f.lux – Be friendly to your eyes!

For the past month or so, I have been trying out a piece of software that claims to improve your sleep. Yeah. It sounds crazy, and I almost didn’t try it. But, since a friend recommended it, I went ahead and gave it a go, and I’m glad I did. They call it f.lux, and it works by changing the color temperature (warm/cold) of your screen, rather than the brightness.

It turns out that natural light from the sun is very cold in color temperature, while indoor lights, besides most fluorescent lights, are very warm. Research has shown that these colder color temperatures negatively affect sleep patterns, and the computer screen is a major source of this kind of light.

Now, I will say it takes a bit of getting used to, and you might even want to turn it off at first. As night falls, the screen begins to “warm” in color and everything starts looking quite strange. Leave it on, though, and the benefits start to become apparent. It just feels much easier on your eyes.

Go on – give f.lux a go.