What Your Bedside Table Can Reveal About Your Sleep Health

If you’re a bit of a messy, scattered person like I am, you may find that your inner chaos often manifests to a messy bedside table. Books, empty glasses, my iPad... You name it, it’s cluttering up my side of the bedroom.

Now, in a new study of 2,000 UK adults, commissioned by sleep technology firm Simba, analysed the behaviours most commonly linked to reduced REM - one of the most restorative stages of sleep, finding that a shocking 86% of people were guilty of one REM-blocking habit.

Surprisingly, this research also reveals that our bedside tables can actually tell us a lot about why our sleep is disrupted and why so many of us are missing out on crucial Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.

What your bedside table says about your sleep health

So, what is REM sleep?

“REM is when vivid dreams occur, but its role goes far beyond dreaming.” says Lisa Artis, deputy CEO of Simba’s charity partner The Sleep Charity, “It’s when the brain processes emotions, consolidates memories and clears away mental “waste” from the day, leaving you sharper, more resilient and ready for the day ahead.

“Think of REM as your brain’s overnight reset button. Without enough of it, you can sleep for hours and still wake up feeling foggy, emotionally off-balance or overwhelmed.”

What do our bedside tables say about our sleep health?

Mobile phone

If your phone is your constant bedside companion, you may be sabotating your sleep before you’ve even put your head on the pillow. In Simba’s research, they found that 52% of adults use their phones 30 minutes before going to bed and 50% admitted to ‘doomscrolling’ in that time.

Artis says: “Blue light exposure in the evening suppresses melatonin, the hormone that helps signal night-time sleepiness. This can delay your internal clock and make it harder to enter deeper sleep stages.”

She advises that you should stop using your phone at least 30 minutes before bed.

Wine glass 

While a little nightcap may feel like exactly what you need to drop off at night, the experts warn that it could be doing a lot more harm than good. 

This is because drinking alcohol within two hours of going to bed suppresses REM in the first half of the night and causes lighter, broken REM later on. 

Cigarettes or vapes

You don’t need us to tell you the harms of smoking and vaping but if a final smoke is what you feel you need before bed, you could be preventing your body from entering a deep sleep. 

The experts urge that this can act as a stimulant, making sleep lighter and reducing the time spent in REM.

Tea or coffee

Artis says: “Caffeine makes it harder for your body to feel ready for sleep and can reduce how deeply you sleep. 

“When it’s consumed in larger amounts or too close to bedtime, it can also interfere with REM sleep, the stage that plays a big role in how rested and refreshed you feel the next day.”

She advises cutting caffeinated drinks after 3pm. 

The importance of REM sleep

• get outdoors in the sunshine as much as possible
• reduce your caffeine intake
• go to bed and get up at the same time every single day
• turn off tech, devices and phones at least 90 minutes before you go to bed

Sweet dreams!