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? Welcome to Day 28 of the Challenger’s Journey!
Each day for 8 weeks we’re going to help you think, eat, move, or sleep better.
- ? Each week we will be focusing on 1 of the 4 pillars at a time.
- ? Each day we will challenge you to take action with a daily mission that you need to complete.
Here’s a quick snapshot of what Week 4 looks like:
Today’s ? Mission:
This is what you need to do in order to successfully complete today’s challenge mission.
- ✅ Install F.Lux on your PC / Adjust the brightness on your phone.
- ✅ Write down, in your Sleep Journal, all the sources of blue light (or just bright light) that you are usually exposed to in the evenings and before going to bed.
- ? [OPTIONAL] Share with us what you think about light affecting your sleep in the Sleekgeek Facebook Group.
- ? Complete the form at the bottom of the page when done.
⚠️ Click here if you need a reminder about how this challenge works and what the rules are.
More ? Info:
A hormone called melatonin plays a very important role in regulating our internal sleep-wake clock called the circadian rhythm.
When we are exposed to bright light (particularly blue light from electronics, LED bulbs, the sky, etc) our brains interpret it to mean that it’s daytime so melatonin production gets suppressed.
Some people are more sensitive to this than others, but in general light exposure can affect both the quality and quantity of our sleep.
During the day, it’s good. During the evening, it’s not so good.
Blue light disrupts your sleep
Light exposure in the evenings suppresses melatonin production and so it becomes harder and takes longer for us to fall asleep.
More specifically, blue light in particular (from televisions, LED bulbs, cellphones, tablets, etc) causes the biggest disruption to your sleep cycle.
You can read more about how blue light negatively affects your sleep over here.
However, all you really need to know for now is that one of the easiest steps that you can take to “design your environment” is to reduce the amount of blue light that you are exposed to from electronic devices like your PC or cellphone.
Just get F.Lux
F.Lux is a simple program that you install on your computer and it automatically adjusts the colour and brightness of your screen based on your timezone.
During the day, it makes your screen nice and bright, with lots of blue light to make you feel alert and productive.
Then, as the sun sets, it dims your screen and makes it less harsh to look at by taking out the blue light, giving it a faint orange hue. Other than improving your sleep cycle, it also helps to reduce eye strain at night.
Again, you can download F.Lux here.
If you ever find it interfering with your work during the day (maybe you’re in graphic design and need more accurate colours shown on your screen, you can simply right click the F.Lux icon on your taskbar and select “Disable”.
What about your cellphone / tablet?
iOS devices have a feature called “Night Shift”.
and Android devices have a feature called “Night Mode”.
Both of these features do a similar thing to F.Lux. At night, they automatically adjust the colours of your cellphone or tablet display to the warmer end of the spectrum, making it easier on the eyes and reducing the amount of blue light that it emits.
Want to take it a step further?
If you find that installing F.Lux and adjusting the brightness on your phone makes a BIG difference to your sleep, you do have the option of taking things a step further…
You can buy “Blue Light Blocking Glasses” on Amazon to wear after sunset until bedtime which will help to reduce incoming blue light from other sources that you don’t have as much control over (such as ceiling lights, television screens, bedside lambs, and so on).
You may want to check with your significant other first as they can look pretty dorky and you might be sleeping on the couch (which will definitely not be good for your sleep!).
Bonus Points:
On the opposite end of the spectrum to this, making an effect to get some bright light exposure in the morning can have massive benefits too.
It helps to reinforce that it’s now “morning” and time to wake up and be alert.
Today’s ? Mission:
This is what you need to do in order to successfully complete today’s challenge mission.
- ✅ Install F.Lux on your PC / Adjust the brightness on your phone.
- ✅ Write down, in your Sleep Journal, all the sources of blue light (or just bright light) that you are usually exposed to in the evenings and before going to bed.
- ? [OPTIONAL] Share with us what you think about light affecting your sleep in the Sleekgeek Facebook Group.
- ? Complete the form at the bottom of the page when done.
⚠️ Click here if you need a reminder about how this challenge works and what the rules are.
Mission Accomplished?
Fill in the form below once you’re done so that we can keep track of your progress.
We’ll be awarding spot prizes to deserving challengers as they progress along the Challenger’s Journey.
