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Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

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Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#161

Post by charlieok »

drostie wrote: post #29

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed , not waking up . You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 3…

If you happen to use an iPhone, I highly recommend Sol:

http://www.juggleware.com/blog/2012/01/sol-sun-clock-for-iph...

I'm not sure what the equivalent on Android might be; if anyone knows, hopefully they'll weigh in.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#162

Post by hmottestad »

wglb wrote: post #153
hmottestad wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually. Staring at a screen until midnight, the screen is a major light source. Also for me, my desk lamp automagically dims from 11 to 1pm, just to make me feel a little more sleepy.

Do you mean 11pm to 1 am?

yes :)

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#163

Post by [deleted] »

dredmorbius wrote: post #121
superuser2 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're clearly not a student :). I'd love to choose when to go to bed, but that's not really compatible with a workload challenging enough to appease admissions counselors.

If you think life's going to become any more considerate of your sleep requirements, think again. Use time-boxing as a scheduling mechanism. If you find you have more work to do than time to do it, start lopping off items from your to-do list, and/or identifying how you can accomplish a sufficient effort in the time available. That is likely to be a far more useful life lesson than whatever subject it is you're study…

[deleted]

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#164

Post by processyellow »

charlieok wrote: post #161
drostie wrote: post #29

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed , not waking up . You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 3…

If you happen to use an iPhone, I highly recommend Sol: http://www.juggleware.com/blog/2012/01/sol-sun-clock-for-iph... I'm not sure what the equivalent on Android might be; if anyone knows, hopefully they'll weigh in.

Lux is a good one. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#165

Post by nkohari »

6d0debc071 wrote: post #126
nkohari wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not picking on you specifically, but I think this is an example of a very common problem on HN. Someone posts a very harshly-worded negative comment. Then the OP responds to it, and the commenter walks back their comment and praises the post. It seems like once people realize they're communicating with other real-life human beings, they are much more civil. Couldn't we try to consider that ahead of time, and avoi…

Being sincerely complimentary... or at least addressing points you might want to bring up in a delicate manner... requires a shift in the way people relate to others. It seems to me that taking a handful of generic compliments and sprinkling them among your real message will start to induce people to skim read it as a high noise to signal ratio.

I never suggested that someone should misrepresent or soften their position to avoid making someone feel bad. If you hate an article, I want to know that you hate it, and why. I'm only asking that everyone remember that they're speaking with other human beings.

Maybe a reasonable litmus test for the HN crowd is: if the article was instead a speech at a conference, would you go up to the speaker afterwards (or during Q&A) and say what you're going to say? If not, why?

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#166

Post by tptacek »

SeanDav wrote: post #147
tptacek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A plug here for F.lux, which attempts to correct for the unnatural color balance of computer screens and seems to have more or less eliminated my insomnia problems; the only times I have trouble sleeping anymore are traceable either to caffeine after noon, or forgetting that I've disabled F.lux.

Surely F.lux is fairly pointless unless the only source of light in your room is your computer monitor? I would imagine that any windows or external lighting is going to have a far greater effect than F.lux. I tried F.lux a while ago when it was recommended in a previous HN post but for me the only difference it seemed to have, was to make my computer monitor more difficult to read by making it too dim.

F.lux has not been fairly pointless for me. I am sure of that.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#167

Post by ajdecon »

SeanDav wrote: post #147
tptacek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A plug here for F.lux, which attempts to correct for the unnatural color balance of computer screens and seems to have more or less eliminated my insomnia problems; the only times I have trouble sleeping anymore are traceable either to caffeine after noon, or forgetting that I've disabled F.lux.

Surely F.lux is fairly pointless unless the only source of light in your room is your computer monitor? I would imagine that any windows or external lighting is going to have a far greater effect than F.lux. I tried F.lux a while ago when it was recommended in a previous HN post but for me the only difference it seemed to have, was to make my computer monitor more difficult to read by making it too dim.

It's had some helpful effects for me, even when I have other lights on. The computer is what I'm spending the whole time looking at, after all.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#168

Post by aclevernickname »

sneak wrote: post #99
Inufu wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If f.lux doesn't work properly, give redshift a try. Does the exact same thing and works perfectly for me.

If Ubuntu doesn't work properly, give OSX a try. Does the exact same thing and works perfectly for me.

That's funny, because I have the opposite anecdote; I have been regularly converting OS X user to Kubuntu Lucid/KXStudio (with backports) for the last year or so. Know all those guys that are avoiding Lion and Mountain Lion like the plague that they are? Yeah. that's my market.

Tons of people with 3yo MBP's with an install of Snow Leopard, looking longingly at how pretty and useable my little powerless Netbook with 2GB of RAM is with OpenOffice/Dolphin/Blender/Gwenview/Firefox running and 40+ tabs open. They can barely run Safari, iPhoto, Mail.app, and Skype at the same time without constant beachballing, so they sit in quiet humility while I actually get stuff done.

Once installed on their computers, an install that just works, I grab AppMenu (QML) from kde-look and replace the default one. At this point the MBP owner has a better OS experience than Snow Leopard could/does offer, and we haven't even done any tweaking yet. like f.lux or redshift (which you can grab from a ppa). I don't see the crashes you guys do on these apps, oddly enough. just works for me and my customers.

I love you Mac guys, really. You pay top-dollar for your hardware, and then Apple forgets about you in less than 4 years. I almost feel like I'm a rescue worker for abused and battered Apple customers.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#169

Post by drostie »

superuser2 wrote: post #76
drostie wrote: post #29

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed , not waking up . You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 3…

You're clearly not a student :). I'd love to choose when to go to bed, but that's not really compatible with a workload challenging enough to appease admissions counselors.

Just to respond a little, I actually just finished with my Master's in applied physics, so yeah, it can work with an academic life. ^_^ Actually it can even be beneficial, much like turning off the Internet -- where yes, you lose access to help docs, but you also lose access to distractions.

If you want a little more unorthodox advice I'd offer, "don't buy the textbook unless either (a) it is a workbook which must be submitted for the grade or (b) you were really so powerfully impressed that you want this book as a lifelong reference." Ask the professor to ask the library to put the textbook on reserve in the library -- so that nobody in the course can take it out, but rather you share it at the library. If this leaves you muttering about Kant's categorical imperative, remember that if someone else is using it, you can form an impromptu study group and make a new friend. :D. For that matter, student societies should have copies of the texts, and a study lounge at the department might also have them. If nothing else works, copy homework problems from a friend taking the same course and look up the same material in alternative texts in the library (or on the Internet) -- but that's almost never necessary.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#170

Post by SeanDav »

SeanDav wrote: post #147
tptacek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A plug here for F.lux, which attempts to correct for the unnatural color balance of computer screens and seems to have more or less eliminated my insomnia problems; the only times I have trouble sleeping anymore are traceable either to caffeine after noon, or forgetting that I've disabled F.lux.

Surely F.lux is fairly pointless unless the only source of light in your room is your computer monitor? I would imagine that any windows or external lighting is going to have a far greater effect than F.lux. I tried F.lux a while ago when it was recommended in a previous HN post but for me the only difference it seemed to have, was to make my computer monitor more difficult to read by making it too dim.

Just tried it again. Still can't live with it at night, makes me feel like I am going blind with the shift to red. Might try it 1 more time with a gradual shift and see if that works but right now, certainly not useable for me.
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