Electric Sheep

Snoozing. Slumbering. Catching some Zs. Sleep’s an incredibly important part of our lives and often one in which a lot of us will fall short either on quantity or quality. Technology as we know is generally seen as the enemy of this much needed rest, and rightly so. A technology professional myself, I’ve suffered first hand the effects of too much device time messing up my sleep schedule during busier stints. Is there a way though that we can achieve better, longer, more valuable shuteye through technology? Or has it firmly no place at our bedside?

Cellphones and tablets are the worst offenders when it comes to preventing our brains from shutting down and drifting off to dreamland. Studies have shown that both the bright light, which blocks the release of melatonin and the mental stimulation of scrolling social media or playing Angry Birds, prevents your brain from going into “sleep mode.” It’s been likened to taking a shot of espresso right before laying down. Typically the advice is to avoid screen time altogether for two hours before bed, which I agree in an ideal world would be great. It’s not an ideal world however, and two hours is a long time to not hear the dreaded ding of an email hitting your inbox.

One thing those of us unable to avoid screens completely can do is limit the temperature or warmth of the light which we’re bathing our eyeballs in. The most damaging for sleep and in fact our eyes in general is light on the bluer end of the spectrum. Switching our mobile devices to warmer color profiles, often labelled as “Night Shift” or “Night Mode” during the evening greatly helps both eyestrain and the transition from wake to sleep. It’s a feature I take advantage of all day on my computer monitors, in actuality. Modes with less blue light mean my eyes don’t get as fatigued as quickly, so I’m able to end the work day on a better note and without pain. This pesky blue light sensitivity also applies to status or power lights, which should be either covered or dimmed if living in your bedroom.

How about using technology to our sleepy advantage then? Thankfully, there’s research and resulting products readily available in this category. For actually falling asleep, there are noise generators which produce either calming white noise or other sounds conducive to drifting off. There’s also lighting which mimics the sunrise and sunset, allowing for a more natural shift between shuteye and wakefulness. Even without purchasing additional devices, there are apps which allow your phone to guide meditation or improve calmness while you settle down for the night. While some solutions do flirt with pseudoscience, most are free to try and find out for yourself if their claims hold water for your situation.

Tracking the sleep which you’re able to achieve is another area where technology shines. While the data it’s able to collect is typically limited to things like movement, heart rate, and breathing, there’s still value in it. The nice thing here is, while dedicated sleep tracking doodads exist, smartwatch owners probably already have the capability; it’s simply a case of switching the feature on. It’s clear that the future will bring us better, more connected sleep aids, but using what we have now to unlock better sleep is well within the realms of possibility for the majority of us. Step one perhaps is better self discipline when it comes to screen time. Now, just one more check of my inbox before bed…