Lockdown, social distancing, quarantine and self-isolating; all these ‘restrictions’ means we have been, and will continue to, spend a lot of time at home in the upcoming weeks. And, once you’ve completed all the ‘intelligent’ activities that you think you should be doing such as 1000-piece puzzles, board games and you’re half way through that 700 page book that’s been collecting dust, you’re going to want to do something relaxing, like watch TV.
Your anxiety is probably through the roof already, which ultimately wreaks havoc on your sleep but, you don’t want to stop watching your favourite series because vegging in front of the TV calms you. So, how can you do both? Jaco Joubert, SKYWORTH brand manager says there are certain changes we can make to how we’re watching TV to make sure it doesn’t affect our sleep:
- Take a break – Sleep medicine societies recommend getting out of ‘the auto-play loop,’ where you just watch episode after episode because it takes less effort than stopping the playback. Netflix and other streaming services settings menus give you the option to turn auto-play off.
- Set episode limits – Don’t start the first episode of a new series you’ve been dying to watch and then just see how the evening goes. Rather make the decision of how many episodes you’re going to watch before bed and then stick to that limit, regardless of how exciting it may be. If you’re having trouble sticking to this, you may need to trick yourself. One way to do this is by downloading episodes onto your phone. Netflix, Showmax and other streaming applications support offline downloads for several shows, meaning you can pre-load all the television you’ve decided to watch in advance.
- Implement the no phone in bed rule – It’s understandable; few places provide a comfier binge-watching setting than your bed. But again, it’s all too easy to keep watching one more episode. Using screens in bed can keep your mind active for longer than is healthy—so keep the gadgets away from your sleeping area. Another problem with phones is that their glowing displays strain our eyes. One way to limit its impact on your sleep patterns is to watch on a bigger, more distant screen instead. So, rather watch your series on a TV in your bedroom.
- Control the light – Bright blue light, like the wavelengths emanating from your screen, will keep you alert and suppress the chemicals that are meant to send you to sleep. To make sure you’re able to drop off when you want to, you should stop binge-watching about half an hour before your desired bedtime. While the blue light emitted from screens can, over time, cause eye problems such as retinal injury, myopia and cataracts, SKYWORTH’s S9A OLED TV is easy on the eyes. OLED doesn’t need backlight, thereby minimising the harm of blue-light hazard and making it the best choice for your family, especially the little ones.
