Technology has a bad reputation for interfering with your sleep quality. While this may be true when it comes to excessive TV, computer, and phone screen time before bed, technology can also be used to improve your overall sleep quality if you know how to apply it effectively. This article explores 7 positive ways that technology can support better sleep quality so you can start using it to your advantage.
Table of Contents
Technology can improve sleep quality
1: Manipulate the lighting
Similarly to how bright light can stimulate and keep you awake, manipulating light in your favour can help you wind down and fall asleep faster when the time comes. This could include anything from a lamp with a dimming function, light therapy glasses that aim to keep your circadian rhythm in check, or even a light that imitates a calming breathing pattern.
2: Temperature
The temperature of your bedroom can easily disrupt your sleep. Whether your room is too hot or too cold, technology can help in a variety of ways. Cooling and heating bed pads, stand-alone room heaters, swamp coolers, and cooling fans can all help you create the optimal temperature for sleep regardless of the climate or season.
3: Purify the air
Steady, unstrained breathing helps you sleep restfully. That’s why people who snore often toss and turn at night, resulting in poorer sleep quality. An air purifier or dehumidifier in your bedroom could help you sleep better by cleaning the air, balancing the moisture level, and helping you breathe easier while you sleep.
4: Introduce ambient noise
Ambient sound in your bedroom can create a soothing effect for many sleepers. Constant white noise can make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep, especially if it drowns out the environmental noises. Technology can help create white noise with a fan or a sound machine. Many sound machines can easily be downloaded on your smartphone for free but they are also available as stand-alone products.
5: Block out environmental noise
Instead of just covering environmental noises, you could try blocking them out with a pair of noise-canceling headphones. While it may be hard to get used to sleeping with a pair of bulky headphones on at first, high-tech headphones will do a better job than the simple introduction of white noise for many people. If it is particularly loud where you live, or white noise just isn’t simple enough of a distraction, try canceling the noise out instead.
6: Track your sleep quality
Sleep trackers are rapidly growing in popularity because of how versatile and comprehensive they have become. A sleep tracker can not only track your sleep cycles, but it can also remind you to be more active throughout the day which aids in sleep, and some even have a silent, vibrating alarm that enables a calm wake up call that is less jarring than a loud alarm clock.
7: Introduce calming scents
You can also enhance your sleep by introducing calming scents like lavender into your nightly routine that have been known to increase relaxation. This can be achieved in many different ways but technology does it best in an oil diffuser or dehumidifier that allows you to customize its speed and flow.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many positive ways technology can help support better sleep. Although technology is often known for doing the opposite, this is only true if you don’t manipulate it to work in your favour. Try some of our recommended techniques to find out which work best for you and your sleep needs.
