Post date: Sep 12, 2015 3:17:09 AM

Blog Post for September 11, 2015

If you are like me, it is difficult to find enough hours in the day to tackle everything on the “To Do list. Juggling teaching with laundry, errands, grading, and other chores makes for some long days, so it’s easy to start working on a project after supper and not pay attention to the clock. Then when finished, you crawl in to bed and struggle to fall asleep. There is a scientific explanation for why you’re not sleeping well, as well as a solution. As we all spend more of our days using our mobile devices, PCs, and lights, we’re being exposed to more blue light, or artificial light.

For me, the evening is a good time to work on my blog, answer student email, grade, check Facebook or work on the next column. However, I noticed that I was having problems falling asleep afterward, so I would then grab my Kindle and read for a while—not realizing that I was exposing myself to more blue light. I did some research and discovered the problem: then, I thought of all of my students using their devices late at night, and having them in their bedrooms, often using them for alarm clocks

A Huffington Post article by Dr. Michael Breus described the results of a research study. People who were exposed to blue light at night were more alert, less sleepy, and scored higher on attention and reaction. Why is this happening?

According to Dr. Breus, “Blue light, a short-wavelength light, has been singled out as more significantly disruptive to sleep than other colors on the light spectrum. Research has shown blue light delays release of the sleep hormone melatonin, disrupts circadian rhythms, and may influence negative changes to mood.”

If blue light disrupts sleep, “Exposure to blue light during the day, however, results in a similar, more welcome boost to alertness and reduction to fatigue, which stand to benefit both daytime function and nighttime rest.”

What can you do to combat this battle with night time blue light? For one thing, you can download a free tool called F.lux that helps to adjust your computer monitor’s brightness throughout the day. It does this to respond to the changes in sunlight and time of day, which results in less eye fatigue.

F.lux has been reviewed by PCWorld, which gave it five stars and said, “F.lux is a life-saver (or at least an eye-saver) for using your computer at night.” It has also been reviewed by CNET, with another near five star review; you can download it from their site as well.

Here is what you need to do:

First, go to https://justgetflux.com to download the F.lux software.

Next, enter your zip code so the program can determine when the sun rises and sets in your area.

Then you will see that there is a now an icon for F.lux in your taskbar; it looks like a little circle partially shaded, depending on the time of day.

If you have questions, there is an excellent FAQ page on the F.lux website that will help you to tinker with the settings, and make further tweaks.

I made the decision to download the program earlier this summer, and do feel the difference. However, I am also consciously ending my work on the computer earlier than I used to, and using my late night time to look at magazines and print books!

Get some sleep, everyone! Turn off those devices.....and get F.lux.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/blue-light-sleep_b_4993859.html

Breus, Michael Dr. “Blue Light Hazardous to Sleep, But Helpful to Daytime Functioning?” 24 March 2014.

http://download.cnet.com/f-lux/3000-2094_4-75447318.html

CNET Review and Download. Almost 90,000 downloads. 3 Oct. 2014

https://justgetflux.com

Justgetflux website: where to go to download the latest version of F.lux.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2056895/review-f-lux-makes-your-computer-usable-at-night.html

Zukerman, Erez. “Review: F.lux makes your computer usable at night.” 31 Oct. 2013.

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