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[DeepEnigma]

What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? For most of you it'll be to check your phone. According to Dr Karan Raj, though, that's the last thing you should be doing:

Dr Raj has become something of a viral sensation on TikTok amassing 2.9 million followers on the platform. He's given us a range of advice on topics ranging from how long you should nap for so as not to feel groggy to why you shouldn't make your bed in the morning.

Now, in a new video he's said: "Stop checking your phone as you wake up!"

Dr Raj goes onto explain: "When you wake up in the morning you transition from a delta brainwave of sleep to a theta brainwave.

"We need this theta brainwave... it helps the brain with learning, memory, problem solving.

"If you wake up check your phone... social media, messages, etc. you skip the theta brain wave and go straight into high stress beta brainwaves

"This altered brainwave pattern affects your performance for the rest of the day!"

Useful information indeed! And Raj has proven himself to be an oracle in what helps us sleep and how we can make sure we're performing well in our day to day lives.

In another recent video, he gave out some handy advice on how long we should take a nap for so that we feel reinvigorated and not too groggy.

He explained: "The 'Goldilocks nap'. Nap for 90 minutes. Ninety minutes allows you to cycle through all the sleep stages - that's one cycle of sleep.

"Any longer or shorter you risk sleep inertia, that feeling of grogginess.

"The best time to nap is between 1pm and 4pm. Sleeping any later will drop your adenosine levels too low so you won't feel sleepy at night.

"Adenosine is a sleep molecule, when it's high, we feel sleepy, when it's low, we feel alert. Sleeping reduces adenosine levels."

He also warned us against making our beds in the morning, although if we're honest that's advice we've been following religiously for years.

Your sheets can trap miniscule dust mites and leaving your bed unmade exposes them to air and sunlight, causing them to dehydrate and die.

Dr Raj said: "Making your bed in the morning traps dust mites that have accumulated over night. These microscopic predators, which are less than a millimetre long, feed on the scales of human skin and thrive in moist environments.

"When we sleep at night, our bodies become warm and sweaty, making them prime targets for these mites to feed on.

"They will leave behind excretions which can give us asthma or allergy-like symptoms.

"So making your bed in the morning traps all this moisture and provides a home for 1.5 million of these bad boys.

"Instead leave your bed messy just for a while. It exposes these mites to air and sunlight, which dehydrate them and causes them to die."

Doctor Explains Why You Need To Stop Checking Your Phone When You Wake Up

Dr Karan Raj is back with more useful tips on how to improve our lives and day-to-day health.

www.ladbible.com

 

[DeepEnigma]

That dust mite comment.

 

[triplestation]

interesting, i wonder if light intensity/phone brightness can have anything to do with this

people when they wake up the first thing they wanna know is what time it is and it's right there on your phone

i guess people need to invest in clocks again?

 

[DeepEnigma]

interesting, i wonder if light intensity/phone brightness can have anything to do with this

people when they wake up the first thing they wanna know is what time it is and it's right there on your phone

i guess people need to invest in clocks again?

I don't think it's going to impact you for a second or two looking at the time.

it's the settling into the brainwave as you start down the path of scrolling, etc., effectively "shutting your brain off" as you zombie swipe.

 

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Kind of difficult when my phone is my alarm.

 

[Fbh]

I'm pretty sure this fucking song


Already sends me straight to those "high stress beta brainwaves". So I might as well go ahead and check my phone

 

[DeepEnigma]

I'm pretty sure this fucking song


Already sends me straight to those "high stress beta brainwaves". So I might as well go ahead and check my phone

What masochist made this for TEN HOURS!?!?

 

[SirKicksalot]

I only have alpha waves, I'm not a fucking beta

I'm pretty sure this fucking song


Already sends me straight to those "high stress beta brainwaves". So I might as well go ahead and check my phone

That's why you change it every couple of weeks and use the option to gradually increase volume.

 

[Fbh]

I only have alpha waves, I'm not a fucking beta



That's why you change it every couple of weeks and use the option to gradually increase volume.

The thing with changing it is that I'll end up hating every song I'll change it to anyway.
So I'd rather just focus all my hate on this one.

 

[eot]

I'm pretty sure this fucking song


Already sends me straight to those "high stress beta brainwaves". So I might as well go ahead and check my phone

I have a horrible alarm sound, but I figure I'm going to hate it no matter what and then it's better to pick something awful to begin with.

 

[triplestation]

idk i think people will adapt to this new phenomenon

if the expectation is to get up and avoid tech for 20-30 minutes is just not realistic in this day and age

i think turning on the television to watch some weather forecast will have similar (if not identical) effects

you gotta be some lumberjack ass shit deep in the woods to follow doc's advice

 

[Mossybrew]

if the expectation is to get up and avoid tech for 20-30 minutes is just not realistic in this day and age

It doesn't sound unreasonable to me. I don't look at my phone until after I've showered, packed my lunch, and made breakfast, and by that time I've been awake for about 30 min.

 

[Susurrus]

If you hit snooze for 30 minutes, does it count for that time period?

 

[Tranquil]

I almost never check my phone. I use a computer, so it looks like I'm in the clear.

 

[EviLore]

Many highly successful people have mentioned that they take the first hour after waking up seriously in terms of structure. They'll meditate, plan out the day, work out, etc., and purposefully avoid checking their phone and emails.

I've switched over to this approach in recent years and it's made a big difference compared to diving straight into the mess of the day upon waking up.

Cool to see a scientific corroboration for it.

 

[Virt McPolygon]

Shit, I should probably stop stumbling to my work laptop the minute after my alarm goes off.

 

[Batiman]

Gonna try it out this week. It’s a bad habit anyways

 

[Rival]

This actually makes so much sense and I think this is what’s been wrong with me. Starting Monday I’m not sleeping until 10 minutes before I have to log on to work.

 

[Mistake]

Reminds me of this video I saw before

 

[Sidney Prescott]

I actually stopped doing that a number of years ago. Having a dumb phone helps. There is nothing really to check. I basically use my phone as an alarm clock, the most I'll do in a morning is check the time.

I find if you start scrolling on your phone, you just will just lie there for ages. Especially on a day off. Not good.

 

[jufonuk]

Makes sense. When I get up don’t look at my phone just do things and chill I feel more relaxed. Just going into news and Facebook you feel the world is going to shit at times.

 

[MaestroMike]

Usually check my comp if I don't have work. If I have work I focus on getting ready until I get to the train. Then I eat and look at my phone usually for entertainment purposes.

 

[teezzy]

idk i think people will adapt to this new phenomenon

if the expectation is to get up and avoid tech for 20-30 minutes is just not realistic in this day and age

i think turning on the television to watch some weather forecast will have similar (if not identical) effects

you gotta be some lumberjack ass shit deep in the woods to follow doc's advice

It's like reading the newspaper in the morning.

We've just evolved in tech

 

[Tesseract]

usually wake up after a few hours and check the clock on the phone, if 3 to 4 hours has passed then i'll get up

smartwatch says i average 4 hours / night sans alarm, crash out for about 8 hours around the 19th of every month (not sure why)

otherwise i stick to the mainframe

 

[teezzy]

usually wake up after a few hours and check the clock on the phone, if 3 to 4 hours has passed then i'll get up

smartwatch says i average 4 hours / night sans alarm, crash out for about 8 hours around the 19th of every month (not sure why)

otherwise i stick to the mainframe

I wake up and say, "Hey Google, good morning"

Google tells me the weather and then streams the news from various sources, primarily Reuters.

 

[Tesseract]

I wake up and say, "Hey Google, good morning"

Google tells me the weather and then streams the news from various sources, primarily Reuters.

based and blessed, tech is a helluva thing if tuned properly

“To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven. The same key opens the gates of hell. And so it is with science.”

 

[thief183]

... Well, not really a problem for me, I forget my phone 3 days a week, every day I'm detaching from tech a lil more. Except for PC, that is here ti stay, but only in the evening.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I’m getting sick of my phone. I use it all day for work, gps while going to clients, music and audio books on the road and then checking personal stuff. I have to restructure it. I put it in the drawer when I come home, but then everyone else gets on their phone or device. It’s like I am disappearing because no one else wants to interact besides being on their phone. It sounds like I’m doing it wrong from the moment I wake up. The first thing I do is check a bunch of work apps. I’m tempted to go back to a digital clock after reading this. I thought I made the right move with blue light blocker glasses, but it’s becoming a bigger issue with my stress levels. I’m on the MS Teams app and other various apps for work all day long. Everything is in night mode because the bright white lights are murdering my eyes.

 

[Sidney Prescott]

I’m getting sick of my phone. I use it all day for work, gps while going to clients, music and audio books on the road and then checking personal stuff. I have to restructure it. I put it in the drawer when I come home, but then everyone else gets on their phone or device. It’s like I am disappearing because no one else wants to interact besides being on their phone. It sounds like I’m doing it wrong from the moment I wake up. The first thing I do is check a bunch of work apps. I’m tempted to go back to a digital clock after reading this. I thought I made the right move with blue light blocker glasses, but it’s becoming a bigger issue with my stress levels. I’m on the MS Teams app and other various apps for work all day long. Everything is in night mode because the bright white lights are murdering my eyes.

Yeah it sucks when you need it for work related matters. I honestly would get rid of a phone if it wasn't necessary to have in the modern age. You can't really function without a phone these days.

I tend to put mine out of sight when I get home. I don't care about it, that is my alone time and it can wait. I wouldn't mind going back to a traditional alarm clock as well.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Thanks for posting this. I've stopped checking my phone as soon as I wake up because of it.

 

[teezzy]

Thanks for posting this. I've stopped checking my phone as soon as I wake up because of it.

Now I check my PC instead

 

[Rockmaninoff]

Good info, thanks! I've always checked my phone first thing even before getting out of bed. Makes sense that it's contributing to me having a shitty day every day.