Bedtime stories are a crucial part of most kids’ evening routines. But as adults, many of us have fallen out of those childhood routines. You might still have a book on your nightstand, but now it’s more of a prop. Most of us are more likely to scroll than read.
In fact, 50% of U.S. adults reported using a screen (such as their phone, tablet, or TV) in bed every day, according to a new survey conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Another survey, by mattress and bedding company Amerisleep, found that 85% of U.S. adults used their phone before falling asleep, scrolling for 38 minutes on average.
You probably already know that using your phone before bed is a bad habit. Talk to any sleep obsessive and they’ll tell you to get your phone out of the bedroom and pick up a good old fashioned book before you go to sleep instead. But according to the sleep doctors we talked to, there is a right way to use reading before bed to support sleep and a wrong way.
Why reading before bed is better than scrolling
Screens have long been viewed as the enemy of good sleep, primarily because of the
melatonin-destroying blue light they emit. But it’s 2026. All phones and tablets now have settings to turn off blue light. And every podcaster you know is raving about the dorky
blue-light blocking glasses they wear before bed. So why can’t you wind down before bed with your phone?
“Reading is a way of saying good night to your brain, but scrolling actually wakes the brain up,” says Paul Muchowski, PhD, a neuroscientist, sleep expert, and founder of Defined Sleep. He explains that even though scrolling and reading seem similar, they impact the brain very differently. Sleep medicine doctor Domingo Rodriguez-Cué, MD, agrees, explaining, “Reading calms the brain down, but scrolling—especially social media—makes the brain more alert because the content is more engaging and less predictable.”
Dr. Rodriguez-Cué points out that reading follows a pattern of predictability in the sense that your eyes are continuously moving from left to right, down the page. This predictability activates the
parasympathetic nervous system, leading to feeling more relaxed. But he says that reading the news on your phone or scrolling social media can activate the fight-or-flight response—even if the content you’re consuming isn’t particularly stressful. At the same time that the fight-or-flight response is being activated, he says that scrolling social media causes the brain to release
dopamine, which
stimulates the nervous system. The combined impact is the exact opposite of what you want before bed.
The sleep doctors also point out that books have natural places to stop (specifically, the end of chapters), but social media apps don’t, which is another reason why reading is better for sleep than scrolling.
Click here for 5 tips on how to best use nighttime reading as a sleep aid.
