Checking your phone right after waking up? Doctor explains how it can spike stress and set the tone for your entire day

Checking your phone first thing in the morning seems like a harmless habit but it affects you more than you realise. Dr Sood explains why it is harmful.

Your alarm goes off, you reach out to silence it – and before you are even fully awake, you are checking notifications. Maybe it is that work email you have been thinking about, a stack of unread messages, or the text you were hoping to get back overnight. For many people, this has become an automatic part of waking up. But that quick scroll first thing in the morning may be doing more than just catching you up – it can shape your stress levels, attention span and mental state for the rest of the day.

Dr Kunal Sood, an anaesthesiologist and interventional pain medicine physician, is breaking down the very real effects of checking your phone immediately after waking up. In an Instagram video shared on May 28, the physician highlights, “Morning phone use exposes the brain to notifications, social comparison, information overload, and attention switching during the transition from sleep to wakefulness.”

It can spike stress

According to Dr Sood, cortisol naturally rises as you wake up. Reaching for your phone immediately to check notifications, emails or messages can push those levels even higher, further activating the sympathetic nervous system and putting the body into a heightened state of stress.

He explains, “Cortisol naturally rises after waking as part of the cortisol awakening response. Immediately adding emails, messages, news, or social comparison can increase sympathetic nervous system arousal and mental tension.”

Notifications keep the brain in vigilance mode

Dr Sood explains that notifications are specifically designed to interrupt your attention and create a sense that something needs an immediate response. Even when you are not actively checking your phone, these alerts can still disrupt focus, affecting attention span and cognitive control.

He notes, “Notifications are designed to interrupt attention and signal that something needs a response. Research shows they can affect cognitive control and attention even without fully engaging with the phone.”

It can reinforce anxiety loops

Constantly checking your phone can reinforce the anxiety loop around missing out on what happened overnight. The brief sense of relief you feel after checking can strengthen this vicious cycle – where anxiety triggers the urge to check your phone, and checking it offers temporary relief, only for the anxiety to return again.

The physician explains, “Many people check their phones to reduce uncertainty about what happened overnight. That temporary relief can reinforce a cycle where anxiety leads to checking and checking briefly relieves anxiety. Problematic smartphone use has repeatedly been associated with anxiety, stress, and poorer sleep.”

Information overload can mentally flood the brain

Waking up and immediately checking your phone can create an instant information overload, with messages, reminders, social media updates, work emails and news all hitting your brain at once from a single source. Dr Sood stresses that this sudden flood of input can overwhelm the brain and make it harder to process information clearly.

He highlights, “Phones compress messages, reminders, social media, work obligations, and news into one stream of input. Excessive information can overwhelm the brain’s ability to prioritize and process effectively.”

It can set a reactive tone for the day

The physician emphasises that when you begin your day by prioritising external demands – checking notifications, replying to messages and responding to alerts – instead of your own needs, it can become harder to direct your attention towards what truly matters throughout the day.

Dr Sood notes, “When the first task of the day becomes responding to notifications, attention is immediately shaped by external demands instead of personal priorities. Frequent interruptions may also make deeper focus harder later in the day.”

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. It is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.