7 Gadgets That Will Help You Sleep Better

Sleep is extremely important, not just for our physical but also mental health. But, I know better than anyone how hard it can be to get that suggested eight hours of shut eye each night — I seriously can’t remember the last time I got more than six hours of sleep. For those of us who have trouble falling asleep, for a multitude of reasons, finding a gadget that can help even just a little is like finding out that Victoria Secret is having a $5 bralette sale — absolutely elating. One day, I was feeling a little extra sleepy and decided to research sleeping tools — and boy did I find some amazing products. Naturally, I had to share my finding with my ESL girls. So, here are eight of the most innovative and helpful tools on the market that’ll help you sleep better (enjoy!).

Eight Mattress Sleep Tracker

Instead of buying some insanely expensive smart mattress that’ll track your sleep, control your bed temperature, and probably even scratch your back for you (just kidding, although that would be cool), you should get yourself a Sleep Tracker from Eight Sleep. It’s significantly cheaper than the full mattress option — and let’s be honest, most of us twenty-something’s can’t afford a thousand dollar mattress anyway — while still providing you with the same amazing features.

First of all, this Sleep Tracker does just what it says, tracks your sleep. With an app on your phone that’s connected to the tracker, you’ll be able to see all sorts of data about your sleep patterns, sleep disturbances, how to improve your sleeping conditions, and so much more. The Sleep Tracker also allows you to control the temperature of your bed (because you’re freaking crazy if you like to sleep on a hot mattress). And as an added bonus to this feature, you can change the temperature on each side of your bed. So, if you and your partner prefer sleeping under different conditions, you can both be happy without having to take separate bedrooms just to get a good night’s sleep.

My person favorite feature is the smart alarm. It’s, obviously, an alarm that’s built into the sleep topper. Using the app, you set the time that you’d like to be woken up (you can even set a blanket time so if you wake up at the same time during the week you don’t have to keep resetting it). Since your sleep is already being tracked, the app won’t wake you up until you’re in the right sleep cycle — so that you aren’t feeling groggy throughout your day.

Eight Mattress’ Sleep Tracker works with every type of mattress so anyone can use it (yay!). Price wise, for a full or queen topper you’re looking at $299.00 and for a king and California king you’ll be paying $319.00. The one downside is that they don’t offer twin sized Sleep Trackers, but most of us won’t be sleeping in a twin bed after college. Overall, this is a great tool to make every night’s sleep better.

Power Siesta

If you’re a frequent plane, train, or bus traveler you’re going to love Power Siesta. Most of you have been sitting in a plane and just wanted to sleep but couldn’t get comfortable — unless you’re a midget like me and can rest your head on the tray table. This can be extremely aggravating and you might even have to resort to sleeping on the shoulder of whoever is sitting besides you (which wouldn’t be so bad if he was devilishly handsome).

Power Siesta is a magazine sized, foldable tool that can be set up on your tray table and slept on throughout the entirety of your flight. Basically, you fold it up into something that looks like a mini-podium and can either lie directly on the napper or put your blanket, pillow, jacket, etc. on top of it — whatever makes you the most comfortable. Their design works with the natural sleeping position of your body to alleviate muscle tension, allowing you to sleep better — meaning you won’t wake up feeling sore and all out of whack.

If you aren’t already sold on this product, consider purchasing to support this Puerto Rico based company rebuild their facilities. The price is a measly $25.00. For less than 30 bucks you can enjoy a great nap or full night’s sleep (depending on your flight or bus duration).

Fitbit Charge 2

While most of us are familiar with the Fitbit in regards to fitness tracking, what we might not realize is that it also has great features to help keep track of sleep. The Fitbit Charge 2 allows you to track your sleep patterns throughout the night in order to understand (and modify) your sleep pattern. With the same app that you download for the fitness aspect of the Fitbit you’ll be able to see tons of data about your sleep — which, in turn, will allow you to make improvements in your habits.

The coolest feature is the alarm. Instead of being woken up by a blaring alarm — and if you’re like me you just wake up in a bad mood after hearing that dreadful noise — your Fitbit wakes you up through vibrations. The silent alarm not only helps you wake up in a better mood, but also won’t disrupt your partner or roommate. I know this would’ve really come in handy for me living in the dorms last year.

A Fitbit Charge 2 is around $130 to $150, depending on which Amazon vendor you purchase yours from. While this might seem a little pricey, one things to keep in mind is that it’s not just for tracking your sleep. The fitness features are comparable to the Apple Watch and a Jawbone — so you’re definitely getting your money’s worth. If you’re a fitness junkie or someone wanting to get in better shape, this sleep tracker feature can be just another reason to invest in a Fitbit.

AromaCare

When I was younger, my mom used to rub lavender on my neck at night when I couldn’t sleep — the smell was supposed to calm me down and induce sleep. AromaCare has brought a fresh, new spin to this home remedy. Think of AromaCare’s diffuser as a Keurig for essential oils. With an app that you download on your smartphone, you can set which oils you want to emit at certain times. AromaCare has specially programmed 20-minute sessions — which they found is the optimum time for relaxation and oil intake. Like a Keurig, you load capsules into the machine and it slowly disperses the essential oils into the air. One capsule can give you 10, 20-minute sessions.

They offer six different capsules: sleep inducing, calming, tonic to fight fatigue, memory, breathing, and pollen. In this list I’ll, obviously, be focusing on the sleep capsules, but I wanted to let you know all your options as well. You can get different capsules of essential oils to fit your personal needs. Sweet Orange is for calming and soothing, Petit Grain helps to reduce nervousness and restlessness, Lavender sedates, Mandarin alleviates anxiety, depression, fatigue and distress, Marjoram helps to combat depression, restlessness, and sleep disorders, and Ylang Ylang is for agitation, mood swings, and irritability.

AromaCare is a French company so the pricing is in Euro’s, but if I did my conversions correctly (or, rather, if Google did) the machine and two capsules should cost you around $120.00. AromaCare is great way to relax, unwind, and sleep better each night.

Smart Nora

I don’t think there’s a single person out there who genuinely likes the sound of snoring. If you’ve ever dealt with a roommate or partner who snores you can attest to the fact that it’s extremely annoying and takes away vital sleep. Cue Smart Nora, the solution to all your snoring woes.

Smart Nora comes with two parts: an insert that you put in your pillowcase and a monitor that you put by your bed. The monitor listens to your snoring pattern and as soon as the machine senses levels rise around the level that your partner could hear, it starts a gradual inflation and deflation movement of the pillow insert. This stimulates the throat muscles and resets you back to normal breathing patterns. I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical when I first read about this product, but after watching a video showing actual sleep tests I am thoroughly convinced that it really does work.

Smart Nora costs $300.00. While this is a little expensive, it’s well-worth the money to get a good night’s sleep. Also, this device could keep you and your partner sleeping in the same bed for years to come as opposed to separate bedrooms. This is an easy solution to a real problem many of us face — and just think, snoring usually gets louder as you get older.

Bose Noise-Masking Sleepbuds

As someone who has major problems falling asleep with any type of noise going on, the Bose Sleepbuds are pretty much a life saver. Does your partner snore like crazy and keep you up at night? Do your dogs bark or cats whine while you’re trying to sleep? Maybe you have noisy neighbors? Whatever is keeping you from getting your best sleep, these sleepbuds can handle it. While it can block out some of the most annoying household noises, you don’t have to worry about the sleepbuds drowning out your emergency alarms — so if there’s a break-in or fire alarm, you’ll be able to hear it.

How does it cancel out the noise? Well, Bose uses soothing sounds (you get to choose from a variety of different ones) to play while you sleep. To save battery, the music will lower once it senses that you’re asleep. When it’s time for you to wake up, the sleepbuds will gradually introduce louder noise to wake you up instead of a harsh alarm. Like the Fitbit Charge 2, since you have earplugs in, your partner won’t be woken up by your alarm.

Hush was recently been acquired by Bose and completely sold out of their prototype in just a few days. Bose will be launching a larger public launch in 2018. No doubt this product will be better and more effective than before, and I encourage everyone with sensitivity to noise to check these out.

GloToSleep illumy Mask

illumy Mask will totally alter the way you think about sleeping masks — I mean seriously, it makes regular masks look seem like soggy cereal. Overview, this mask allows you to fall asleep and wake up easier than you ever have before. With an app that you download on your smartphone, you can control how many hours of sleep you’re getting at night and your wake up time. As an added bonus, which I’ve literally seen none with any other company on this list, if you don’t have a smartphone, you can use your computer or tablet. So, for the older crowd who refuses to learn how to use a smartphone — yeah, I’m talking to your grandma — you can still use this gadget with ease.

To help you fall asleep, the mask emits a red light that slowly fades over time. The light gently pulses and slows as you fall deeper and deeper into sleep to ease your mind — which, in turn, will help you fall asleep quicker. To wake up, blue light first appears and gradually increases until your specified wake up time at which time your mask will fill with white light. The illumy Mask can be yours for $149.00, which is far less than some of the other sleep tools like the Smart Nora or Eight Mattress Sleep Tracker.