Could an increased use of apps and other technology designed to help us get to sleep be the solution? Many of us seem to think so.
In total, the global sleep technology sector was worth $15bn (£12.4bn) last year. The same report predicts that it will jump to $67bn by 2030.
The thinking is that having something physical that stays with you is more secure than a passcode, which can be guessed, brute-forced, or viewed over your shoulder.
This change will prevent iPhone users who aren’t enrolled in Apple’s Developer Program for $99 per year from installing the iOS 17 developer beta for free when it is released at WWDC in June.
Different people will need different solutions to get back to sleep, obviously, but the keys to me getting back to sleep are as follow: firstly, don't open my eyes. Secondly, don't let my brain think.
What I do is to listen to audio programs with a sleep timer. Something that is not so boring that my mind wanders and start to worry about tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. But also not something that is so interesting that I get all excited. I've tried BBC World Service, but sometimes, the news got me all angry and awake. I've tried podcasts, but that means I have to subscribe to a bunch of podcasts that I listen to only in the middle of the night. Currently, I'm trying out some old audiobooks, especially science books with their quarks and particles and arrow of time.
I don't always succeed. (My longest record was four sessions of sleep timer; after which I gave up.) But so far, I have more successes than failures in getting back to sleep.
Thank goodness for my audiobook subscriptions, and thank goodness for some of the 'boring' science books that I do enjoy when I am wide awake.
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I have not tried white noises. Based on what I think I know about my own brain, I am not optimistic.
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Even fake balloons are in danger, nowadays.
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Thanks for reading.