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"This goes against years of research showing that screens, in any capacity, do everything but help us fall asleep. In 2012, the American Medical Association's Council on Science and Public Health said that "exposure to excessive light at night, including extended use of various electronic media, can disrupt sleep or exacerbate sleep disorders." Sleep researchers say that looking at a blue light, which is produced by smartphone and tablet screens, sets off brain receptors that are designed to keep us awake and interferes with circadian sleep patterns. Experimental research has found that if people use a tablet for up to two hours before bed, it takes an extra hour to fall asleep."

"The reason is that our capacity to control impulses is limited on any given day. Sleep, downtime, or exercise is needed to recharge our supply. Stress, negative feelings, and 'high demand' environments diminish our reserve of self-regulation. That's why people tend to eat junk food when they are sad or at the end of the day when their will power is worn down after hours of refusing sweets. So it takes a lot of mental energy to inhibit the urge to check Facebook for the latest news. When you find that your teen responded to a string of texts while writing a paper, it may be more out of mental exhaustion than outright defiance."