The Optimized Bedroom

18 Strategic Changes to Create The Perfect Sleep Environment

The key to any optimized bedroom in the 21st century is setting the stage for it to be sunny and warm by day, dark and cool by night. This apparent contrast helps us to cultivate a steady and robust circadian rhythm, even when more and more of us are spending the majority of our waking hours indoors. Additionally, not all of us have the luxury of using our bedroom exclusively during the night. Instead, many engage in modular living, requiring the utilization of our bedroom space during the day and at night. How do we streamline the bedroom environment for a higher proportion of sleep quantity & quality?

A great place to start is with Circadian Rhythm Entrainment applied to the bedroom environment. For a definition, circadian rhythm entrainment is the synchronization or alignment of the internal biological clock rhythm, including its phase and period, to external time cues, such as the natural dark-light cycle. This approach can be further extended to include body temperature, air quality, and a sound day-night period. Here’s a glimpse at what that looks like applied to the bedroom environment (divided by night & day).

Dark, Cool, Quiet, & Peaceful

Nighttime Bedroom

Light

Ideally you don’t want any light sources in the bedroom when you are going to sleep. Where there are lights that you feel cannot be avoided from certain devices... 1) electrical tape is your new best friend.

Dark

In the time between sunset and actually going to sleep, red spectrum light does not disturb melatonin production in the same way that blue & green spectrum light does. 2) Candles, lanterns, and fire are ideal. If fire-based lighting is not your thing, lighting from the 3) red-light spectrum is key. A Himalayan salt lamp can also work. 4) Blue blocking glasses are a must in the 21st century. If you’re active in your bedroom, a fun hack is to wear this cave headlamp set to red. Don't forget an ergonomic eyemask. Use red light on your phone with this hack or this app on android. 5) Blackout curtains are essential. This brand will even velcro-in the curtains, although might be the most attractive. ;/

Temperature

Cool is your goal. For adults that can range from 6) 60-67 degrees / 15-19 celsius. If you have difficulty achieving that, a 7) chilipad (sleepisaskill15 – 15% off OOLERsleepisaskill25 – 25% off chiliPAD) or the bedjet can act as easy options.

Sound

Eliminating sharp disruptive sound is what we are striving for with this optimized bedroom design. To support that, a
8) sound machine utilizing white, brown, & pink noise is an important addition. When on the go white, brown, & pink noise, a portable sound machine or a noise machine app. How about snoring? That can really mess with your sleep and/or your partner's sleep. Smart Nora is a great option to help.

Humidity

You want to aim to have your humidity levels at around 45%. First, you can get aware of your humidity levels with a humidity sensor. Second, from there, you can increase the levels with a humidifier or decrease the levels with a dehumidifier.

Air Quiality

First off is getting a sense of the level of air quality in your bedroom? Test with a meter. Breathing in recycled air, moldy air, polluted air all night does not spell great sleep. Using an air filter can be important for this.

Pain Management

If nighttime pain is keeping you awake, test out using 9) red light for pain management. Additionally, a quality chemical-free (zero-off gassing) 10) mattress can ensure that your pain

Low EMF

Ideal is ALL the technology outside of the bedroom, wifi nowhere near you, and a kill switch to eliminate all electricity into the room. However, when we’re not willing to do that entirely, at the very least, 11) your phone should be at least 6 feet away from the bed and in airplane mode. Aim to have no bluetooth devices in the bedroom. Plug-in electronics items should also not be right next to your bed. If you want to test some EMF devices like this plug-in one or this 12) pricier one

Psychologican Environment

Weighted blankets can be helpful for some. Here’s an article more on this topic for details on selecting the weights. 13) This is a great eco-friendly one (use 'sleepisaskill' for a discount) and this is a water-filled temperature controlled option (use 'Chili22' for a discount). 14) Journaling and vagal tone (like with Heartmath or Neuvana) are key here.

Light, Bright, Airy, & Inspiring

Daytime Bedroom