According to the results of a new study, checking or using your cell phone at night can lead to poor sleep, which can hamper the following day's work output.
The University of Michigan researchers found that people who use their phones after 9 P.M. to cram in a little bit of extra work for the day are less engaged and more tired at work the following day.
"Smartphones are almost perfectly designed to disrupt sleep," said study author, Russell Johnson in a press statement. "Because they keep us mentally engaged late into the evening, they make it hard to detach from work so we can relax and fall asleep."
The study was divided into two parts. In the first part, 82 upper-level managers were made to complete multiple surveys every day for two weeks. For the second part of the study, 161 employees were surveyed daily for the same time period. This section of the study also compared the usage of smartphones to the usage of other electronic devices like laptops, television and music players.
The findings of both studies revealed that night time usage of cell phones resulted in poor sleep and diminished a person's energy levels the following day. Researchers also found that the impact of smartphone usage at night was much more negative than watching television and using laptop and tablet computers.
The light emitted from the phone also has a negative impact on a person resulting in weight gain, depression, forgetfulness, impaired immune system and increased risk of diabetes, according to a previous study.
What makes matters worse is that smartphones emit blue light, which is known to hinder melatonin, a chemical in the body that promotes sleep. Another study found that blue light can also have a bad effect on the mood of a person. The study which was conducted on hamsters found that blue has the worst effect on mood-related issues, followed by white.
"So it can be a double-edged sword," Johnson said. "The night time use of smartphones appears to have both psychological and physiological effects on people's ability to sleep and on sleep's essential recovery functions."
"There may be times in which putting off work until the next day would have disastrous consequences and using your smartphone is well worth the negative effects on less important tasks the next day," he said.
Statistics show that nearly every American owns a smartphone and it is often considered as the most helpful invention ever made by mankind. However, health experts have found that more than 40 percent of smartphone users get inadequate sleep due to mobile phone usage.
