What you put on your nightstand doesn’t just affect the aesthetics of your bedroom, it can have a big impact on the quality of your sleep. Styling your nightstand with a beautiful lamp and decorative accents adds to the overall design of the room, but cluttering the piece with certain items can rob you of a good night’s rest.

We tapped in-house experts to share the most common items that should never be on your nightstand. Read on to find out what things to avoid.

Bright Alarm Clock

dr. Rebecca Robbins, a sleep expert at Oura Ring and a sleep scientist and assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, advises against putting a bright alarm clock on your nightstand.

“Instead, opt for an alarm clock with a face that doesn’t light up, so you won’t be stressed about the time if you wake up in the night,” she says.

Close proximity to an alarm clock and its bright light can affect your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.

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Medicine

“I see a lot of clients keep their medications on the nightstand and it makes the room look so cluttered,” explains Meg Markland, professional organizer and owner of neat by meg.

If you don’t have a place to store your medicine in the bathroom, she recommends looking for creative storage solutions that provide hidden medicine storage to keep your nightstand from cluttering up. Markland recommends using a drawer organizer inside a nightstand drawer or placing a basket on the nightstand to store them.

Too many electronics

“Try to keep your bedroom, especially your nightstand, free of too many electronics, like your phone or laptop, that might remind you of work or be tempting to reach for if you wake up,” says Dr. Robbins.

In addition to emitting blue light that can disrupt your sleep, keeping electronic devices like your phone, tablet, or laptop on your nightstand can prevent you from mentally disconnecting from your day and getting a full night’s rest. Markland agrees and offers an alternative location to charge the phone.

“I started putting my phone on the charger in the kitchen a few years ago, rather than charging it on the nightstand,” she says.

If you still need to keep your phone on the nightstand because you set the alarm there, place it face down to avoid light distractions during the night.

Work related items

Dr. Robbins mentions keeping work-related items away from the nightstand as this applies to electronics such as a phone or laptop. This rule extends to other work-related items such as reading materials, reports to review, or notes for an upcoming presentation.

“During the day, it’s all about productivity and achieving, doing. Nighttime is a fundamentally different way of thinking,” explains dr. Robbins. She explains that work-related items can keep us thinking about work and recommends keeping these items in a separate area of ​​your home.

“It helps you switch off from a fundamentally different mindset at night and set yourself up for sleep success,” she says.

A mess

Avoid clutter on the bedside table, as it not only negatively affects the appearance of your bedroom, but can also affect the quality of your sleep.

“Ideally, our sleeping space is clutter-free and stress-free,” says Dr. Robbins. “Having a sleeping space that is cluttered or messy can be stressful for some and limit one’s ability to relax and unwind,” she adds.

Clutter in the bedroom, whether it’s a stack of too many books, a collection of jewelry boxes, or too many skin care products, creates a chaotic environment that’s not conducive to rest, peace, and relaxation.

Not to mention, a cluttered nightstand means you’re more likely to accidentally knock something over in the middle of the night which can lead to loud and startling noises that can disrupt your sleep.

Food

Do not keep food on the bedside table and avoid eating in the bedroom if possible. Food can also cause a mess and attract pests such as ants. Any leftover crumbs that aren’t properly vacuumed will make your bed dirtier and more uncomfortable, especially when you’re trying to sleep.