WEBVTT - The Reality of Gaming 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:09.040 Few technologies have advanced as rapidly as video games. The 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.600 Nintendo Classics that many of us grew up playing helped 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.360 to pave the way for what today is a juggernaut 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:19.439 industry that gives players a virtual experience unlike any other, 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.520 and one that occurs right in our own living rooms 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:29.280 and can connect us to a global community. 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:37.480 I have been gaming since I was like maybe four 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:42.360 when my dad brought over the Second Genesis, so I 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:46.760 would say thirty years I've been gaming, which is crazy 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:48.000 to say out loud now. 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.920 Will Wiggins is a gaming content creator, graphic artist, and 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.520 illustrator with a large Twitch following. Online. He goes by 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.480 the name Black One, and he's heavily involved in the 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:00.080 professional gaming community. 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.080 It's a little addicting, right because it's something that I 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:07.920 love doing and the people watching loved experience, and I'm like, oh, 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:09.800 I just have to do it more. I have to 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:11.560 do it later. I have to make sure I'm around 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:13.840 to get these big raids from all the other content creators. 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:16.800 We're smart, and it went to bed on time, like 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.080 they'll send their people over to me. I'm like, all right, 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.040 we've got some viewers, we got some engaged we got 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:27.400 some action, and as important as viewers are your health, 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:29.720 none of that is going to matter if you're not 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:31.320 there to keep them entertained. 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.880 Viewers add a whole new element to the gameplay, essentially 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:40.760 turning a passive pastime into a globally connected community. So, 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.000 for Will, what started as playing a couple levels of 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:48.560 Sonic the Hedgehog alone after school has ballooned into all 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:52.920 night raids and tournaments occurring across different time zones with 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.440 an untold number of players, all of this happening in 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:00.400 vast realities created by nothing more than ones in zero. 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:07.160 There's something different about some of these games and immersive 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:11.600 experiences that activate our brains in very different ways. I 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:16.040 think when you get into these games, it's very difficult 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.240 to pull yourself out. You may sit down and think 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:20.560 I'm going to play for an hour, get something to eat, 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.600 and get some sleep, and four hours later you're still 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:25.480 involved with it. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:30.480 Doctor Chris Winter as an neurologist and sleep specialist from Charlottesville, Virginia. 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:35.520 I'm the author of the book The Rested Child. While 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.919 you're tired, wired, or irritable child may have a sleep 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.360 disorder and how to help as well. As the sleep Solution, 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.240 Why your sleep is broken and how to fix it. 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.680 One of the focuses of his career is the unique 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:51.040 effects that video games, screen time, and other related technology 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:52.200 have on our sleep. 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.959 Sometimes I find myself going to sleep and thinking about 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:56.880 the game I was playing. 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:57.440 I'm like, man, I. 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.040 Can't wait to get up and play some more. It 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.519 still happens even to me, So like if anyone else 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:04.960 experiences that, like I get it. 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:10.399 Will's experience navigating this massive community of constantly changing technology 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.200 is certainly unique, and it created obstacles to getting and 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:19.240 maintaining proper sleep, something that Chris knows all about. Using 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:23.280 Chris's expertise, Will delve into Will's journey to find out 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.920 what happens to our sleep when we spend much of 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:30.680 the night fighting aliens, looting dragons, and exploring virtual worlds 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.280 in a way that previous generations never knew. 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:39.880 Hi. 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:44.760 I'm Anahad O'Connor, and this is chasing Sleep and iHeartRadio 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:59.800 production and partnership with Mattress Firm. I've spent much of 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.920 my career looking into the obstacles that prevent us from 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:06.680 getting good sleep. Most of these obstacles have been with 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:10.280 human beings since we first started walking up right, things 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:14.400 like stress, finding time to rest, and even the position 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:17.760 of the sun. But a uniquely modern problem we face 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:21.960 comes from technology, both from being bombarded by blue light 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:25.960 from multiple screens and also from the extremely recent phenomenon 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.839 of video games, pulling our brains into completely different worlds, 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.800 often right before we try to go to sleep at night. 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.359 To our brains, these developers and these games are so 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:42.120 good that they create real experience. You feel like you 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:47.680 were in the deserted compound, surrounded by zombies, trying to 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:49.880 figure out how to kill them and get to this 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.360 next place where all the other players are like, when 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:55.920 in fact, no, you're just sitting in a chair in 0:04:55.960 --> 0:05:00.480 your bedroom looking at a box of light. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.120 A box of light with profound effects. Many of us 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:06.640 have fond memories of jumping on turtles and saving princesses 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:10.480 in those boxes of light. And as the games got 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:13.520 more intricate, not only were they more fun to play, 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:17.960 but an entire audience started to grow that liked watching 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:21.640 people play. A gamer streaming on Twitch like black ony 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.040 can neet tens of thousands of followers and views. 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.599 Back when I was living in Boston specifically, I was 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:32.200 working full time at least forty hours a week. I 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.839 was streaming at least three to four times a week. 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:42.719 I was writing articles and posting videos, I was podcasting, 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:45.360 and for a lot of the time, I was single, 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:46.719 so I was able to do a lot of this. 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.479 It's pretty amazing to me. So many of us have 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:54.080 watched the gaming industry evolve literally right before our eyes, 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:59.000 from these very unserious, blocky games where the main goal 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.040 was just to jump from platform to platform to what 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:07.440 we have today, these now ultra sophisticated storytelling medium As 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:10.560 you rode the wave of this changing technology, what were 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:12.600 some of the challenges that kept you from having a 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:14.560 healthy sleep routine. 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:18.880 Yeah, it was. It was challenging, especially to realize my 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:22.839 limitations and realize like I needed to do better about 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.520 taking care of myself even though I felt like I was. 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:29.720 The sleep part was a really big part of really 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.359 buckling down, like, all right, I just have to I 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:34.359 have to get more sleep, or else this is just 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.360 going to keep happening to me. I'm going to keep suffering. 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.080 It sounds like you were aware of the challenges from 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.239 pretty early on, especially because so much of the streaming 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:43.560 traffic occurs at night. 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.479 Yeah, yeah, so I did try to like squeeze in 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.600 every little bit of sleep I could, but it was 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.960 mostly because I was especially being on the East Coast 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:57.120 and trying to appease to the West Coast viewers as well. 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:00.880 I was staying up till at least two, maybe three 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.160 sometimes in the morning, every time I streamed, and I 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:06.680 was for a while, I was streaming almost every weekday. 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.280 During some of this time where I was doing just 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:11.720 all this other stuff and only getting like five hours 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:16.000 of sleep, I definitely remember this distinct feeling of feeling 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.080 like I was like in this fog, where like I 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:23.160 was just so much slower. Even though I was able 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:26.320 to like do so much during that time, I knew, 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.240 I knew in the back of my head that if 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:32.480 I was able to sleep more, I would be that 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:36.200 much more efficient. Like once I lay down and sit 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:38.360 to go on that bed, like I was out, that 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:38.760 was it. 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.560 While falling asleep quickly allowed will to steal resting time 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:47.160 at every opportunity throughout the day. The ability to snooze 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:50.120 as soon as we hit the pillow is actually a bug, 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.160 not a feature of our brains. According to Chris, it's 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.000 usually indicative of an unhealthy cycle of sleep. 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:01.440 One are the problems is if you ask most people 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:04.880 what is the sign of good sleep, they're going to 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:08.600 tell you how quickly you fall asleep. I always call 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:13.080 it speed to unconsciousness, if that's a thing. And so 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.560 when you're talking to two people, well, I'm a good sleeper, 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.680 but my roommate here, he's a bad sleeper. The good 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.960 sleepers often defining themselves as a good sleeper because they 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:25.400 get in bed and fall asleep fast, and the bad 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.920 sleeper man, he gets in bed, sometimes takes him thirty 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.880 four or five minutes to fall asleep. So it's interesting 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.720 that Will recognizes that because the idea that he's turning 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:39.560 everything off getting in bed and immediately out cold. Great, 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:44.160 but that could very well be indicating that his brain 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.200 is looking for more sleep than it's actually. 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:51.319 Gettingh Yeah, that's pretty unnerving. So you're saying people out 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.360 there could be suffering from something sleep related and not 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:55.200 even realize it. 0:08:55.920 --> 0:09:00.720 Yeah, because you again, they're the ones who fall asleep immediately. Yeah, 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:02.920 they're the ones who when their partner comes to see 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:05.360 me because here she can't sleep, Mike, Well, tell me 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.040 about your partner. All he's a great sleeper. He's a sleeper, 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.400 he can sleep anywhere. So I'm usually thinking, as I'm 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.120 talking to partner A, I'm more worried about partner B. 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.120 Might want to get partner be in here because he's 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:17.199 really sleeping. 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.440 That makes sense that if you can fall asleep quickly, 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:24.640 it just means that you're starved for sleep. And speaking 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:28.439 of partners, I find it interesting that sharing our sleep 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.800 space and time with someone else often forces us to 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:33.200 look at it in a different way. 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:38.680 Being in a relationship forced me to approach it differently. 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:44.920 Specifically being in a relationship that I realized early on, 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:48.800 like I wanted to give more. For the reason I 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:52.320 was single for so long was because like I just 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:56.640 wanted to There was always that tension of like, all right, 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.080 do I spend more time with her or do I 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:03.120 spend time focus on my business and focusing on getting 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.720 my viewership up and getting more followers and blah blah blah. 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.560 If you can relate to being sleep starved, and let's 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.000 face it, most of us can, we tend to exhibit 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:13.920 more of these behaviors in our younger years. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.679 I could have obviously been better about it, especially as 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.720 a younger guy. But I was just trying to fire 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:24.520 on all cylinders at all times, and it just drove 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.199 a wedge in between my health and my ambition. 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.920 When we think about our sleepless youth, we might remember 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.240 actually being able to perform fairly well, or at least 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.960 well enough. There may have been late nights burning the 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:41.080 midnight oil, followed by early mornings cramming for finals or 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.640 working double shifts. It might even seem like we simply 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.600 didn't need as much sleep back then. But what's really 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.360 the case is that our bodies were just better at 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:52.240 powering through without And. 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.920 When you think about video gaming in the ages of 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.320 people playing it, I have yet to encounter a sixty 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:01.760 seven year old who's crushing it in call of duty 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:05.959 every in some competition. They're young people, and the good 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.000 and bad thing about young people is they can kind 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:12.160 of abuse their bodies and still do Okay, Yeah, because 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.520 you're young. That's why I always tell young athletes so like, oh, 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.520 I go out and play video games and go to 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:18.640 bars all night long, and as long as I get 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.040 four or five hours sleep, I'm great. But that's not 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:23.360 going to last. This is the time to really invest 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.600 in your sleep. We see a lot of children in 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:31.000 our clinic. The rise of twenty four hour gaming culture 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:33.480 is definitely something that we see. In fact, one of 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.240 the case studies in my new book, The Rested Child 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:40.559 was a family of a daughter who was spending a 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:44.960 tremendous amount of time between you know, after school, before 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.840 she'd go to school the next day on platforms playing 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:52.000 games where other people would pay her to do it, 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.360 you pay to watch her do it. So it was 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:59.280 a very unusual situation of Had she been in some 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:04.120 sort of travel soccer team, I guess her parents would 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:06.480 be much more supportive of it, you know, which's gonna 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:10.280 be the next Carly Lloyd or whatever. But they fundamentally 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:12.600 did not like the fact that she was just playing 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.160 video games all the time. Number one and then number two, 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:17.400 dramatically impairing your sleep. 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:21.120 Bad sleep will certainly take its toll eventually, no matter 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:24.280 how young you are. The world of esports and professional 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.560 gaming is so new many are skeptical of its merits 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:29.560 or even the value it can hold as a full 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:34.160 time career and income source. But gaming is a gigantic industry, 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.800 one that rakes in over two hundred billion dollars a 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:41.040 year with an audience that spans every corner of the 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:44.360 entire world. It's an audience that Will did everything he 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.040 could to reach and engage with early in his career. 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.480 As Will dove deeper into his passion, he found it 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.160 more and more difficult to perform at his best. There 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:56.280 was a constant struggle between getting more sleep or getting 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:57.479 more done. 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:01.680 So that was always the constant like friction of like, oh, 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:03.319 I know I need more sleep, but I know I 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.200 have to do way more things than just know that 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:07.640 sleep would afford me at the time. 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:10.360 It seems like waking up and playing or gaming in 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:12.760 the middle of the day isn't really an option. The 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.920 majority of this community games views or I guess you 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.000 could say enters the chat later in the day. Would 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:20.880 you say that's the case for your audience as well. 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:27.800 Yeah, I think that most people who are playing or 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.360 specifically playing together with other people are doing it in 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:36.040 the evenings because people are off of work, you've had 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:38.880 their dinner, looking for some way to kind of like 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.160 vibe out and play something with their friends or just 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.840 get real sweaty and competitive and do something really fun. 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:46.840 Usually that happens that night. 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:50.760 So I'm a neurologist by draining, so everything boils down 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.360 to the brain and real estate within the brain. And 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.560 when you look at sleep and what's generating sleep and 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:00.800 where that's happening in the brain, it's sharing real estate 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:03.880 that's very close to parts of our brain that regulate 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:08.720 body temperature and regulate immune modulation, strengthening or weakening your 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:09.480 immune system. 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.120 Will can definitely attest to that. He found himself wrestling 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:15.880 with multiple debilitating bouts of sickness every year. 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:20.120 I used to get sick like three to four times 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.280 a year, just like the cold, like or the flu, 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:27.520 or just like some random thing that just completely takes 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:31.240 me out. And it was because every night, like every night, 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:32.960 I was getting like five hours of sleep. 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:36.360 And it's not just all night gamers that see this effect. 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.520 Any intrusion into healthy sleep has consequences. 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:41.840 And I remember when I was in residency and doing 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:44.680 all that call, I was just constantly we were all 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:49.200 constantly sick. You know, we had no backup, so unless 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:52.160 you were dying, you had to come to us like okay, 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.640 well whatever. So and as soon as I got outside 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:59.040 of residency, all that went away. Cold sotares went away, 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.640 sicknesses went away, because there's a big tie in, and 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.360 so it's really interesting to look at some of that 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:10.120 work on the immune system and how that works because 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:14.360 we've always known. I mean, our grandmothers and great grandmothers 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.120 could easily have told us, hey, look, if you don't 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:18.520 get sleep, you're going to get sick. 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:20.960 As far as I know, the idea that you could 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.880 get sick from a lack of sleep was just something 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.040 people said that took a while to be proven true 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:28.560 by science. For a long time, it was just an 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.920 anecdotal observation that if you were sleep deprived then you'd 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:34.000 be more susceptible to flus and colds. 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:38.000 We've always known it, but it took a long time 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:40.560 for science to sort of catch up and sort of 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.080 prove it. And so there's a wealth of information now 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:50.520 that really shows that quality sleep through manipulations of cytokinds 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.160 and immune modulating interlukens in our brain, not to mention 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:58.320 the modulation of the chemical growth hormone, which is instrumental 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:02.160 in strengthening and bolts during our immune system, all of 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.560 those things rely on quality sleep. So when we get 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:09.520 good sleep, we tend to shake illnesses much easier, maybe 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:11.680 never even manifest symptoms of them. 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:14.840 It can't even be contested or debated like how important 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:20.560 sleep is, so just not being sick alone proves worth it. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:25.920 We'll be right back after our brief message from our 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:37.520 partners at Mattress Firm, and now back to chasing sleep. 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:46.760 So we have this fantastic community and platform for content creation, entertainment, 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:51.720 global connection, you name it. It's incredibly rewarding. We can 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.520 do it from the comfort of our homes. It unites 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:58.000 people from all over the world. But the downside is 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.640 that it forces us to be staring at these harmful 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:05.040 blue screens, these basically light boxes, for hours at a time, 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.680 and often right up until bedtime. So there's got to 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:10.879 be ways that you deal with this. What are some 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.760 techniques that you use to make all this green time 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:14.880 easier on yourself? 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:19.840 I do wear protective glasses whenever I am playing, just 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:23.879 because I know that based on studies, that it has 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:28.560 some type of impact on me. So I have two 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:33.880 pairs of protective glasses for gaming specifically or for making art. 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:36.800 One has an amber tint. So these ones have a 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.640 little bit like a blue light blocking filter in them, 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:42.880 and the other one is a crystalline one that has 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:46.800 anti glare anti blue light, but it's much more subtle, 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:50.120 it's more clear. I use that for what I'm designing, 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.160 and then I wear the glasses protective glasses pretty much 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.600 all the time whenever I'm creating content on Twitter, Facebook 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:00.840 or whatever it is, just because, like I know, that 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:05.359 does have an impact on your eyestrain, which has an 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:08.800 impact on the way you sleep. And then introducing the 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:10.439 blue light into that as well. 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:13.400 Yeah, I mean, it is a box of light after all, 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.200 and when you add in late night hours and stressful 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:20.399 gaming situations, it can be pretty straining. But neutralizing that 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.160 light may help to reduce the damaging effects of late 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:23.720 night gaming. 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:29.360 Light in general is problematic. In other words, our bodies 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:32.879 sort of set our circadian rhythm in a large part 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:37.560 based upon available light. So when there's lots of light out, 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.959 your body understands that it's daytime, we need to be awake, 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:46.440 looking for food, reproducing whatever organisms do during the day. 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.639 And then as the light becomes diminished, it's a really 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:54.080 strong trigger through the chemical melotone and for us to 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.639 get ready to go to bed. But just the light 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:59.600 in general being right there, you know, a foot and 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:03.960 a half from your face, really bright, very exciting, is 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:09.880 interrupting your brain's natural signaling of telling you it's nighttime, 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:11.920 it's time to go to bed. In fact, your brain 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:15.040 thinks very differently when you're in front of that screen 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.600 and you see all that light. It's like, oh, it's lunchtime. 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:20.880 This is the time to be awake. So when you're 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.800 done with that session and turn your light out at midnight, 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:29.040 your brain doesn't necessarily quickly realize that it's nighttime. 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:31.439 And will reminds us that when we're worrying about the 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.239 big screen, don't forget about that little screen that all 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:36.200 of us can easily look at too much. 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.320 Trying not to be on your phone too much when 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.120 you're in the bed is a big one too. Usually 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:46.520 when I'm going to bed, like I am ready to sleep, 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.760 so I'll look at it so that I can set 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:53.400 my alarm, read any emails that may have come through 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:56.040 that I might have missed. Beyond that, I'm not really 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:58.040 on my phone too much when I'm in the bedroom, 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:00.760 just because, like, I know that you can stay up 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.400 much longer, you know, if it isn't because you're looking 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.000 at cat video on Instagram. It's because the blue light. 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:06.760 Is keeping you awake. 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:11.720 So I've made that a priority a pretty long time 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:14.159 ago to just like all right, every once in a 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.040 while I'll wake up and like write something down that 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:21.000 I have an idea about. But beyond that, I try 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:24.240 to limit the amount of phone I'm using. 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:30.639 The light factor is so impactful that Chris says simply 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:34.199 taking down that brightness or wearing protective glasses could make 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:38.600 all the difference, because it's not just a box of light. Remember, 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.800 this tech is changing and changing fast. There are devices 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:45.159 that you can strap over your eyes that pull you 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:49.600 into a virtual realm. There's entire metaverses being created that 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:53.040 blur the lines between the game and real life. So 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:55.960 anything you can do to mitigate this bombardment of light 0:20:56.400 --> 0:20:56.920 is helpful. 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:00.560 This is always a difficult question just because it butts 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:03.760 up against reality. You know, I hear you know, various 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:06.520 sleep experts speak, you know, well two hours. You know, 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:09.359 we just really shut everything off two hours before you 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:11.399 go to bed, and there's nothing wrong with that, but 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:13.600 I'm always like, well, what are you doing for the 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:16.160 two hours? Just sit there in the dark for two 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:19.159 hours and think about life or something. So to me, 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:23.440 if somebody says, look, I can't stop playing this video 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:26.520 game at ten o'clock and wait around un till midnight 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:29.520 to go to sleep, I think that's where you know 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.600 dimming the light? Can we make your monitor less bright? 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:36.680 Can we wear sunglasses or the blue block or glasses? 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:41.360 It wasn't easy, but Will built up a big following 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:44.040 and carved out an amazing path in the career of 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:47.199 his dreams. We'll Sleep is a lot better now, and 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:50.560 so is his overall health and performance in life and work. 0:21:50.760 --> 0:21:52.920 It takes a lot to stay healthy, even in a 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:56.679 community that we don't usually associate with workplace hazards or 0:21:56.720 --> 0:21:58.120 on the field injuries. 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:01.439 Beyond you know, prioritize time to make sure you sleep 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:07.920 is find out what you like with regards to how 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:11.840 you sleep, and be conscious of your health. So I'm 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:16.320 going to reference a competitive fighting game player. He goes 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:21.199 by Toketo, and he's an excellent gamer. Not only is 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:24.959 he like excels at the mechanical part of being a gamer, 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:30.760 but he is one of the people who really pushed 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.320 the narrative of why it's important to take your health 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:36.480 seriously when it comes to gaming because it's not always 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:42.440 considered like a high impact or performance based profession, right 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:46.160 like not like being a basketball player. Taking your health 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:51.680 into consideration is just as important as how you strategize 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:55.600 within games to be better about them. Having the immune 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:58.040 system to be able to do those late nights whenever 0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:02.119 you need to, like on rare occasions, like having the 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:04.560