5 ways technology improved my sleep

Over at MyLifeScoop, I wrote a post about five ways I've used technology to improve my quality of sleep. Some are gadgets or apps to buy, but others don't involve purchasing anything, and one tip involves throwing away a gadget you probably already have.

We tend to think of gadgets, and technology, as stimulants: games, lights, and electric distractions that keep us awake, and push sleep away. That can be true, but technology can also help us obtain better sleep, and the benefits that go with it.

One of the items I mention here is the Phillips Wake-up Light, above:

An "Official Light Therapy Product of the National Sleep Foundation," this lamp with optional audio features (FM radio, or nature sounds) helps wake you up in a gentle way with gradually increasing light. The light gradually brightens over a period of 30 minutes before a time you set gently prepare your body to wake up.

Basically, it simulates the effect of sunrise on your circadian rhythms. Unlike other tools listed in this post, by the way–this one's good for people who are deaf, have limited hearing abilities, or are not as sensitive to audio stimuli as they are to visual stimuli.

Read the whole thing: 5 Tech Gadgets That Improved My Sleep

(MyLifeScoop is an Intel-sponsored site and a Boing Boing sponsor, they made no editorial changes and exerted no control over my post content).