The only thing that truly bothers us about technology is that fact that we hear and see it working all of the time. This includes ticking clocks, blinking router lights, and iPhone notifications late into the night. Luckily, we've come up with a short little checklist for those of you who have become addicted to technology and need a break from it all.
Here's our quick little checklist:
- Sleep mode on your computers. They're there. Just use them! Especially for older desktop PCs with loud fans, this is a must!
- Green switches. We've talked quite a bit about vampire suckers. Tame them! Or kick them to the street altogether.
- Alarm clock? We hope you got digital. If there's anything more annoying than an obnoxious alarm clock in the bedroom, it's a mechanical one that makes clicking sounds every single second. Move that one to the kitchen. Keep that good night sleep serene.
- Oh, the lights! Routers got them. Modems, too. And if you live in a studio, that means those lights will be blinking all night, non-stop. But there's a solution for that. It's called duct tape. Just get one that matches your router if you're easily bothered by aesthetic issues.
- Phones on vibrate. Make it habit of turning your phone to vibrate mode at night. Sure, some phones may automatically turn it to "Loud" mode (which is really annoying, we must say), but then again, there's nothing wrong with keeping your charger at work!
- No TVs, please. Though it might be obvious to some, keeping the TV off for the last few minutes of the night will really add some serenity to your winding down habit.
Have your own means to put a damper on that tech at night? Share them with us - we'd love to hear them!
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Electrical tape is much kinder to electronics than duct tape. I also find that electrical tape blends in to the overall look of most electronics better than duct tape, which has some texture. If you need to sometimes see the lights on, for example, your wireless router and your cable modem, for the purpose of diagnosing problems, you could tape a flap of thick paper over the lights. Then you can flip it up when you need to see the lights, instead of having to remove the tape every time and put it back. You could also just put something translucent such as waxed paper or masking tape over the lights to dim them without hiding them.
You might also want to consider that lights that you can't see from your bed might be visible from the guest bed, so covering them when you have guests, or at least offering to do so, would be polite.
the clock is a big issue for me, i can even hear a ticking clock rooms away. So ticking ones are not allowed in my house.
Router and all that gear is an an expedit bookcase, and since the shelves are deep, there are some short books in front of them to hide them. Anytime you need a restart, you can just reach over them and find the switch on the power strip.
My bedroom is very small, and tech-free, and I like that. However I can hear the server from two rooms away, it's in the same room as the water-heater and freezer. I like to have that door open to use some of that heat and simultanously cool that room.
We have lots of stuff on all the time, like two recievers, a HTPC, file-server, a heat-pump (turns off with a timer at night), and the usual stuff like freezer and fridge.
My home, and many others, are so complex in how we use them, that not everyhing can be solved with a master-switch, but I do see the usage for bigger houses.
When I was studiyng off from home for 3 years. There was a fan of some kind outside our apartment, I heard the noise all the time, and got uset to it. When I got home, I couldn't sleep well for months due to being used to some sort of noise when I slept.
Funny you should post this, glad to hear I'm not the only one... The other night I found myself constructing a "cozy" out of some gaffers and a strip of black cardboard from some discarded Ikea packaging to kill the horrible blue led glow a hard drive was casting over my small apartment. Now it's dark as it should be. Course I couldv'e just turned the thing off, but that would be too easy ; )
Great tips all around.
I have placed my alarm clock on the dresser ever since the old 'tick-tock' days. Now I place a folded cloth napkin over the fluorescent display of my clock-radio. And of course, never a television in the bedroom.
I also have an LED closet light with rechargeable batteries for reading before sleep.
I know this goes against the grain, but even better than turning off the TV a few minutes before bedtime is not to have a TV in the bedroom at all.
We are the only ones we personally know who don't have a TV in the bedroom, but there have to be more of us out there... Anyone else?
Definitely no TV in the bedroom! I don't really get how/when that became the norm, but I'm just weird like that.
I have also been using my Blackberry on vibrate to wake me up instead of a piercing alarm (light sleeper) and keep it on bedside mode so it doesn't squawk at me all night.
I couldn't turn off the phone. I would worry that someone I know would need help. (It has happened.) Turn off the computer. Shades that prevent light from entering. A small fan to mask noises and keep air circulating.
I love the bright blue digits on my alarm clock, but when I'm trying to sleep or relax, I put it in my closet! The closet is right next to my bed, so I can still hear it when it goes off. Not only does it make my room more peaceful, it makes it a lot tougher for me to hit the snooze button. It's a great idea for lazy people like me who can't get out of bed at the alarm's first ring.
I'm with you, AmyLynn! Technically I don't have a bedroom as I live in a studio, but since the studio is L-shaped, the TV and laptop can stay around the corner from my bed and thus out of my "bedroom."
Otherwise, "tech noise" and lights really don't bother me. I have huge windows that overlook my city's skyline so clock and router lights are the least of my worries. Working in a radio station makes my home seem quiet compared to the noise at work.