1 / 9 Your cell phone

Sleep experts everywhere denounce using cell phones (or any screen for that matter) before sleeping because the <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-technology-stealing-your-sleep_b_836683">light your devices project actually interferes with your body’s production of the hormone melatonin</a>, i.e., the natural cue your body gets from darkness to go to sleep. But, Shatkin explains another reason having your cell phone in your room might be disrupting your sleep. <br><br>It’s completely normal for your body to wake up every one and a half to two hours during sleep for a couple of minutes and then fall back asleep, he says. “If we’re sleeping well, we probably don’t remember these awakenings.” <br><br>Typically you need to be awake about five or six minutes to be aware you are awake. But familiar stimuli (<i>like your cell phone)</i> can trigger you to start thinking about things you associate with those stimuli (work, classes, tests, deadlines!) and keep you awake. Getting your phone out of the room you sleep in is best, but if you’re living in cramped quarters (or a one-room dorm), sleep with your phone across the room and under a towel so you won’t see it, Shatkin suggests.

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