By early November, it’s dark before dinner is on the table. The walk after work turns into a night on the couch, and a phone or TV fills the hours until bed.
That shift shows up in research, too. A study of 10 years of TV ratings in the Netherlands, published in the International Journal of Biometeorology, found that people watched more TV on days with less daylight, less sunshine and colder weather. In winter, viewing ran about 23 percent above the yearly average.
More screen time in the evening, right as the days get shorter, can push your sleep later than you want. A digital sunset means using the time the sun goes down as your cue to start putting screens away.
How evening light affects melatonin
Melatonin is the hormone that tells your body it’s night. Light in the evening holds it back.
In a 2011 study of 116 young adults, sitting in normal room light before bed, instead of dim light, cut the length of their nightly melatonin release by about 90 minutes.
Screens add to the problem. In a study published in PNAS, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital had 12 adults read for about four hours before bed, five nights in a row. Some nights they read on a light-emitting e-reader, and other nights they read a printed book. The e-reader gave off light heavy in blue wavelengths, the kind the body’s clock responds to most.
After reading on the e-reader, people’s evening melatonin dropped by about half, and they took about 10 minutes longer to fall asleep. Their internal clocks ran more than an hour and a half later. They also felt sleepier the next morning.
Your body already tracks the sunset
A University of Colorado Boulder study, published in Current Biology, sent eight people camping for a week with only natural light. After the trip, their bodies started the biological night near sunset. At home with the electric light, that same shift came about two hours later.
You don’t need a tent to use this. You can let the real sunset start your wind-down at home.
A wind-down that follows the dark
A fixed rule like “no screens after 9” doesn’t change with the seasons. In November, it’s been dark for hours by 9 p.m. A plan tied to sunset moves as the days get shorter.
At sunset, dim the house. Turn off the overhead lights and switch to a few lamps. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) advises limiting bright light in the evening. Your weather app lists the sunset time for each day, so check it once a week and you’ll know when to start.
Two hours before bed, close the laptop. Finish work email, the news and online shopping. If you want to watch a show, watch it earlier in the evening.
Fill the time with things that don’t light up. Cook dinner, fold laundry, take a bath, play a card game or call a friend. The goal is an evening that gets calmer and dimmer as it goes, so bedtime doesn’t arrive with your brain still scrolling.
Thirty minutes before bed, turn off every screen. The AASM recommends turning off screens at least 30 minutes before bedtime. Charge your phone outside the bedroom so it isn’t the last thing you look at.
In bed, read a paper book. The printed book group in the PNAS study fell asleep faster and felt more alert the next morning. Make the bed a comfortable place to land. Our Organic Cotton Sheet Set is made from 100 percent GOTS certified organic cotton with a 600-thread-count weave.
Start with one step
You don’t have to do all four at once. Tonight, when the sun goes down, turn off the overhead lights and notice how the rest of your evening feels. Add the next step once that one feels normal.
