A good night’s sleep can transform your day. You’re more alert, focused, energised.
Unfortunately, it can be hard to sleep well for a number of reasons. We’ve found the best gadgets to combat some of the aspects of domestic life which are preventing you from sleeping soundly.
Do you wake up in the middle the night because the neighbour’s dog is barking? Or maybe other people are night owls? Sometimes, listening to relaxing ambient sounds can help with this, but if you sleep with your partner in the bed or have other people in your home who are sensitive to noise as well, then it’s likely you have to sleep with headphones in — which can be uncomfortable, to say the least.
SleepPhones are fully padded with no earbuds so you won’t wake up with a sore ear. They help block out other external noises and utilise Bluetooth technology so you won’t get tangled up in cords while you toss and turn in bed.
Are you one of those people who doesn’t want to fully automate their home but finds some aspects of devices like Alexa and Amazon Echo attractive? If so, then the TP-Link Smart Plug is for you. It’s affordable and easy to use. The Smart Plug uses your existing home WiFi network to provide wireless control of lamps, fans, heaters, and more — so you don’t have to get out of bed just as your about to fall asleep because you forgot to turn your heating or cooling system off.
Lighting is another factor which affects the quality of sleep you get, so it’s important to lower the ambience brightness in your room as you near bedtime. To avoid using any bright lows, invest in Philips Hue smart light bulbs. You can configure your bedroom bulbs to emit a dimmer light for when you’re getting ready for bed, and even use a setting on the app to time them so they get brighter closer to your wake-up time.
The sleep experts say meditation is a useful technique to help your mind slow down but sometimes, meditating can be too hard — especially if your brain is alert and racing. It flashes a very low-intensity blue light on the ceiling and as the circle of light expands, you breathe in until it starts to retract, then you breathe out. At the end of the exercises (you can do an 8-minute or a 20-minute set), Dodow switches itself off. And you’ll be in the ideal body state to fall asleep naturally.
Temperature is one of the main factors responsible for regulating our circadian rhythm and in order to get a good night’s sleep, your body temperature needs to drop at night. Moona (as shown above), a French e-health startup, uses smart technology to help regulate your body temperature throughout the night. Moona’s main component, the bedside device, is connected via a circulation tube to the pillow pad — which can easily be inserted into any pillowcase — and it tracks light levels, humidity and room temperature.