Evening wind down and blue light blocking

I've been turning my iPhone screen red after sunset for a while now.

Most of the time when I'm out at night and friends see this, they scoff at it or make fun of me, saying it's weird. I've gotten used to this reaction and have learned to take it as a sign that I'm doing something right.

But one time, I got a different reaction and was pleasantly surprised. We had a house guest, one of my wife's friends, who was visiting us. She saw the red screen and was genuinely interested in why I changed this setting on my phone at night, so she asked me about it.

I explained as best I could everything I know about the benefits of minimizing artificial blue light after sunset.

Modern life is full of stimulation—overhead LEDs, bright screens, work emails, and entertainment engineered to keep you engaged. The problem is that these signals (especially blue-enriched light) can suppress melatonin, making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.

So I run a simple 3-part system:

1. Red screen at sunset: I set my devices to shift to a red color profile starting at sunset. I run an iOS automation, so it's "set it and forget it." This also reduces the temptation to scroll because everything looks less vivid and stimulating.
2. Dim my home light environment: I keep lamps and overhead lighting low in the evening whenever possible. Bright indoor lighting is yet another environmental signal that it's daytime, even when it isn't.
3. Blue light blockers after dark: Even when I'm not staring at a phone, other lighting sources like TVs can be bright enough to matter. I wear red clip-on blue light blockers over my prescription glasses at night.

Between dim lighting + red-shifted screens + blockers, the cumulative effect is powerful.

This combo does something important: it makes me naturally sleepy. It also reduces the "second wind" people get at night when they accidentally (or intentionally) blast themselves with light and stimulation.

I alluded to this earlier. The light environment is just one part of a larger principle: when it's nighttime and time to wind down, try to minimize all signals that tell your brain it's daytime.

What I do during this wind-down window (1–2 hours before bed):

• Read
• Journal
• Talk with family
• Watch something relaxing (not intense, not suspenseful)
• Listen to theta waves on my phone (a calming audio ritual)

I also wear a haptic wearable called Apollo Neuro. It provides soothing vibrations on the wrist or ankle designed to help shift the nervous system toward calm. Not a must-have by any means, but alongside low light and other relaxing inputs, it helps me downshift.

The key is avoiding late-night urgency. No work fires. No stressful emails. No doomscrolling. Your nervous system doesn't care that it's "just for a minute."

When I protect my evenings like this, I fall asleep faster, am more likely to sleep through the night, and maintain my circadian rhythm.