

The Disconnected Bedroom - jgrahamc
http://blog.jgc.org/2011/09/disconnected-bedroom.html

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rjd
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.

~~~
simondlr
How did you automate all of this? Would love to know!

~~~
Bostwick
I bought a sunrise alarm clock [1] to do something similar to this. It's not
nearly as fancy as rjd's setup, but it works really well for me. I put
blackout curtains on the windows in my room. I usually wake up at 7, so I'll
set the clock to reach full brightness at 6:50, and then the alarm on my cell
phone goes off at 7. It works really well, especially in winter.

[1]
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00196LFGW/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00196LFGW/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-
top-
stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000T3Y2RA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=11T1K443CJSQH4HE4SZ7)

~~~
chadgeidel
Does that clock get pretty "bright"? Does it light up the whole room? For
comparison - my bedroom is about 170 sq ft.

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

~~~
yardie
I just burned through The girl with dragon tattoo trilogy and I'm more than
halfway through the 2nd book in the Hunger games trilogy (started on the first
one on Saturday). Reading on the Nook Color has been fantastic and I only stop
once the battery is too low and needs a charge. Like you, just one more
chapter...

~~~
slug
One thing that I noticed (and backed by circadian rhythm research) is that
using electronic bright devices at night disrupts the sleep pattern, making it
more difficult to fall asleep, and so I keep on reading.

For this reason, I prefer to read with a nook e-ink, illuminated by a
nightstand lamp with a switch off timer, say 1 or 2 hours, to "force" me to go
to sleep in a timely manner. This way the lighting is not right in front of my
eyes but shining somewhere from the back.

~~~
yardie
At night I have the brightness set to its lowest level, 10%. And then in the
e-reader app, Aldiko, I set it to nightmode (black background/off white text).
It's actually quite comfortable to read, but going from the ebook to a website
was like setting my retinas on fire. It does stop me from being distracted and
lets me focus on the book.

~~~
michaelbuckbee
I do something very similar with my iPhone/Kindle reading setup. Turn the
brightness on the phone down to a really low setting.

A nice side benefit is that it lets my wife sleep as there doesn't need to be
a light on to read at night.

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mike-cardwell
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...](https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kebab.Llama&feature=search_result)

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.

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rglover
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.

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engblaze
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.

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corin_
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.

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andyking
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...](http://www.pure.com/products/product.asp?Product=VL-60907&Category=Bedroom)

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bh42222
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.

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icebraining
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.

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ericHosick
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.

~~~
chadgeidel
I've got a TV, and watch it occasionally (Movies/Netflix/Vido Games). No OTA
programming and I don't have cable/satellite.

I'll never have a TV or computer screen in the bedroom. My cell phone is in
there because I use it as an alarm (Wakemate).

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chli
On my Android phone I use that:

[https://market.android.com/details?id=net.geekherd.bedsidepr...](https://market.android.com/details?id=net.geekherd.bedsidepro2)

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.

