Travel | Posted 31 Oct 2014
The average Leonardo Hotels guest is not just checking their mobile devices at home and at work every day but they’re also bringing up to four devices with them when they stay with us!
This need to stay “connected” at all times is addictive and impacts how well we sleep and feel during the day, so our sleep experts have put together some advice on how to back away from technology and get some proper kip!
Leonardo Hotels Tips for “Switching Off”:
- Invest in a screen filter app which adjusts its brightness and colour tone in the evenings so as not to upset your body’s natural rhythm. Good options are Screen Filter for Android and Dimmer for iPhone and iPad.
- Consider investing in a ‘digital detox’ app, which will irrevocably disable your smartphone for anywhere between 30 minutes and 1 month. Try Pause for iPhone and Digital Detox for Android.
- Turn off pop-ups and push notifications to minimize the distractions from your phone
- Designate a ‘shut off time’ about an hour before bed, where you turn off all electronics and give your brain time to wind down
- Enable your smartphone’s ‘Do not Disturb’ setting, which will silence all calls and alerts until the morning
- Avoid using your mobile device as an alarm in the morning, instead go back to basics and invest in an alarm, or better still, get a wakeup call from reception!
- Keep all electronic devices in a drawer away from your bed rather than on your bedside locker to make them harder to reach
- Delete addicting apps such as Facebook or Twitter from your phone to dissuade you from regularly checking them. If you can’t bring yourself to delete them, then log-out instead – this will reduce the urge to do a quick check
- Research indicates that one of the top three reasons for using a smartphone is to check the time. Wear a watch and eliminate the need to check your phone as frequently
- Set an alarm on your smartphone or tablets to restrict time spent online and encourage you to take an offline break
