TECH BYTE: Use Your Smartphone to Help You Sleep Better
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Daylight Saving might be out of the way, but many of us are still having trouble adjusting to the time change.
The good news is we can use tech to help us get some better sleep.
The sun rises earlier in the morning, and sets earlier at night – wreaking havoc on our sleep cycle.
Most of us have smartphones, so why not use them to help us adjust better to the time change?
AT&T’s Laurie Starcher says she uses her phone for sleep reminders each night. It’s the iPhone’s sleep mode feature.
“I have my alarm set for my schedule for the entire week, so I don’t even need to think about it,” Starcher said. “My phone already does it for me, and in about 30 minutes prior to when it tells me I need to go to bed, which is in about eight hours prior to when I need to wake up from my alarm, it gives me a reminder, ‘Hey it’s time to calm down. It’s time to kind of get in that sleep mode.’ So it’s a really nice reminder like, hey if I want to get that seven, eight hours of sleep that I know I need to be my best self the next day, it’s kind of time to start winding down.”
Starcher says apps like Headspace and Calm can help you get those extra ZZZs too.
“Both of those apps are really great for meditation for that kind of white noise sound that can really help ease you into sleep mode, and really kind of help you get to sleep a lot easier and faster.”
With those types of apps, and even a special feature in your iPhone’s settings, there’s no need to have a white noise machine anymore if you want some background noise.
If you have an iPhone, go to Settings, Accessibility, Audio/Visual, then Background Sounds.
If you can’t find it in your settings, make sure your phone is updated.
You can choose from several different sounds – from balanced noise, to rain and the ocean.
“I know there’s a lot of travelers out there for work,” Starcher said. “It’s almost like you have that with you anywhere you go, so if you’re in a hotel, or you’re traveling for Thanksgiving for family, you have that available right on your phone.”
Starcher says other apps that work with smart lightbulbs and other devices can also improve your sleep.
“That is setting up your lights, setting up your thermometer, and even setting up your TV to be able to be turned off right from your phone,” she said. “So if you’re in bed, and you forgot that light that was all the way down in the other hallway, rather than getting up and kind of disturbing your calmness, you can go right from your phone and turn it off.”
You can buy those smart devices at AT&T, along with any home improvement and electronics stores.
