Can Technology Improve Your Sleep? Discover the Science Behind the Gadgets Helping You Rest Better

Can Sleep Be Improved by Technology?

The fact that technology keeps us up at night is well known. Come on, be honest. It's the incessant tapping of displays with alerts when we need to be sleeping, the constant scrolling on our phones, or the binge-watching into the small hours. But I'm here to tell you that maybe technology will help us sleep better. Hold on--don't ditch your phone just yet!

Can Your Gadgets Help You Sleep?

We've all heard how screens interfere with our sleep; here's the flip side.. From apps tracking sleep to smart mattresses, technology is finding its way in as the new sleep coach. These devices are promising that they would monitor your pattern, regulate the environment of your bedroom, and even give you more personalized insights. But does it indeed help you get a good night's sleep, or is it just another gimmick?

The Emergence of Sleep Technology: It Is Beyond Apps in Your Mobile Device

The tech world replied to the sleep issues that people were suffering from with far more than sleep-tracking apps. There are smart pillows that adjust for comfort, mattresses with cooling features to help regulate body temperature, and white noise machines that will drown out noisy sounds. Companies are even designing wearables that nudge you into sleep-friendly habits. Who would have thought a bracelet could improve snooze?

But wait, there's more: some devices monitor your sleep stages—REM, deep, light—and that allows you to get the data you might need to understand why you're waking up tired, even after 8 hours of rest. That data can then be used to tinker with your sleep habits, such as adjusting bedtime routines or fewer cups of evening caffeine.

The Apps that Keep You on Track

From guided meditation apps to sleep stories intended to put you in a deep slumber, there's now an app for almost everything. Apps such as Calm and Headspace allow you to de-stress, and there are others, including Sleep Cycle, that track your sleep stages and wake you up at the perfect time so you wake feeling refreshed rather than groggy.

If you ever had a few sleepless nights, then you probably heard, "Stop staring at screens before bed." Well, here is the thing; now technology found ways to fix that. With the blue light filters on your devices, you can even out the impact screen time has on your natural rhythms of sleep. It's like technology is fighting back against us!

A Little Fun: Tech's Sleep Struggles

You probably think it's pretty funny that the very things that kept us up late in the first place--scrolling, texting, watching--are now there trying to make amends and improve our sleep. Consider this: Your phone could say, "I've kept you up for years, let me fix that." Not really funny, right? It's nearly like technology is apologizing for wrecking our sleep and now trying to make up for it.

Additional tips to better sleep

1. Smart Lighting for Better Sleep: Sleep Smarter Use intelligent lighting that emulates daylight. These adjust brightness and color temperature to benefit your body's circadian rhythm. For example, when it is the end of the day and needs dim, warm lights to start asking your brain to consider winding down and that it's ready for sleep.

2. White Noise Machine or App: White noise machines can block disruptive noise that may wake you in the middle of the night. Most white noise machines come with an app, which one can use to select the kind of sound (ocean waves, rain, or simply static), among others. This can better be gotten into sleep, considering you will be living in a noisy environment.

The Big Question: Is It Really Helping?

Can these innovations really make a difference in how you sleep? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Tech can do a great deal of the heavy lifting, providing valuable insights and quick fixes, but, at its core, it will never replace building healthy sleep habits: curtailing late-night screen time, maintaining a bedtime routine, and effectively managing stress. But when you're working together with technology, getting better sleep certainly gets a lot easier.