Thursday, April 2, 2020

Healthy Habits: How Technology Can Actually Improve your Sleep

With all the technology readily available to us, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to detach ourselves from being online. It’s easy to spend all day looking at a screen at work, just to come home and spend time with your family watching some TV before bed.
We all know about the negative effects of using technology before bed. With kids sometimes using tablets right up until bedtime, finding a compromise that lets them enjoy technology while minimizing the negative impacts of tech before bed is a great place to start.
However, it’s important to remember that not all technology before bed is bad. There are some forms of sleep technology that can actually benefit your overall sleep quality, such as helpful apps, wearable sleep trackers, and lights that mimic the feeling of the sun.

Sleep-Related Apps
Sleep tracking apps are a great way to use technology to your advantage and help understand how to improve your sleep. These apps can help you document your habits to understand things like why you are feeling tired or groggy the next morning.
Meditation apps are another fantastic way to signal to your body that it is time to transition into sleep mode. Meditation apps can help you calm your mind, especially in these uncertain times where it is all too easy to get stressed out.

Wearable Sleep Trackers
Wearable sleep trackers, such as wrist wearables, are a great way to get a summary of how you are sleeping. From being able to identify your sleep patterns to even determining the regularity of your sleep zone, wearable sleep trackers can help you gain insight into how you sleep to make measurable improvements.

Smart Lights
Using warm lights is a great way to shift your brain into relaxation mode before hitting the hay. Whether you are using programmable lights such as a glow light or a blue light filter, using a light-based tool can help prevent eye strain and signal to your body that it’s time to go to bed.
Glow lights are programmable lights that are able to mimic the feeling of the sun. They are a super easy install in a kid’s bedroom to help wake up feeling ready for a full day of school. For a super easy option to help minimize eye strain, using a blue light filter on your phone or your kid’s tablet after a certain time can help lessen the awakening effect of blue lights on the brain.

It’s clear that technology is a part of our world that’s here to stay—but there are several ways we can prevent the negative impacts that too much technology can have on our sleep and overall health. Whether you use sleep-related apps, wearable sleep trackers, or smart lights, there are so many simple ways to supercharge your sleep so you feel refreshed and ready to take on the day ahead.
Interested in learning more about the impact of sleep technology? Check out the infographic below to learn more about how technology can affect your sleep, both positively and negatively.

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