As an award-winning journalist, Katie Couric is fully entrenched in social media as a means to learn about and connect with her audience. The Stand Up to Cancer co-founder, New York Times best-selling author, and founder of Katie Couric Media has learned to set limits, though, so she can protect her time, well-being, and sleep.
Like so many of us, Couric struggles to moderate her use of social media. “It’s very addictive. I think it’s designed to be addictive,” she says to Arianna Huffington on the Thrive Global Podcast, in partnership with iHeartRadio and Sleep Number. She continues that she and her husband, John Molner, need to regulate their excess use of technology. “I think that John and I need to sit down and establish some guidelines and some rules of engagement.”
For a month, she and Molner attempted to moderate their phone use and improve their sleep by keeping their phones outside of their rooms, a core Thrive Global Microstep. “I slept better, because in the middle of the night, if I wake up, I check my phone. It’s actually really sick. Then, of course, the lights from your phone stimulate your brain and then it’s harder to get back to sleep.” Studies do indeed demonstrate that blue light interferes with sleep, which is why it’s especially helpful to keep phones outside the bedroom, and out of temptation’s reach.
For better sleep tonight, try Couric’s Microstep.