Sleep Gadgets, DIY Remedies, and Must-Haves

Hook

One in three US adults now tracks something about themselves—heart rate, sleep, or activity—but nearly all of that data comes from just two sensors: an optical pulse sensor and a motion sensor. From those two inputs, wearables generate roughly 30 different numbers. The catch, according to sleep doctor Dr. Michael Bruce, is that every single one of those numbers is an estimate. "If we really wanted to measure sleep, that's done with brainwaves," he says, "and it's going to be very difficult to get accurate brainwaves from your finger, from your wrist, from a watch."

How Your Senses Shape Sleep

The episode is organized around the five senses, because each one feeds your brain information about whether it should be alert or relaxed. Light is the most powerful signal. Dr. Bruce recommends a sleep mask with removable eye cups (the Manta model allows you to reposition the cups so there's zero pressure on your eyes) and a bedside lamp like the Lofty Lamp, which offers dim, color-tunable light and a slow dawn alarm. For a zero-cost hack, he suggests putting black electrical tape over every tiny LED in your bedroom—TV power lights, charger bricks—because any point of light can pull your brain's attention. Another DIY trick: roll a towel on both ends and slide it under a door to block light, which works just as well as a commercial light dampener.