6 Tips to Get Better Sleep with Technology

1. Reduce device stimulation before going to bed.

If you find it hard not to use your phone or tablet before you go to bed, research how you can change certain settings on your device to its impact on your sleeping patterns. For instance, you can use your phone’s night mode feature or manually reduce your screen brightness to limit the amount of blue light you see. Some devices can be set to do this automatically based on the time of day or night. Are you finding it difficult going to sleep or remaining asleep due to numerous pings and notifications? No worries! Simply put your phone on airplane mode and sleep to your heart’s desire.

2. Get a sleep app on your smart device.

There is a wide variety of digital apps that can help you fall and remain asleep all through the night. Most of these apps include sleep inducing resources such as guided imagery, relaxation exercise and soothing music that can help your body and mind to relax and go into sleep mode. The American Sleep Association provides a list of its top 7 recommended sleep apps that includes;

Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock: Monitors your sleeping patterns and alerts you to wake up as you go into your lightest sleep phase.

Pzizz: Uses binaural beats, sounds effects and musical tracks that are shuffled every night depending on your listening preferences to help you fall asleep.

Relax Melodies: Plays a mix of guided sounds, melodies, and meditation to soothe you to sleep.

3. Use your sleep app or fitness tracker to monitor and track your sleeping habits. While the accuracy of these trackers is not 100% certain, the data they offer give you a rough idea of your sleep habits. If you don’t fancy sleeping with a smart device on your wrist, you should consider installing an app called Sleep Cycle that uses the microphone on your smart device to monitor any noises you make while sleeping. You should talk to your doctor before employing any of these sleeping aids in order to establish whether you need advanced sleep treatment or therapy.

4. Increase daytime activity and avoid naps.

Feel like taking one of those tempting afternoon naps? Well, don’t do it. Why not take advantage of your phone’s mind stimulating features like playing a game or browsing the web or social media platforms where you may actually find a bunch of memes that should assist you to resist the urge to take a nap. Staying alert and active during the day can actually help you sleep better at night.

5. Instead of avoiding technology, why not take it to your bedroom.

For instance, Dodow is a device that produces a soothing and gentle pulsating light in your bedroom which can help you to relax your mood and synchronize your breathing and heart rate. The objective is to reduce your heart rate so that you gradually fall asleep.

Another amazing piece of tech is a smart bed. Some smart beds offer sleep-inducing vibrations, pressure adjustments, and climate control features. That said even a new Eve mattress can help you to get a great night’s sleep. If your partner snores or you live in a noisy environment, consider using ambient noise (white noise) to create a “soothing backdrop” to cancel out all other noises.

6. Use smart home technology.

If you are bothered by your kids’ late night texting and social media notifications, you can put a “shutdown” timer on your WiFi so that everyone goes to bed by a certain time. Other smart home devices can automatically dim lights at preset times to help you to naturally go to sleep.