As technology grows, so does it glow. At night, our constellation of controls can interrupt our sleep with their beacons of neon blue, green, red and other shades and hues rarely seen in nature. Scientists now know our eyes have a light-sensitive layer that signals our body and affects rhythms of wakefulness and sleep. This layer is separate from the part that accommodates our vision.
Unplugging or turning everything off — from laptops and docking stations to Internet routers and cell phones — can be time consuming when powering down and powering back up again. Sometimes turning off the gadgetry is not an option - especially if that gadget is your alarm clock.
While many have resorted to strips, and even layers, of black tape that must be applied and removed each night, others have resigned themselves to rearranging their plethora of plenty to limit the illumination. Blinking lights are especially annoying for the more sensitive among us.
I am an avid sleep enthusiast who is still afraid of the dark. (Don’t you judge me.) While some people wear sleep masks, I love falling asleep to a low-volume episode of Frasier or a viewing of Mixed Nuts (stop it; you’re judging me again). I don’t like waking up in the middle of the night to the unholy glare of the DVD’s main menu, though, which would in turn alert me to the litany of lighthouses around the room like my charging cell phone or my alarm clock.
To dim the excess that paled my wee Cars bedside nightlight (is there no end to your judgment?), I bought a wooden apple crate for the easy access and storage of 10 thick, black washcloths and 10 thick, black hand towels which I use to reign in the rays before I lay down for the night. Some appliances never need to be uncovered. Blinking lights may take a second layer.
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