The Disconnected Bedroom

Kind of off topic but I did some thing years ago that worked great for sleep.

I had a tropical fish tank, kinda large few metres long. I can sleep quite soundly to the sound of running water, intact I find it relaxing. I have bad tinitus from being in rocks bands and concerts when I was younger, so they water masks the ringing.

Anyway I decided to black out my room similar to the article, took everything out, replaced my curtains so no light got in my room at all. I then created an artificial sunrise.

At 6:30am every morning the sun would rise in my room, over the course of 30 minutes it would get brighter and brighter. The sun of cause was the UV lights on the fish tank, but instead of just switching on I set them to slowly increase in brightness over 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes a room lamp came on, and then music started playing on my radio, 15 minutes later the dreaded alarm went off.

Before I set this up I couldn't wake unto even to my alarm, I would literally sleep through it. After I set up the artificial sun rise I started waking before the radio started playing.

If there's one thing that is guaranteed to keep me awake its a good book. Screw checking email... just one more chapter.

Author needs to do some more research into what's already possible with Android. I use "Llama" on my Android phone:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kebab.Llama&fe...

I've configured it to detect when I'm at home and put the phone into silent mode if it's between 11pm and 8am.

This is actually something I thought about last night. There's a television in my bedroom, and depending on how tired I am, I'll also have my laptop and a cell phone. Although I use my phone primarily for an alarm clock, I do find times where I wake up and can't fall back asleep, so I pick up my phone and play with a few apps. It's strange because my body feels like it should be asleep, but I force it to stay awake to read a blog post or a few more tweets. Obviously not good. I do like the idea of a "limitation app" that would prevent things like certain phone numbers calling or limiting emails till the morning, but without a jailbreak I'm guessing that's fairly impossible. If not, though, that's something I'd buy in a heartbeat.

Tasker for Android can do all of the things mentioned in the post to create a "bedroom mode", plus much, much more: http://tasker.dinglisch.net/index.html (on Android market too but the direct version is cheaper)

It's like a GUI scripting engine for your phone. Very similar to Locale, but you don't have to pony up for extra plugins to do fancy stuff. Well worth the asking price.

Personally I find books are just as capable of engagement as TV or the internet, and I actually have an iPad in my bedroom for the same logic as jgc has a kindle.

On it I have TV shows that I've seen many times (a few favourites such as The West Wing), to the point that I still enjoy watching them, but at the same time know what is about to happen. These are great for getting me to sleep, and because I'm not having to actively concentrate on what I'm reading, I can fall asleep as soon as I'm ready to, while the iPad plays on in the background - unlike a book, where I have to actively decide when to make the switch from reading to sleeping.

Excellent post. I did this recently when I redecorated my room. It used to be filled with all manner of electronic gadgetry - there was a computer, an FM radio, a DAB radio, mobile phone chargers protruding from every wall, it was like sleeping in a Best Buy. The only thing I've never had in there is a TV.

Since I redecorated, there's been just one clock radio by my bedside, with an auto-dimming soft blue display (Pure Siesta[1], if anyone's interested, highly recommended) and a charger for my Android phone, plugged in out of reach of my bed to avoid the temptation to check emails, websites, Twitter etc in bed. (Incidentally, I've also self-banned the radio station I work for from my bedroom. Too much temptation to tune in, check what's being broadcast, and being woken up by the voice of a co-worker is vaguely creepy. I always listen to other stations in bed.)

I'd highly recommend doing it, if you have another room to put your electronics. Lots of things on standby can create noise, flashing lights, glowing LEDs, mains hum, and it's not conducive to a good sleeping environment. A quiet space, disconnected from the distractions of the outside world, is essential for relaxation.

[1] http://www.pure.com/products/product.asp?Product=VL-60907...

I've had a strict disconnected bedroom policy for a long time. I even make sure the digital clock which wakes me up is the soft red LDC type, not the green or blue types, the light of their displays is so bright you can almost read by it.

But I've recently put something next to my bed which has ruined my sleep schedule. What? Books. Plain paper books. I blame it all on George R. R. Martin.

I don't get it, why not shut turn off the phone? Why keep it turned on all night? I've never had an Android (nor iPhone), but on my S60 I just set the alarm and turn it off. Checking the emails before sleeping would require turning it on, inputting the PIN, connecting, etc.

A picky point (I like a lot of what the author had to say) is:

The idea of a TV, as we understood it in the 70s - 90s, is kinda dead. Now, to say there is no TV in the house is the same as saying there is no internet (used only for entertainment) in the house.

On my Android phone I use that:

https://market.android.com/details?id=net.geekherd.bedsidepr...

It let you disable all notifications, dim the screen and customize the alarm clock style.

You can also set a white list for incoming SMS and/or phone call.

It's a replacement for the "docking" application, so it is enabled as soon as I put it on the docking station next to my bed.