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by mersenne 355 days ago
I've also been doing small improvements to my sleep over the years and share some of your recommendations! What's worked best for me have been:

1. Good mattress and pillow (this is a 101 kind of thing).

2. Having the right temperature (same as above).

3. White noise. I also use a white noise machine and the White Noise app on iOS (which I bought for like $1 years ago and still use it). Ironically, I don't use white noise but brown noise, which is slightly more soothing to me.

4. Air purifier, not necessarily for the white noise it produces because it's pretty silent, but because that way I guarantee that I get at least 8 hours of purified air a day.

5. Black out curtains.

6. Eye masks. I actually wear two at once -- the first one to block any lights, the second one to press against my eyelashes, which I find it better for sleeping.

7. Magnesium Glycinate. I've tried different supplements, different forms of magnesium, and even different brands, and the one that I currently use has worked wonders for me. Made me go from being a light sleeper to a medium-heavy sleeper.

Haven't tried earplugs, but I don't really feel the need to. Another thing I tried (but never noticed a real difference) was using a small piece of tape on my lips to avoid opening my mouth.

2 comments

> Ironically, I don't use white noise but brown noise, which is slightly more soothing to me

In case you or others didn't know, iOS has a built in noise generator with different presets under the accessibility options. Sometimes I use it with AirPods and active noise cancellation and it pretty much guarantees I can get a solid block of sleep, at least as long as the batteries last in one go.

The feature is called "Background Sounds"

What is the purpose of hearing the white noise? Is it to shield from other sounds? Or to distract from thinking? Are you focussing on it or not?
The brain can easily tune it out and it masks another intermittent sounds.