Since, we have family around the world, I usually just go through the family chat messages, some light social etc in that time. I get why it's a bad habit but I also have a reason why it works. On weekends, of course the alarms are off and I wake up when I wake up.

greg_V 2y ago

No screen before bedtime/no screens in bed is like the easiest health improvement hack that anyone can implement. With that said, anecdotally I can vouch for the "no screen in the first hour" suggestion the article is making. I've been working for home for the past few years, and I feel more sluggish since I just move to my laptop first thing in the morning, instead of having that preparation-breakfast-commute routine. Granted I live in a walkable city so commute doesn't mean what it means in SV, but it's the same idea.

A_Venom_Roll 2y ago
When the pandemic forced me to work from home, incorporating a 20 minute morning walk in the neighborhood before work was one of the first things I added to my routine. It's great to make the 'transition' and also starts up the body faster.

Toorkit 2y ago

I open the lichess app in bed and do chess puzzles. Not even 2 minutes and I'm out like a light.