There's no question that we're a generation of bad sleepers. Late night Netflix sessions, early morning rises, tossing and turning during the night - it all accounts to very little sleep overall. And you've probably heard that using your phone and watching TV before bed doesn't make this situation any better, right? While this is true, and it's been advised to switch off digital products before we sleep, it's highly unlikely that any of us are actually going to embark on a complete digital detox every night, right? So, we're coming at you with the next best thing: the tech that can help you get a better night's sleep....
Switch off blue light filters before bed
We know that banning all electronics before bed is a bit extreme. So, if like us, you can't put your phone down at night, you may want to consider switching the blue light filter on your mobile off. It's been suggested that exposure to artificial light - like the light our phones emit - can cause havoc with our sleep cycles and general health. This is because blue lights emitted by phones trick our natural body clock into think it's daytime, which in turns keeps us awake and makes it harder to fall asleep. But, by making your screens more yellow and less glaring at night, you can reduce this effect. Music to our ears!
There are lots of apps you can download that offer warmer filters for your phone, or if you've got an iPhone, you can simply turn on Night Shift mode. In fact, you can even schedule this mode to automatically turn out at a certain time every evening. Easy peasy!
Listen to white noise
Lots of people credit white noise - a special type of sound that masks background noise - as being the thing that helps them fall asleep. It's even used to calm screaming babies! From a soundtrack of rain, to crashing waves on a beach, to animal noises, there's a tonne of white noise tracks you can download to help de-stress you before bed and prepare you for a peaceful night's sleep. Plus, the fact that white noise blocks out background noise is great, especially if you live in a noisy flatshare and are prone to waking up when your flatmate comes in drunk at 2am (ugh).
Wake up to daylight
The ultimate dream is to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day, right? Does this ever happen? The short answer is no. But don't fret: you can change this by investing in a wake-up light alarm clock. Essentially, this is an alarm that wakes you up gradually by brightening your room with a light that mimics the sunrise, because apparently, waking up like this has been shown to boost mood, energy and productivity levels. Seriously. As well as the wake up feature, the alarm clock also has a 30 minute sunset feature which can help you naturally wind down before bed. Right, we're sold.
Invest in a smart bed
You may have heard of people wearing fitness bracelets to bed to monitor their sleep patterns. While these are helpful in gaining an insight into how much you sleep, they aren't very good at much else. Luckily, something amazing has been created that can both track your sleep patterns and use this information to help you sleep better. Meet, the smart bed.
But what exactly is a smart bed? Well, it's bloody magic, that's what. A smart bed is a bed that self-adjusts during the night to make sleep more comfortable for the user. So, if you wiggle around at night, the mattress will inflate or deflate to gently contour your body position (no joke). Or, if the bed detects you snoring, it will gently tip your head upwards to open your airways. It even comes with a feature that allows you to warm up your feet!
While this innovative product is currently only available in the US, it will likely be coming over to us soon. But, if you're keen to try it out, be ready to fork out a big sum of money, because this investment won't come cheap.
Like this? You might also be intersted in:
Is My Insomnia Caused By Anxiety Or Is It The Other Way Around?
Follow Arianna on Instagram: @ariannachatz
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.