Technology Steals your Sleep

Published on Monday, 07 March 2011 Written by Dave

Here on the show, we are lovers of all things tech related. Studies have surfaced (again) revealing fresh links to our gadgets and lack of sleep.

I am one of the few people I know who do not have a TV in the bedroom, admittedly this is not entirely by choice, but maybe for the best. Combining this article from reuters that gives some statistics and physiological effects of drowning yourself in an LCD before bed with last weeks 'epiphany' about the dangers of all your gadget lights being on while you sleep and we have a recipe for disaster.

I am as big a fan as winding down for bed with a movie as anyone. Often I find myself dozing off, fighting to stay awake to watch the end. Despite this dozing off, I find myself often unable to go to sleep - sometimes for hours - when the movie is over. I wonder how different things would be without it.  I know many people go on "technology fasts" and probably end up with much more sleep. How much of that sleep is due simply to boredom and not filling the times of solitude on the computer with other family activities?

I do, however, use my cellphone as my alarm. It is pretty rare for me to be woken up in the middle of the night by it despite that fact because I make use of the airplane mode so even a buzzing text of email will not interrupt my already challenged snooze time. I keep the phone behind a light block curtain on the window sill because the tiny notification light stays illuminated as the phone charges and easily lights up my entire room. A pillow rests comfortably in front of the alarm clock, blocking its red "glow."

If you have a hard time sleeping at night, give some of these things a try and even if you don't manage to get more sleep, perhaps you will find some other rewards in your life.