Screen time and sleep: what the research actually shows

Phone in hand, Adelaide office worker Tegan Blackwell gives her phone a last scroll on King William Street’s tram ride home, but sleep experts say such habits are keeping many South Australians awake. New research says cutting screen time before bed may matter more than you think for the quality and duration of your sleep.

As winter temperatures rise and the city’s routines slip out of sync, demand is up for practical solutions to feeling rested. Google searches for "sleep help" and "blue light glasses" are spiking in Adelaide, while local clinics are reporting more young adults and shift workers struggling to wind down. Global headlines about productivity, public health, and even the revived popularity of smoking all tie back in subtle ways to how well (or poorly) we sleep – and tech use is at the heart of the discussion.

Adelaideans and their screens

The Central Market on Gouger Street sees shoppers juggling grocery lists on tablets and parading toddlers with digital toys. At home in Mawson Lakes, Netflix streams into the evening. At the Botanic Gardens' Saturday parkrun, groggy runners compare their sleep-tracking apps, debating if the numbers stack up. Sharon Shearer, program coordinator at the SA Health-run Wellbeing SA, says late-night phone use is a recurring theme at seminars at the Victoria Square clinic.

Local schools are also taking notice. Norwood Morialta High’s wellness team recently rolled out a screen-free hour challenge after 8pm for Year 10s, following feedback that up to 67% of their students slept with phones on the pillow. At Bensons Radiology’s North Terrace branch – one of the city’s main sleep study providers – appointments for insomnia assessments have jumped by more than 20% since 2024, according to internal figures.

What the numbers reveal

Nationally, Australians aged 18–25 spend an average of 7.5 hours per day on screens, the Sleep Health Foundation reported in their 2025 survey. Blue light exposure, particularly in the hour before bed, suppresses melatonin production by up to 23%, recent Flinders University studies have shown. Participants in those clinical trials complained of taking 40 minutes longer to fall asleep after 30 minutes on social media. SA Health’s 2026 wellness poll found one in three Adelaide adults gets less than the recommended seven hours’ sleep a night; heavy device users were twice as likely to report trouble dozing off.

One key finding: not all screen use is equal. Interactive activities (like TikTok or gaming) impact sleep more than passive TV watching from across the room. Using devices for work emails after dinner correlated with poorer reported sleep quality too, adding to accumulated "sleep debt" that many residents try to clear during the weekend.

Switching off: practical steps

What now for those chasing better sleep on Melbourne Street or along the esplanades of Glenelg? Local experts recommend a digital "curfew": shutting down bright screens at least 60 minutes before bed. The Adelaide City Library now offers “unplugged evenings” – device-free mindfulness sessions on Thursdays for $6 (pre-bookings required). Try replacing the late-night scroll with a walk along the Linear Park Trail, or browse fresh market produce for a wind-down herbal tea. For teens, Wellbeing SA’s online toolkit suggests family charging stations out of bedrooms at night.

There’s no quick fix, but shifting habits around screens is one tangible lever for better rest, and Adelaide’s businesses and community spaces are starting to take note. Anyone struggling with chronic sleep issues should consult a local medical professional for tailored advice. For most, however, a screen-free hour before bed may provide a surprisingly effective—and cost-free—head start to a better night’s sleep.