A few principles and applications for sleeping better

1. Make your bed a
temple:
A few steps to getting
better sleep in a world of
constant notifications

2. Sleep is tough in the world of mid-terms and
rage memes. Someone somewhere is constantly
trying to tell you what’s going on.
Your bed should be your temple
away from notifications.
Have you ever been to a temple?
You’ll immediately notice two
things when visiting a temple.
Those places are quiet.
And they don’t have Emoji.

3. #1. Put everything out of reach
Before you go to bed, put your phone, tablet,
books, and other stuff where you can’t reach it.
Tweeting, talking, and texting increase brain
activity, and that can make falling asleep harder.
You know how you can lean half of your body out of
bed and grab the cat or whatever? We’re addicted
to our gadgets, so make sure to put them father
than that -- just to avoid temptation.

4. #2. Stop looking at screens
Can’t sleep? #yougotthatiPhone5tho
That sweet Retina Display is keeping you awake:
LCDs and other electronics screens emit blue light.
Exposure to blue light is shown to increase
alertness, making it harder to sleep.
So don’t use your electronics in bed. Ideally, you
should stop using them an hour or two before you
want to sleep.

5. Power-User Tip
If you really want to reduce exposure to blue
light, f.lux is a great program for Mac and PC
that automatically changes the color
temperature of your screen. As the night
approaches, the program reduces the amount of
blue in your computer’s display.
Check f.lux out at http://stereopsis.com/flux/

6. #3. Eliminate noise
Put your phone on silent. Although a buzz may not wake you,
it can pull you out of the more restful states of sleep.
Besides, anyone texting you while you’re trying to sleep
probably lacks moral character anyway. Why sacrifice a night’s
rest for them?
If you’re really concerned about missing emergency calls,
Android and iOS each have apps or features that allow you
receive calls from loved ones even when all other notifications
are silenced (do a search for “Do Not Disturb” to find
instructions and alternatives).

7. #4. Remove that safety alarm
Many of us set multiple alarms in case we sleep in.
Don’t.
Set one alarm for the time you want to wake up,
then wake up once or not at all.
You don’t hit the restful stages of sleep if you’re
waking up periodically, so sleeping through an
alarm symphony isn’t getting you more rest anyway.

8. Sleep well.
@erikpavia