The No. 1 Sleep Mistake You‘re Making (Plus the Cure That Will Make You Look Like a Freak)

I look like a damn freak!

E V E R Y   N I G H T . . .

And I do so in order to fall asleep easier and faster… much easier and much faster!

Basically, I fall asleep as quickly as Sheldon Cooper when Penny sings the Soft Kitty Song or as quickly as men after sex…

So, I look like a freak but I fall asleep fast like after sex. Fair deal, right?

Anyway, this article is for YOU if you have TROUBLE falling asleep at night and/or if you don’t sleep as well as you wished.

The cool thing is:

It’s most certainly not your fault if you have trouble falling asleep. AND you can definitely do something about it.

Let’s find out!

This Is Just SICK…

WE ARE FCKING ADDICTS!

We stick to our cell phone like it was our engagement ring… We take it everywhere and check it ALL THE TIME.

We can’t even go for a pee without it… No, even worse, we have to check Facebook, send a snap, and play Clash of Clans on the pot… How sick is that?

Anyway, I’m not here to tell you that the use of cell phones is out of control. I just want to share with you a reason why you have trouble falling asleep.

And the cell phone is a biggy.

Let me explain.

Your cell phone, tablet, TV, laptop, or other electronic devices give off blue light…

And that kills your sleep.

Why Blue Light KILLS Your Sleep

Yes.

The usage of any electronic device that has an illuminated screen before bed makes it more difficult to fall asleep. And it makes you sleep worse. [1] [2]

Bummer!

This has to do with the exposure to short wavelength blue light – given off by the electronic devices.

Now, the blue light at night fools your body into thinking that it’s still daytime – time to be awake and alert. Blue light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep and sleep well.

Funny story… I stumbled upon this article that concluded that blue light is as effective as coffee at improving night drivers’ alertness. What makes this kind of funny is that WE DO THAT EVERY NIGHT IN BED… using blue light to keep us awake. Just unknowingly by staring into our cell phones, tablets etc.

The point is: Blue light at night keeps us from falling asleep and sleeping well.

“But there’s also blue light in sunlight.”

Correct, DURING THE DAY.

But not at 10 p.m. in your room 4 inches away from your eyes…

By the way, the blue light in sunlight is essential during the day. It helps us stay awake and alert.

Again, artificial blue light after sunset kills our sleep.

“Okay. So, cell phones keep us awake. What about room lighting?”

Good question.

Room lighting ALSO impacts our sleep just like cell phones do. [3]

Think about it… It’s dark outside. The sun set 2 hours ago. And we light up our room bright as a summer day… What does this tell our bodies?

This tells our bodies “Hey, it’s daytime. Not time for bed yet.” And this will definitely impact our sleep. [4]

(By the way, this is solid research from numerous studies.)

Okay:

So, what’s the remedy?

Here’s the Remedy: Fight the Light at Night

That rhyme helped me massively with my sleep.

It makes total sense: When the sun goes down it naturally gets dark… but we humans turn on the lights to make it bright as a spring day. Then we wonder why we can’t fall asleep…

By making bright light we’re telling our bodies “Hey, it’s still daytime. Not time for bed yet.” So our body does not prepare for sleeping which makes it hard to fall asleep when we finally turn off the lights.

Or how entrepreneur, weightlifter, and travel photographer, James Clear, puts it: “Staring into a bright light for 30 minutes or so can often reset your circadian rhythm regardless of what time of day it is.”

When your body resets your circadian rhythm then it loses time orientation like when you ride a playground merry-go-round and you lose orientation (ant want to vomit)…

So, here’s the straightforward remedy against room light stopping you from sleeping like a baby:

So, fight bright room light at night.

“What about the usage of electronic devices?”

For perfect sleep: Trash your cell phone.

For almost perfect sleep: Use smart applications.

Let me explain.

(NOTE: Do you want to fall asleep within a few minutes every night? Use this checklist which outlines the 4 steps I personally use. You can get it for free here.)

How a Red Screen Saves Your Sleep LIFE

We said that blue light kills your sleep.

Well, red light doesn’t.

There are smartphone APPS that filter out the sleep damaging blue light.

And if you filter out the blue light, everything turns reddish…

These applications don’t do anything during daylight hours but after sunset they gradually change the color temperature of your screen. They filter out the blue light and make your screen RED.

So everything has a red hue… Nothing that stops you from using it, right?

Using such an application will improve your sleep immensely.

I personally use Twilight. This app works really well and I can easily pause it whenever I want – to take a picture for example. And I’m no tech geek at all, it’s super simple to use. Just install it and that’s it.

This will have an immediate effect on your sleep…

So, before you read on: Download Twilight or another blue light filtering app RIGHT NOW!

Done?

Great!

Do you also use your laptop or computer after dark?

Yes? Well then it’s time to install f.lux on your computer. That’s the equivalent to the Twilight app for your computer.

It only takes seconds to install.

…

What are you waiting for? Install f.lux!

There are only 2 reasons why you wouldn’t install these two applications:

Do you fall in one of those categories?

No? --> Install Twilight and f.lux (they’re FREE).

Smart choice.

But there’s more…

Why I Look Like a FREAK after Dark

No, it’s not because of my face. Haha.

It’s because I wear blue light filtering glasses.

The ones I have are NOT stylish at all… Or what do you think?

Anyway, why do I wear those glasses?

Simply because they BLOCK THE BLUE LIGHT so my body doesn’t think it’s still daytime. So my body releases melatonin, which helps me sleep.

Studies show that when people wear such blue light filtering goggles in bright rooms they produce as much melatonin as if it was dark. This goes hand in hand with a better sleep quality, and that’s what we’re after, right? [5] [6] [7]

In another study they tested people’s melatonin levels in the evening during 3 different conditions:

Image stolen from this study.

The results show that bright light completely suppressed melatonin production…

Dim light and bright light with the blue light filtering goggles did NOT suppress melatonin production.

In short: Blue light filtering glasses increase melatonin production in the evening which will improve your sleep.

Cool, right?

So, either you dim all your lights in the evening or you wear such goggles.

The latter is much, much easier. Especially if you want to watch TV…

Alright, time for YOU to look like a freak.

You can buy the goggles for under 10 bucks on amazon. If you wear eyeglasses, you need this pair.

(If you want more stylish ones, check these out.)

Wearing those goggles is a MASSIVE sleep hack.

And it’s SOO DAMN EASY that you won’t find any good excuses…

So, go for it!

It’s completely worth it.

To Sum Up

My blue blockers. You can get them here on amazon.

The worst thing you can do before bed is to stare at a bright screen.

The second worst thing is to light up your room bright as a spring day…

This all has to do with the effects of blue light. In short: Blue light suppresses your melatonin production which in turn holds you back from a good night’s sleep.

So, here are the 3 easy remedies:

That’s it.

Make sure you do those 3 remedies and you’ll fall asleep faster and sleep better. It’s really that easy.

Try it out and let me know how it worked.

Thank you.

(NOTE: Do you want to fall asleep within a few minutes every night? Use this checklist which outlines the 4 steps I personally use. You can get it for free here.)