I sleep in three hour increments at most. Every damned night.
It’s to the point where I put off even laying down.
Instead, I just sit up and think productive, philosophical thoughts about the universe.
It doesn’t matter when I lay down – the story’s always the same. And I only have myself to blame. Because I know what I need to avoid doing to sleep better and I still do it anyway: using blue light devices after dark. Yes. That evil force – frothing from our laptops, glowing from our phones, radiating its way into our circadian rhythms… These destroyers of sleep are so sneaky that most people don’t even realize they’re the culprits behind chronic insomnia.
I, for instance, didn’t have a clue about the whole “blue versus amber” light effects until this past year. I thought maybe it was psuedo-science someone was trying to sell me. And if you’re still in the dark about the light, it’s pretty much just that the types of light we naturally respond to during the day and night are important for later – when we try to sleep. For example, our eyes and brains prefer to process blue light waves during the day – and amber in the evening. (Yes, my déjà vu sufferers. I’ve written on this before, but a solution’s coming, so bear with me.) So, you know at bedtime, when you stay up addicted to apps and games and whatnot? That’s not only because they’re addictive. And it’s not only because part of you’s thinking “if I go to sleep now, then the next conscious moment I’m gonna have is the miserable process of realizing I’m alive again and have to go to work”. No. I mean there are those things – but it’s also about the fact that your brain thinks it’s still middle-of-the-workday time. The blue-amber disparity is so important that it sends this photon memo to your mind through your see-organs to wake the fckk up and stay busy. Meanwhile, the rest of your body’s exhausted and ready for bed. This brand of conundrum creates waves of anxiety and insomnia alike. So, when I first learned about this and came up with an invention in my mind, I thought I was super cool.“There could be a film overlay,” I thought, “One that’s amber for afternoon and dark time…”
Yes. There could be that.
You know what else there could be?
An app. There’s an app. For that.
Durr. Of course there’s already been an app created that can slowly golden-ize my devices as day grows darker, the horizon swallows the sun, and my manic brain starts going from productive and pleasant to apoplectic. Who knows, maybe I’d feel less of this nightly schizophrenia set in with the setting sun if I had a few yellowy screen tweaks. So, while my initial reaction was to feel bitter about how archaic and stupid my own similar idea was, my second reaction was, “I need this app in my life… what’s it called? Is it free? Can I install it last week?”
Called “F.lux”, the app is as simple as it sounds wonderful. I’ve just installed in on my laptop today, and although I’d love to sing its praises prematurely ( I really want it to work), it’s barely afternoon as we speak (Or as I write. And you read). Thus, I’m debating doing an “article pause” where I update this piece tomorrow morning with how well I slept (aside from the usual aches and pains that go with being 300 years old) after my Flux installation’s been completed.
I hope you all appreciate how much of a guinea pig I make myself for you.
Evening update Wednesday at 6 P.M.:
Thoughts: “I’m trying to decide if I like it or if my eyes are straining… Updates to come…”
—-
Dusk update on Friday at 4:30 P.M.:
Thoughts: I had to adjust, but this best kept secret has already had an epic effect on my mood when I have to work after dark. I haven’t yet gotten it for my phone (costs money as an ap so I wanted to try the free version first on my laptop), but I’m actually glad because it gave me a control in my experiment.
Normally, when I work past 5 P.M., I start to get nervous and antsy like I’ve had too much coffee. Then, I go to sleep and this feeling continues as I toss and turn. Though I understand blue light after dark can have these effects, I half doubted that f.lux would be the magic bullet. Two uninterrupted sleeps later, I hafta say: I was wrong.
As for the test-control of the iphone? Long after I left my laptop and calmly cozied up into bed, I (by force of habit) reached for my phone. The anxiety wasn’t immediate – but pretty close to it. Still, I slept well – so it must be a cumulative thing. My suggestion? If you turn spastic at night, come into the light, Carol Anne. The amber light.
I fux wit f.lux. And you should too.