Binge-Watching Is Not Good For You

June 1, 2017

It turns out staying up way past your bedtime to finish House of Cards is actually bad for your health.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine warns that if you pass on the shut eye to finish your favorite show, you’re in danger of suffering from deteriorating “mood and cognitive abilities.”

In worst-case scenarios sleep-deprived people risk of being “in a workplace accident or drowsy-driving crash.”What to do? According to the organization, it’s all about binge-watching responsibly.

Here are some tips on how to do that from the Academy:

Set an episode limit each night before you begin watching
Take a break between each episode to get out of the “auto-play” loop
Download episodes on your smartphone to control how many you watch at once
Schedule time on the weekend to catch up on your favorite shows
To minimize the effects of brightly lit screens at night, use screen settings that filter blue light after sunset
Stream videos to your TV instead of your mobile device at night to reduce exposure to brightly lit, handheld screens
Avoid using mobile devices while in bed
Turn off all screens at least 30 minutes before bedtime

Now that that is out of the way, get back to Orange Is The New Black before you run out of time. Or better yet, watch at work as long as the boss doesn’t catch you!