What to do instead of scrolling before bed
By Bedline · Published
Instead of scrolling before bed, do one calm thing that has no feed: read a paper book, write tomorrow's to-do list, take a warm shower, stretch, or listen to an audiobook with the phone across the room. Choose the one that does the job scrolling was doing for you, put it where your phone usually lies, and start it 30 to 60 minutes before you want to sleep. A replacement is more likely to hold when it is easier to reach than the phone, so many people also have the apps they scroll pause on a schedule.
Key takeaways
- Choose the replacement by what scrolling gives you at night: switching off, company, an emptier head, or time of your own.
- Reading, journaling, a warm bath or shower, breathing exercises and calm music are what the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the NHS suggest; start 30 to 60 minutes before bed.
- Put the replacement on your pillow or nightstand and charge the phone out of reach, so the easy option is the new one.
- Bedline, an iPhone app, pauses the apps you scroll from your Bedline (your phone-down time) until your wake-up and can remind you to wind down first; pausing apps needs a Premium plan.
- If you are still awake after about 20 minutes, the NHS suggests getting up and doing something relaxing until you feel sleepy, not reaching for the feed.
Why is scrolling so hard to replace at night?
Scrolling is hard to replace at night because it asks nothing of you and never runs out, while the decision to stop comes when you are most tired. In a 2014 paper in Frontiers in Psychology, Kroese and colleagues defined bedtime procrastination as "failing to go to bed at the intended time", where no external circumstances prevent a person from doing so. In their survey of 177 adults, people who reported more of it also reported more insufficient sleep; the design shows a link, not a cause.
Phones make the gap easy to fill. In a 2022 survey of 2,010 US adults commissioned by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 80% said they had lost sleep by staying up past their bedtime on social media, and 93% of Gen Z said the same.
So the question is not only "what else could I do?" but "what else is as easy at 23:30?" Why can't I put my phone down at night? goes into the reasons; this post is about the replacement.
What can you do instead of scrolling before bed?
The best replacement for scrolling is one that gives you what the feed was giving you, without a feed. Sleep organisations suggest the same short list: the American Academy of Sleep Medicine names a warm bath or shower, reading a book or journaling, and the NHS names reading something you enjoy, meditation, breathing exercises and calming music. Match one to the reason you reach for the phone:
| What scrolling gives you | Do this instead | What makes it work |
|---|---|---|
| Switching off after a long day | A paper book or magazine | Something you enjoy and don't mind falling asleep on |
| A busy head, things to check | Five minutes writing tomorrow's to-do list | A notebook and pen left on the nightstand |
| Noise and company | An audiobook, podcast or calm music with a sleep timer | Started before your phone-down time, phone out of reach |
| Time that belongs to you | A warm shower or bath, a puzzle, knitting, drawing | Something with your hands that has an end |
| A restless body | Gentle stretching or a slow breathing exercise | The same few minutes every night, so there's nothing to choose |
| Someone to talk to | Talking with the person you live with, or a call earlier in the evening | Done before the lights go off |
Pick one, not six: a routine you plan each night is another decision, and the phone wins decisions at 23:30.
Does it matter whether you read on paper or a screen?
Reading on paper beat a light-emitting e-reader in one small study. In a 2015 study in PNAS, Chang and colleagues had 12 young adults read for about four hours before bed in dim light, on five evenings with a light-emitting e-reader and five with a printed book. After the e-reader they took about 10 minutes longer to fall asleep on average, their evening melatonin was suppressed, and they were sleepier the next morning.
That was four hours of reading in a laboratory, on an e-reader rather than a phone, so it does not measure ten minutes on your phone in bed. Still, a paper book keeps the feed out of reach as well as the light.
Does writing a to-do list before bed help?
Writing a to-do list before bed helped people fall asleep faster in one laboratory study. In Scullin and colleagues' 2018 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 57 healthy adults aged 18 to 30 spent five minutes at bedtime writing either the tasks they had to do in the next few days or the tasks they had already done. Measured in a sleep lab, the to-do group fell asleep in about 16 minutes on average, against about 25 minutes for the other group, and within the to-do group, those who wrote more items fell asleep faster.
It was one night, with young and healthy volunteers, so read it as a reason to try, not a promise. The NHS suggests the same: if you often worry in bed, make a list of what you need to do the next day before you go to sleep. For a reader who scrolls to "just check one thing", the list gives that thing a place to wait until morning.
How do you make the swap stick?
A new bedtime routine sticks best when you set it up during the day, so that at night the new habit is the easy one:
- Pick one replacement from the table, in daylight, not at 23:00.
- Put it where the phone usually goes. The book on the pillow, the notebook and pen on the nightstand, the headphones by the bed.
- Give the phone's night jobs to something else. Use a separate alarm clock, start audio before your phone-down time with a sleep timer, and charge the phone out of reach.
- Choose a start time. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests turning off electronics 30 minutes to an hour before bed; the NHS suggests an hour. Count back from your wake-up and write it as a clock time.
- Have the apps you scroll pause at that time, so you aren't deciding again every night.
- Decide what happens if you can't sleep. The NHS suggests that if you are still awake after around 20 minutes, you get up, sit somewhere comfortable and do something relaxing, such as reading, until you feel sleepy.
If the time itself is the hard part, how to set a phone curfew as an adult covers choosing one you can keep.
Which tools help keep the phone out of the routine?
The tools that help most make the apps you scroll unavailable at your phone-down time, because a reminder only asks you to stop. Each option is good at something different:
| Option | What it does | Good at | Weak at |
|---|---|---|---|
| A reminder or alarm | Tells you it's time | Free, no setup | You dismiss it and carry on |
| Charging the phone in another room | Puts distance between you and the feed | Free, works with any phone | You need another alarm and another way to play audio |
| Settings > Screen Time > Downtime (iOS 26) | On a schedule, only calls, messages and apps you allow stay available | Free and built in | Blocks almost everything, and you know your own passcode |
| Bedline | Pauses the apps, categories and websites you pick from your Bedline until your wake-up | Pauses only what you scroll; a wind-down reminder beforehand | Pausing apps needs a Premium plan; you can switch it off |
Apple's iOS 26 guide says that during downtime only calls, messages and the apps you choose to allow are available. Apps are blocked only when Block at Downtime, on the same page, is on; without it, you see a reminder and can carry on. How to block apps at night on iPhone covers the steps for iOS 26 and iOS 27.
Bedline, the app this blog belongs to, handles the phone's side of the swap. You set your Bedline and your wake-up, with different weekend hours if you like, and choose the apps, categories such as Social, and websites to pause; Apple's Screen Time pauses them every night until your wake-up. An optional reminder tells you to wind down beforehand, and in the last hour the Tonight screen offers "I'm heading to bed", which starts the night early and keeps your wake-up. An emergency unlock you hold to confirm opens the apps for 30 to 120 minutes, as you set, then they pause again.
No blocker on your own phone is impossible to undo, since you set it up; what helps is that undoing it takes deliberate steps.
What if the new routine doesn't stick?
If the new routine doesn't stick, change one thing at a time rather than giving it up. Ask the next day what pulled you back to the phone: a replacement that didn't fit, a phone within reach, or a start time too early for your evening.
- Swap the replacement, keep the time. If the book bored you, try the audiobook; if lists made you think about work, try stretching.
- Move the time by half an hour if you break it at the same point every night.
- Count the nights you kept, not the ones you missed. Bedline's progress view lights a star for every kept night and leaves a missed one dark, without a lecture.
If your sleep itself worries you, talk to a doctor; a routine is not a treatment.
FAQ
What can I do before bed instead of being on my phone?
Read a paper book, write tomorrow's to-do list, take a warm shower or bath, stretch, or listen to an audiobook or calm music with the phone out of reach. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the NHS both suggest activities like these. Pick the one that matches why you reach for the phone, and keep it by the bed.
How long before bed should I stop using my phone?
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests turning off all electronics at least 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime, and the NHS suggests not using phones, tablets or computers for an hour before bed. Set it as a clock time you can keep every night.
Is reading on my phone before bed as good as reading a book?
Reading on a phone is not the same as reading a book, because the feed and notifications are one swipe away. In a small 2015 study, 12 adults who read for about four hours on a light-emitting e-reader took about 10 minutes longer to fall asleep than after a printed book. A paper book avoids both the light and the feed.
Can I listen to a podcast or music before bed?
Listening to calming music before bed is one of the NHS's suggestions, and a podcast or audiobook can do the same job. Start it before your phone-down time with a sleep timer, then put the phone face down out of reach. The risk is not the audio but picking the phone up to choose the next episode.
What should I do if I can't fall asleep without my phone?
The NHS suggests not forcing it: if you are still awake after around 20 minutes, get up, sit somewhere comfortable and do something relaxing, such as reading a book or listening to quiet music, then go back to bed when you feel sleepy. If sleeplessness goes on, talk to a doctor.