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mattbell I posted earlier about my experimentation with blue-blocking glasses to help improve my sleep. I ended up not enjoying the experience of wearing the glasses, but I realized that I could achieve similar results by setting up red and orange colored night lights in my house. This was especially nice to add to my bathroom, as it now allows me to use the bathroom in the middle of the night without forcing myself awake again with bright white lights. You can get these lights for cheap ($5) at Home Depot.
While this took care of the ambient room light, it didn't take care of the bright white of my computer screen. For that I used f.lux, which reduced the blue light coming from the screen. I used f.lux on the strongest setting (Tungsten lighting) and I was surprised by how quickly my brain's white balance adjusted to the new color, especially when the surrounding room lights were red and orange.
This combination of colored room lights and f.lux seemed to work well at helping me get to bed, but not quite as well as wearing the blue-blocking glasses.
However, based on a couple of weeks of data (which admittedly isn't much), the partial blue blocking setup using the colored lights and f.lux starting 2-3 hours before bedtime did not substantially affect my sleep latency -- it averaged 19min instead of 23min. What did change substantially was my bedtime. I found I shifted to going to bed an average of 28 minutes earlier and waking up an average of 5 minutes earlier. The results actually seemed much bigger until I realized I had seasonal fluctuations in bedtime, so I went back and compared only with data from February, which had a similar day length. I'm getting more sleep and feeling more well rested, which is good.
Now I'm going to play with Nocturne, a program that gives me much more full control of screen brightness and appearance than f.lux. Nocturne lets me set my display's entire color space, invert white to black, and do lots of other tricky things. So far the best compromise between minimal blue light and maximum readability I've found is to just use the "monochrome" and "tint colors" settings on Nocturne, with the "white" color set to pure red and "black" set to black. It's not the sort of thing I'd want to use for photo editing, but it works fine for working with text and some web browsing. I'll report back in a couple of weeks on how that goes.
--
At some point I'm not sure mow much more sleep self-experimentation is worth it. I do know I still move a lot more than the average sleeper, I'd like to get rid of my remaining mild snoring, and I'd like to improve my recovery time on days when I have to get up extra early, but I don't know how much improvement to my waking life I'll get from further changes. For now I'll keep gathering data, since the cost to do so from a time perspective is very low.
It would be nice to declare some sort of victory at some point, but this is one of those infinite games where improvements may continue but the margins will diminish, and true value lies in correctly answering the question of when it's no longer worth the trouble to try to improve further.
While this took care of the ambient room light, it didn't take care of the bright white of my computer screen. For that I used f.lux, which reduced the blue light coming from the screen. I used f.lux on the strongest setting (Tungsten lighting) and I was surprised by how quickly my brain's white balance adjusted to the new color, especially when the surrounding room lights were red and orange.
This combination of colored room lights and f.lux seemed to work well at helping me get to bed, but not quite as well as wearing the blue-blocking glasses.
However, based on a couple of weeks of data (which admittedly isn't much), the partial blue blocking setup using the colored lights and f.lux starting 2-3 hours before bedtime did not substantially affect my sleep latency -- it averaged 19min instead of 23min. What did change substantially was my bedtime. I found I shifted to going to bed an average of 28 minutes earlier and waking up an average of 5 minutes earlier. The results actually seemed much bigger until I realized I had seasonal fluctuations in bedtime, so I went back and compared only with data from February, which had a similar day length. I'm getting more sleep and feeling more well rested, which is good.
Now I'm going to play with Nocturne, a program that gives me much more full control of screen brightness and appearance than f.lux. Nocturne lets me set my display's entire color space, invert white to black, and do lots of other tricky things. So far the best compromise between minimal blue light and maximum readability I've found is to just use the "monochrome" and "tint colors" settings on Nocturne, with the "white" color set to pure red and "black" set to black. It's not the sort of thing I'd want to use for photo editing, but it works fine for working with text and some web browsing. I'll report back in a couple of weeks on how that goes.
--
At some point I'm not sure mow much more sleep self-experimentation is worth it. I do know I still move a lot more than the average sleeper, I'd like to get rid of my remaining mild snoring, and I'd like to improve my recovery time on days when I have to get up extra early, but I don't know how much improvement to my waking life I'll get from further changes. For now I'll keep gathering data, since the cost to do so from a time perspective is very low.
It would be nice to declare some sort of victory at some point, but this is one of those infinite games where improvements may continue but the margins will diminish, and true value lies in correctly answering the question of when it's no longer worth the trouble to try to improve further.
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Another option...
Date: 2010-12-06 07:04 am (UTC)I'm envious of your 19min sleep latency...
Re: Another option...
Date: 2010-12-06 07:13 am (UTC)Also, getting to 19 minutes took a hell of a lot of hard work and experimentation. I used to average around 60.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 07:38 am (UTC)If you're able, candles produce a very nice yellow light for nocturnal illumination and are quite relaxing as well.
Have you seen this?
http://sleepyti.me/
no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 07:50 am (UTC)Candles are nice to use from time to time and I very much like the visual appeal created by their slight flicker, but they do set things on fire if tipped so they require constant attention. I'm amazed society made do with them as primary illumination up until the early 1900s. :-) The stories about the first electric streetlights and how everyone was blown away by their brightness are fascinating.
As for sleepyti.me, I don't think people's sleep cycles and sleep latencies are accurate enough to make the times it suggests very useful. Most of the sleep tracking devices offer adaptive alarms, which are better at accomplishing the same goal.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 12:58 am (UTC)Anyway, thanks for sharing. I should get some of those other types of lights for the evening/night as well. I do use a go-lite during the day, but that's really for an opposite purpose. :)
You mentioned trying to reduce your snoring -- have you done any research on this or made any progress here? I ask because my partner is a horrid snorer, and despite using a white noise machine, 33db ear plugs, and putting a pillow in-between us, my sleep is still frequently disrupted by the low repetitive noise.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 01:14 am (UTC)If the snoring is due to narrow nasal passages or excess weight, then the options for your partner are
- Try a dental appliance that moves the lower jaw forward (kind of uncomfortable)
- Lose weight, if it's weight-related
- Get surgery, which is crazy expensive and has a long recovery time
The snoring may also be currently exacerbated by
- Drinking alcohol late at night
- Taking Benadryl or other over-the-counter sleeping pills with Diphenhydramine HCl
One other option is simply to sleep in a different room. You can cuddle together for a while and then go off to a bed somewhere else. I know it's not romantic, but it will make you more alert and engaged, and therefore a better partner during the day, and that tradeoff is one that's totally worth making if you have a spare room.
I tend to use melatonin on nights when my mind won't stop. If I'm not asleep within 45 min or so, I take one. It might be a good thing to do if you reach the end of the magic window and you're still awake.
Good luck!
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 10:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-08 06:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-08 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-08 10:42 pm (UTC)2700k
Date: 2010-12-08 04:34 pm (UTC)After reading this I'm wondering now if there might be a wired-in aversion to blue light in the evenings because of this sleep related effect. Maybe spectrum adjustable LED lighting is more useful than I thought...
Re: 2700k
Date: 2010-12-08 06:08 pm (UTC)I certainly really enjoy having orange lighting in my house in the evenings.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 03:19 am (UTC)On the snoring tip, I snore due to a deviated septum. My left nostril is more narrow than the right, which causes breathing issues. I have had some success with the BreatheRight strips, but it isn't 100% effective. The more powerful style of the strips works good, I do notice I breathe much easier at night, and can tell a huge difference when I take them off (like I feel like my oxygen intake is decreased by 25%)
no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 03:45 am (UTC)http://michelf.com/projects/black-light/
no subject
Date: 2010-12-15 03:55 am (UTC)