Swapping night screen time for something else did no better than a goal
Who it’s about: Workers, Adults
- No difference
A plan for another activity instead of night phone use did no better than a goal to cut it.
- Action: Replace the habit with another activitytested
- Action: Cut down screen timeused
- Rule: Before going to bedused
- Rule: With a coach or therapistused
Small randomised trial of 55 people in their first year of work · vs coaching to set goals for less evening device use · they rated themselves · ⚠ many people dropped out; summary claims more than the results show; numbers unreliable
The study
Who took part
81 people who had started their first full-time job in the past year and put off going to bed. 55 were counted at the end. They were about 29 on average, mostly men, and lived mostly in the USA, Australia and Canada.
What they did
For two weeks, everyone kept a daily sleep diary and had one 15-minute video and one 15-minute coaching call on Zoom. Two groups planned another activity to do instead of using their phone, either before bed or during the day. The third group set goals to use devices less in the evening.
What happened
The groups did not differ in how much they put off going to bed or how long they used devices before sleep. People in all three groups rated themselves as putting off bedtime less three weeks after the start. Many people dropped out, a few of the paper's numbers don't match, and the paper's summary sounds more positive than its results.
Source
A randomised pilot trial for bedtime procrastination: Examining the efficacy and feasibility of the Reducing Evening Screen Time online intervention (REST-O) (2025)
DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2025.02.043 (opens in a new tab)Tools in this study
Action3
Replace the habit with another activityPick a substitute activity to do in place of the habit you want to cut.
