Is the amber light special what your sleep’s missing?

Finally. You’re nice and calm after a long soul-sucking day.

Your anxious breathing has finally given way to a deep, diaphragmatic, oceanic ebb and flow. So you hop into bed.

And… you pick up your phone.

(Like if you’re so sleep deprived that you just looked for the “like” button. In an article. Twice.)

And – just like that – your would-be effective evening ritual might just be ruined.

You’ve probably heard this before. But why? Why must my need to remain simultaneously informed and validated by people I’ll probably never meet in the flesh be punishable by death of my restfulness? Because, says science, of the effects blue versus amber light have on us. While we’re meant to be exposed to the former during earlier hours, the latter is what we need in the evening. And since the blue morning light is what we get in our electronics, experts will tell you to eschew the forbidden Apple and all of its sinful relatives after sunset. This makes a painful amount of sense I don’t want to admit to, since I’m more plugged in to my iphone than it is to an outlet (damned thing’s an energy sieve). Because the nights when I’m not on my phone for hours after sunset – and then suddenly check my mail before laying down – it’s like getting a ball peen to my cranium. Sure, you might just harmlessly be reading a text message from the comfort of your pillow. But whether it’s 9 A.M. or 9 P.M. when that happens, your brain believes it’s time to get up and be busy, as the blue light emanating outta your phone suppresses the melatonin you need to toggle off your brain box. Thus, you just get the blue light special all through the night (AKA insomnia) as innumerable studies (not literally; I bet you could count them if you tried your best) have shown.

As WashPost puts it:

“…light — particularly of the blue variety — can keep the pineal gland from releasing melatonin, thus warding off sleepiness. You don’t have to be staring directly at a television or computer screen: If enough blue light hits the eye, the gland can stop releasing melatonin.”

…not to mention the litany of other detrimental health issues it can induce long term.

(Actually, I was thinking in terms of cancer. But, yes, this is a great example of how the old days weren’t so ideal either.)

Right about now you might still be stuck on that whole “not using my phone a few hours after sunset” sentence and wondering two things: 1.) Um…. How? And 2.) What about your laptop? The first bit’s not too hard: I’m only as addicted to my phone as I am to other things I’m obsessed with. So, if I’m engrossed in eating delicious food or lost in a fascinating documentary, then, sure. I can forego the old phone for a few hours of moi time. As for the laptop? Aha! Therein lies the solution to this whole problem. You see, this ain’t my first rodeo with the blue light posts. I’ve been doing an experiment on myself for the past half year or so – via a program called f.lux. (This is the point where I feel obligated to let you know that, no, this isn’t just the most loquacious native ad you’ve ever read.) And it’s done wonders for me… on the devices I’ve installed it. What the program does is tweak your screen after sunset so that it’s imbued with a hue of amber versus blue light. The soft, warm, orangey glow is far more tolerable than the caustic azure you’d generally have robbing your melatonin maker. My only mistake? Not downloading the app onto my phone yet. But perhaps, on a subconscious level, that’s intentional. Like, maybe I’m keeping it tuned to the factory setting eye-scorching filter so that I’ll limit my P.M. use of it and get a good night’s sleep? Or maybe I’m just lazy? Who knows.

Maybe I would if I hadn’t been on it so late last night, defiling my pineal gland and throwing my A.M. thought game off.

It’s clearly time for some f.luxing change.

#goals