Writers: Is Blue Light All About Timing?

Researchers tell us in a recent study that their results using blue lights didn’t show that blue light affected the circadian rhythm at night. Is this a free pass to scroll through social media into the small hours of the morning?

Like me, you probably all thought/know that blue light at night is bad for your sleep and can cause all sorts of health problems. So to keep our circadian rhythms in good order, we are supposed to put down all those blue light emitting devices that wreck the deepness of our sleep well before bed time.

Is it a different, evil kind of blue light coming from our phones, televisions and computers? And what about the many studies that point to the benefits of blue? for example, athletes are currently investigating how blue light can help them perform better. So what’s going on with all this blue light?

Not Just the Blue Light?

While the jury may or may not be out as to whether blue light is causing your insomnia and poor sleep, it could be what you are reading and hearing on your computer or phone that is exciting your brain into continued wakefulness. And there could be lots of other reasons too. For example, maybe you drank too much caffeine shortly before going to bed or you ate very late. Or you can’t get that work related problem out of your thoughts and it’s stressing you into the greater stress of insomnia.

Watching mindless TV might feel like a better option than thrashing around in bed with your stress, even if it isn’t.

Plus, let’s not yet investigate the potential effects of the EMF (electro-magnetic frequency) emissions that we also ‘enjoy’ from our internet and mobile connections.

Look on the Bright Side of Life

On the bright side, blue light can do all sorts of good things for you. For example, it keeps you alert, helps your memory and is a factor in keeping you to your circadian rhythm. That’s because the blue light emitted by the sun is what triggers these great results. It does it all day, but the best results seem to be in the morning. So the effects of blue light seem to be just a question of timing.

Just a couple of things on that. You have to get up and go out to reap those great benefits. And you’ll find it very much easier to do in the morning if you don’t spend the night addictively watching TV, putting up reels on Instagram or reading Facebook messages. Lots of blue light at night is going to mess up how deeply you sleep and make you feel tired and cranky in the morning because you’re out of sync with your circadian rhythm. And not enough good sleep means you won’t be excited about getting up in the morning to go out and get your dose of the brighter side of blue light.

Don’t Let the Dark Side of the Blues Get You

Can you get away from those criminal gangs of blue light who may be urging you to keep on working or playing on social media? It’s hard. Because both working long hours (been there done that) and social media are addictive and like lots of addictions they lead to a downward spiral. The blue light of social media at night turns off your melatonin for a start and that stops you sleeping deeply or well.

Maybe you could remind yourself that doing almost anything to excess yields bad results. A bad case of blue light at night doesn’t just stop you sleeping. It causes sore eyes and fatigue. A real excess can cause nasty things to happen as we age, including macular degeneration which can leave you blind or cataracts that blur all that you see.

So plenty of down time from screens and more time in the green of nature is essential to keep being the blue eyed boys and girls who write smoking hot prose.

It’s Time for More Fun with Rhythm and Blues

While it is an interesting little study, I don’t think you should give up winding down from your work or your devices, suppers, late night drinks and all the other things that can stop us sleeping well.

The night time blues may look enticing but offer no benefits. So ditch them. Stop the blue thieves from stealing your sleep and ruining your eyes.

Instead, have more fun walking through the blue light of daytime. It will help your circadian rhythm keep you on course for a really good night’s sleep. That will set you up for a great day’s work by having more fun our and about early in the day. And quite naturally, you’ll be ready for bed and you’ll be into a virtuous upward cycle.

So perhaps we don’t need to be arrested by the blue light of the sleep police each night and dragged to the prison of insomnia. We can police our own sleep, thank you, by dancing with our circadian rhythms in the blue light of morning and sleeping through the antics of the criminal blue light gangs of the night.

Blue light is both good and bad: it’s just a question of timing your intake to get the best results.