By all accounts, sleep plays a critical role in a person’s overall health and well-being. But modern technology makes it way too easy to stay up later than you should, scrolling through Twitter, watching YouTube or Netflix, and responding to “urgent” messages. And for a lot of people, our smartphones are the first things we pick up when we wake up in the morning.
So how plausible is it that technology – wrist wearables, mattress sensors, and apps – could also help us get more sleep? Or better quality sleep? Is the trick to better sleep just removing technology from the bedroom altogether? On this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, Mike, Arielle, and Lauren discuss their sleep habits and offer tips for creating a better sleep environment.
Recommendations this week: Lauren recommends this article by WIRED reporting fellow Pia Ceres: How to Get the Most Out of Gmail’s New Features. (If your first instinct is to freak out when an oft-used app gets a redesign, this article will help with that). Arielle recommends the HBO series “Sharp Objects,” starring Amy Adams and based on the novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn. Mike, in keeping with the sleep theme, recommends Max Richter’s “Sleep” song, an eight-hour lullaby that was composed with the stages and rhythms of sleep in mind.
