Sleep Naked…and Other Cheap and Easy Hacks for Better Sleep
Many people spend hundreds — even thousands — of dollars in search of a good night’s sleep.
Fitness/sleep tracking devices can cost as much as smart phones these days.
A years worth of sleep enhancing supplements, which may or may not work, can total up to even more than an Oura ring, Fitbit, or some other sleep tracker.
Then you add the cost of books about how to fight insomnia and improve your sleep.
Perhaps these expenses are worth it for some people, but they are far from necessary.
The truth is you can hack the ever-living hell out of your sleep for next to nothing.
Although I could list and describe dozens of hacking tips that would fill an entire book, I’m going to devote this article to the five hacks that have helped me the most, all the while leaving my credit card balance minimally impacted.
Most of these won’t cost you a penny; the others will cost under $20.
#1 : Get Cheap Blue Blocking Glasses
Although you will see fancy blue light blocking glasses being sold for upwards of $100, you can actually own a pair of the most effective blue light blockers for under $15.
Consumer Reports tested a wide variety of blue light blocking glasses in 2016 and found that the Uvex brand produced some of the most effective glasses for blocking out blue light.
These glasses can be found online in the $10–15 range and out perform most of the more expensive ones.
If you’re not a fan of wearing glasses to watch TV or use a smartphone, tablet, or computer, then you can opt for other strategies.
Macbooks have a feature called Night Shift mode which allows you to reduce blue light through a software based solution. In addition there are a variety of other free and paid apps that can reduce blue light from screens.
2. Distance Yourself From Your Wireless Technology
Even if you use blue light blocking glasses or software to reduce your exposure to blue light, it’s important to take one more step at night when it comes to your electronic devices.
When the day is done and you are through using your cellular and wifi devices, make sure to either turn them off or keep them far enough away from you while you sleep.
The electromagnetic radiation put off by electronic devices and wireless routers can have a profound effect on our sleep.
So what can be done to remedy this?
Tablets and laptops can be placed in another room of your house, any room other than your bedroom.
Cell/smart phones should, at the very least, be kept as far away from your body as you sleep. If you must sleep with the phone in your bedroom, place it at the other side of the room. Never sleep with the phone in the bed or too close to you on a bedside table.
If you’re only reason for having the phone in the bedroom is because you use it as an alarm, choose to get a cheap old-school digital alarm clock. These can be had for $10–15 and allow you to keep the phone in another location of the house.
3. Turn Off Wireless Routers
Another useful strategy is to turn off any wireless routers in your house when you’re noticing them, especially at night when you go to bed. Most routers can be either turned off manually by hitting the power button, or by setting a schedule in the software that will automatically turn the router off and on at certain times.
There’s usually no reason to have a wireless router on during the night. Even though you are not using the internet while you sleep, your digital devices are constantly interacting with the router, downloading updates and sending data packets back and forth. These are actions that are now fast enough to be done during the day when you’re not trying to sleep.
4. Reduce or Eliminate Digital Books
Digital books and magazines can be convenient. They are available instantly and in a higher resolution than their print counterparts. You can also carry a massive library on a small device like a smart phone or tablet.
They can be problematic, however.
Staring at digital devices for long periods of time can cause eyestrain. And as we discussed earlier, our digital devices produce blue light that can interfere with our sleep.
Strangely enough, there is often very little difference in price between physical print books and their digital versions. E-books usually start around $10 — unless they’re on sale — and can go up to the $15–20 range. You might as well get the print version which will be better for your sleep and your eye health.
If you are concerned about the environmental impact of buying printed books, then you can always recycle, pass books along to friends, or donate them to libraries when you are done.
5. Take off all your clothes and jump in the bed.
Sleeping naked not only feels better, but it can also help your body regulate its temperature more optimally. The body can maintain a cooler core temperature in the absence of clothes.
Not everyone can (or will want to) sleep nude, but if you can and are comfortable with the idea of it, then your sleep may be significantly improved.
If the idea of sleeping completely naked isn’t for you, then you can always opt for minimal clothing.
Simply sleeping topless can have a big impact on sleep quality. You can also opt for pajamas that are designed to be soft and thin, giving you some of the benefits of nude sleep without having to completely ditch clothing.
Try One (or Try Them All)
Pick and choose the techniques that appeal to you most and give them a try. Considering their minimal costs and ease of implementation, there’s nothing to lose and a lot to gain.
