How phone scrolling steals your sleep

You get into bed planning to use your phone for five minutes, but one video leads to another. Half an hour passes, sometimes more than an hour, and the time set aside for sleep disappears. Even after putting the phone down, a new notification can pull you back into scrolling.

Sleep specialist and former American Academy of Sleep Medicine president James Rowley says people should reduce phone use before bed and pay attention to the content they consume. The academy recommends that adults get at least seven hours of sleep each night and avoid electronic-device light for 30 to 60 minutes before going to bed.

A study published in July 2026 in the Journal of Sleep Research examined social-media use during the two hours before bedtime among people aged 14 to 25. It linked prolonged use with lower sleep efficiency, a tendency to sleep for shorter periods and more frequent waking or interrupted sleep, particularly at weekends.

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Each time they scroll, they may get new, interesting or exciting content, so the brain continues looking for what comes next.

Electronic devices can delay sleep by stimulating the mind, while screen light can affect the body’s normal sleep system, which involves the hormone melatonin. Faithness Kiondo, a psychology specialist and trainer at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, says the immediate reward of new, interesting or exciting content can overpower the later benefit of sleep, especially when people are tired and their self-control is weaker.

Technology education specialist Given Edward says the problem also reflects how modern platforms are designed. Endless scrolling, developed by American designer Aza Raskin in 2006, allows fresh content to load continuously. TikTok has taken the model further, he says, by starting videos automatically and serving another video after a single swipe.

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When social media platforms began using the system widely, users no longer had to decide whether to continue after each piece of content.