There are a wide variety of technologies that promise to help you sleep more soundly and wake up energized in the morning. Sleep trackers, white noise machines, noise-canceling earplugs, soothing wake-up lights — you can easily fill your room with machines and strap a bunch of clocks to enhance your night's sleep. But is all this really working? To find out if technology can really help you sleep better and feel more rested, TechRadar spoke with James Wilson, aka The Sleep Geek. Wilson is a sleep environment and behavior specialist who specializes in helping people understand their sleep patterns and change their behavior, environment, and mood for better sleep. Now, he shares his advice on which sleep technology really makes a difference, which gadgets to watch out for, and everything else you need to know before making an investment.
Are sleep trackers helpful or do they cause superfluous anxiety about sleep?
Currently there are a number of drawbacks with trackers. They are not exaggeratedly precise and we must be careful not to take the data at face value. Next, we don't have the context to interpret the data, so while the tracker can tell us that we've had XNUMX% REM sleep, we don't know if that's good or bad. Third, the trackers tell us that we slept badly, something we know: that we slept badly. We cannot force ourselves to sleep better, in the same way that we can exercise more or eat healthier. Trackers often lead to increased anxiety and even worse sleep. I use them sometimes, especially in sports where I have an athlete who doesn't take enough care of his sleep, and a tracker can help with that commitment. Other than that, in my experience, they make sleep deprivation worse. However, as we move away from portable trackers to shut them down, I see a future where we can be tracked, but only alerted when there is a change that will harm us.
Is there any advantage to using an alarm clock light over a normal alarm clock?
Significant benefits, and if you want to bring some technology into your bedroom, then it would have to be a wake-up light. An audible alarm surprises us waking up, letting us hit the snooze button over and over again, and makes for a pretty terrible waking experience. A wake-up light gradually lulls you out of the deeper stages of sleep, signaling the body to create wake-up hormones like cortisol and lower sleep-related hormones like melatonin, so even if you still have an alarm noticeable, it doesn't. It's not a shock to the system.Can A White Rumble Machine Help You Sleep At Night?
Yes, for some people, and it would add pink noise to the equation as well. Essentially, our hearing is the last of our senses to turn off and the first of our senses to turn on as we drift in and out of sleep. It is our security system developed to protect us from predators. A sudden noise brings us to consciousness, and a noise machine or app emits a constant soothing sound that relaxes and disguises sudden noises. However, they are not suitable for everyone and some people find the constant noise incredibly irritating.Is it a great idea to use earplugs at night?
Yes, like white or pink rumbles, earplugs help create a cohesive sleep environment and help us rest more in peace. It is often quite difficult to get used to foam or traditional putty, but brands such as Flare and QuietOn have developed renewable and reusable products.