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Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

newyorker.com

31–40 of 113 posts

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#32
post #27

But it may be that the most important aspect of sleep hygiene has to do with light I'm not convinced. The most important thing for sleep is your eating habits - if you want to wake up early eat very early dinners. If you want to wake up at 8 am, your last meal of the day should be at 6 pm ( 14 hours before that ). This works so well, that it overrides the effects of alcohol and caffeine and often even how tired you a…

Apparently you can use a similar trick to overcome jetlag by fasting. One of those articles might have more information about the 'food clock' overriding other timers.

Though personally, I find the biggest difference in being able to sleep comes from avoiding screens and reading a book (or eink) instead.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#33
post #27

But it may be that the most important aspect of sleep hygiene has to do with light I'm not convinced. The most important thing for sleep is your eating habits - if you want to wake up early eat very early dinners. If you want to wake up at 8 am, your last meal of the day should be at 6 pm ( 14 hours before that ). This works so well, that it overrides the effects of alcohol and caffeine and often even how tired you a…

I never knew about this and eat late dinners. Thanks.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#34
post #10

I'm surprised the article mentions the blue light problem and devices but does not talk about flux, it's a little app that shifts the color temperature of your display to match what you're supposed to see at your location given the time of day. So, after sunset your screen basically turns orange. Although it's a bit annoying and takes some getting used to, I've tried it on and off and whenever I'm using it I fall asl…

That would become advertising of a product then...

Also, one can easily reduce/remove Blue from any monitor using hardware settings alone.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#35
post #30
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acting on a tip from an HN user on a similar thread this year, I ordered these blue light blocking glasses[1] for only $10. If you can get past the goofy look (perhaps a bit more problematic at work than at home), they work great, and obviously they work with any device. [1]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000USRG90?psc=1&redirect=t...

Not just goofy. Most people in the UK would associate glasses like that with ali G: http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/deedfyOGpiI8a2UWYdSCFLjbX... In all seriousness, how do they affect colour? If you're working on a front-end web project or design, could these be problematic?

If you care about color, you need to generate color profiles for different color temperatures and load them depending on the sun's position. I automated the loading part on Linux with this: https://github.com/stefantalpalaru/iccloader

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#36
post #10

I'm surprised the article mentions the blue light problem and devices but does not talk about flux, it's a little app that shifts the color temperature of your display to match what you're supposed to see at your location given the time of day. So, after sunset your screen basically turns orange. Although it's a bit annoying and takes some getting used to, I've tried it on and off and whenever I'm using it I fall asl…

Try getting the Uvex S1933X glasses. They work for everything in your view (obviously) without messing around with software, and probably works better too.

I have them, and they're amazing. I have pretty cool LED lighting in my apartment and can make my whole living room any color I want at night. If I set in to pure blue and put on the glasses, it's like being in pitch blackness (except a couple of items glow brightly).

It's not like looking at things with an orange tint at all, even though the glasses are obviously orange.

That being said - the benefits I get by using them is amazing. It's weird how much of a difference it can make, I get tired quickly after putting them on in the evening. If I forget to put them on I usually end up staying up too late, getting too little sleep and often ruining the next day. Personally I find it way more effective than flux.

By the way - blue light isn't just a negative thing, but also a huge positive. In the morning I use a Philips goLITE BLU HF3332, and it really improves both my energy and mood quickly after just a few minutes of usage.

Those two simple items, a blue light and a pair of blue-blocking glasses, have improved my life significantly. Try it out (especially the glasses, it's just $9).

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#37
post #10

I'm surprised the article mentions the blue light problem and devices but does not talk about flux, it's a little app that shifts the color temperature of your display to match what you're supposed to see at your location given the time of day. So, after sunset your screen basically turns orange. Although it's a bit annoying and takes some getting used to, I've tried it on and off and whenever I'm using it I fall asl…

There is also some evidence that yellow light causes nearsightedness, so be careful with that.

Really? Do you have any sources/links so I can read more about that?

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#38
post #10

I'm surprised the article mentions the blue light problem and devices but does not talk about flux, it's a little app that shifts the color temperature of your display to match what you're supposed to see at your location given the time of day. So, after sunset your screen basically turns orange. Although it's a bit annoying and takes some getting used to, I've tried it on and off and whenever I'm using it I fall asl…

I frequently hear about flux but yours is the first explanation to make me want to try it.

Usually people praise how "how easy on the eyes" it is etc, but I'm quite happy with white and my eyes are fine.

While tired late at night, I've noticed how much of a pick-me-up it is when playing games such as Skyrim/Fallout 3 (which put effort into a realistic day/night visual cycle) and dawn becomes morning in the game.

It never occurred to me to take advantage of the opposite of that effect.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#39
post #30
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acting on a tip from an HN user on a similar thread this year, I ordered these blue light blocking glasses[1] for only $10. If you can get past the goofy look (perhaps a bit more problematic at work than at home), they work great, and obviously they work with any device. [1]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000USRG90?psc=1&redirect=t...

Not just goofy. Most people in the UK would associate glasses like that with ali G: http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/deedfyOGpiI8a2UWYdSCFLjbX... In all seriousness, how do they affect colour? If you're working on a front-end web project or design, could these be problematic?

Ha ha, Ali G! But yeah, these glasses completely distort color perception -- much more suitable for coding or reading than any kind of visual design work.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#40
post #27

But it may be that the most important aspect of sleep hygiene has to do with light I'm not convinced. The most important thing for sleep is your eating habits - if you want to wake up early eat very early dinners. If you want to wake up at 8 am, your last meal of the day should be at 6 pm ( 14 hours before that ). This works so well, that it overrides the effects of alcohol and caffeine and often even how tired you a…

If you want to wake up at 8 am, your last meal of the day should be at 6 pm (14 hours before that).

Sadly that's not very compatible with even a 9-5 job + commute, let alone many people's extended days.

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