Issue #39: How’s everyone sleeping?

Not a good week for it.

Sending a lot of love today. I hope you’re able to take some time for yourself this week. I experienced a million different emotions yesterday, but anger was a big one, and I’m continuing to process the outcome. I hope this newsletter brings you a bit of distraction or enjoyment or something other than anger while doomscrolling.

The topic of this week is fitting… How are we all sleeping? Between the election and daylight savings earlier this week, it hasn’t been a great week for it (unless you’re getting some depression sleep, in which case, maybe it’s been good…?).

Any conversation about sleep isn’t complete without a conversation about phone and social media use – sleep quality is so connected to phone usage. As I’ve talked about before, I try to stay off of social media apps, and that’s feeling more important particularly after this election cycle. I don’t have Instagram on my phone, but I’ll access it on my desktop every day or so, and I download the app when I want to post something occasionally. 

As for Tiktok, I don’t have it. (Although, I want to start creating short-form Brand Baby video content on Tiktok, so that might change soon…) But I constantly feel like I want to use my phone less, and I regularly try to implement habits like putting my phone in my bag when walking instead of holding it in my hand, or putting my phone on Do Not Disturb for extended periods of time. 

I mean, could be worse.

I’m curious how other Gen Z’ers are feeling about their phone and sleep habits these days. So today, I’m publishing a mini roundtable with members of Gen Z (myself included!) about our relationships to phones and social media. FYI, some of the respondents work at sleep wellness company Loftie.

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Gen Z on technology & sleep 😴

What’s your average screen time? And how much of that time is spent on social media?

Abbey: My average screen time is about 3.5 hours per day and about 3/4 of that is spent on social media - most of my day is spent on the computer so additional phone time doesn't seem as attractive to me by the end of the day.

Becca: My average screen time is 5 hours, and I spend 80% of it on social media.

Caroline: As shown above, my average screen time is around 3 hours a day, and most of it is spent on messages, YouTube, and email. Since I don’t have Instagram or Tiktok on my phone, I tend to go to Pinterest or YouTube instead.

Which social media apps do you most frequently use?

Abbey: Tiktok is definitely my most frequently used app. It's much harder to break the doom-scrolling cycle on Tiktok compared to other social media. Instagram comes next on my list.

Becca: TikTok and Instagram.

Caroline: YouTube (lol) and Pinterest.

Has your phone or social media usage changed at all during the current election cycle?

Abbey: I don't think my usage time/apps have changed since the election, but I've definitely been aware of the political content and try to swipe off it to keep it off of my algorithm. I prefer to keep my social media very light around fashion, wellness, cooking etc.

Becca: I have consumed more media than ever before. I now learn about the news and current events from TikTok and Instagram instead of lighthearted and silly content.

Caroline: I get the majority of my news from newsletters, so I definitely spend a lot of time reading those every day. I tend to read news on my laptop rather than my phone.

Do you implement any tactics or tools to limit your phone usage?

Abbey: I've never tried any time limiting settings or apps, but I do try to set a mental limit. For example, I'll say at 8pm ok at 8:15 I have to get off and go read a book. It usually works, but not always.

Becca: My Loftie clock helps me limit my phone usage before bed because I don’t need my phone as an alarm!

Caroline: Not having social media apps on my phone obviously helps, and so does putting my phone in DND at times. Whenever I’ve been scrolling for a while, I try to remind myself of all the other real-life things that I could be doing in that moment.

Do you hear of a widespread desire to be on your phones less among your peer group? Are most of your friends doing anything about it?

Abbey: Yes! I work for a company called Loftie that is very mindful about phone and usage, especially how it impacts sleep, so it's something I'm hearing and thinking about almost constantly both for work and my own life. Because of my work, I'm very educated on the correlation of phone/screen use and sleep quality. I don't need a lot of convincing to get off of my phone beyond that. I also know a lot of my friends go through periods of social media breaks, where they delete all their addicting apps for a few weeks - most do re-download them later since they feel like they're missing out on culture references or moments.

Becca: Yes! All of my friends complain about how much they use their phones and want to be “unplugged” as much as possible. They frequently complain about “brain rot” from social media. Many of my friends have the Screen Time app on their phone to help block them from using social media after a set amount of minutes/hours.

Caroline: A lot of my friends complain about their phone usage, and many of them don’t have Tiktok or will delete social media apps for a period of time. Other friends always have their phones in Do Not Disturb.

How much sleep do you get (on average) every night? And how do you generally feel about your sleep quality and amount?

Abbey: I'm a big sleeper, so I average between 8-10 hours every night. Anything less makes me feel foggy and anxious.

Becca: I usually get 7~8 hours of sleep per night and feel like the quality is strong. I don’t wake up in the middle of the night and get out of bed first thing in the morning so that I am not laying around. I love to get my day started as soon as I wake up.

Caroline: I usually get around 8 hours, and I feel pretty good about it! Sometimes I’ll go through periods of worse sleep quality. If I wake up in the middle of the night or have a hard time falling asleep, I usually try to read instead of reaching for my phone. I am guilty of looking at my phone (mostly messages and email) when I first wake up, but I’m trying to get better about that!

How does your phone affect your sleep, if at all? Do you look at your phone before bed?

Abbey: I'm very aware of my phone usage before bed and instead try to read and put on some kind of relaxing nature sound from my Loftie Clock. When I do end up using my phone at night (specifically for Tiktok) I notice a huge difference in my level of sleepiness vs. the nights when I just read. I can literally feel the dopamine keeping me awake. 

Becca: When I do use my phone before bed, it is by far the biggest hindrance to my sleep. I started using my Loftie clock to help get my phone out of my bedroom at night (no more doom scrolling) and it has been an absolute game changer. As someone who struggles with accountability and routine, especially at night, being able to set my alarms on the Loftie clock directly has helped me put my phone out of reach for the night because I don’t need it to wake up! I also absolutely love the bedtime alarm signal as it lets me know when phone time is over and it is time to begin my phone free wind down process.

Caroline: I try to put my phone down ~20 minutes before going to sleep and read instead. It definitely helps me feel ready to pass out!

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On the topic of sleep, Loftie reached out to me and sent me their alarm clock – a sleek device that enhances your sleep routine. I’ve been using it for the past few weeks and have loved the soft alarm sounds and sound machine options (white noise is my favorite). It’s been SO helpful as I returned from Australia and struggled to adjust back to EST. They’re offering Brand Baby readers a discount of 20% off orders over $125 with the code: Brand20. 

Thanks for reading, and go do something nice for yourself today. I’ll be back next week. xx