Need Help Sleeping? Try This Remedy

Need help sleeping? This free remedy might surprise you…it’s a digital download. But I *promise* you that it made a big difference in my ability to fall asleep quickly at night.

You may have seen the articles that people who use phones or devices at night don’t sleep as well. That may be partially due to the light from the screen, more so than the interaction or stimulation. Light…specifically blue light that mimics sunlight keeps our brains awake and engaged, and can block the hormone cascade that is supposed to help us wind down at the end of the day.

I noticed a BIG change in my ability to sleep when I installed the free Twilight app on my phone.

You can adjust the settings to suit your preferences. The one I like syncs your screen with the sun cycle, gradually giving you dimmer, pinker lighting on your screen…like this:

It’s way easier on your eyes. Here’s my attempt at letting you see the difference.

I also installed a free app on my desktop called f.lux that dims the screen in sync with the sun. A couple of months back, I had to have a repair done, and I forgot to reinstall f.lux after my laptop came back. It took me a full week of wondering why I was having such a hard time falling asleep to realize how powerful these little screen dimming apps can be. After re-installing, I was falling asleep with no problems, and getting sleepy at a more normal time.

While there is a time and place for bright daylight bulbs, consider changing bulbs in the lamps you use at night to a pinker bulb. Home improvement stores will often have displays that show you the different ‘colors’ of the bulbs. My Mom has found that using a red (Christmas) bulb in her nightlight really helps her get back to sleep a lot quicker for those middle of the night potty breaks. Give it a shot!

Resources:

• Read more about The risks associated with blue light
• Download f.lux here for free.
• Download Twilight here for free.
• Shades is a free screen dimmer that works with ios devices. You can download Shades for free here.

Is this something that you are going to try? Pin or share to spread the word, and please come back and let me know if you notice a difference. 🙂