The Circadian-Friendly Framework For The Digital Age
This is for all of you who work on tech all day
We live in a time where the internet is blossoming in all of its full glory.
While this offers an incredible amount of opportunity and abundance, it also comes with a dark side for people who spend much of their time on technology that few consider.
I am one of the few people who has an addiction to technology which is channeled exclusively into work, while simultaneously being hyper aware of the drawbacks that it creates in regards to circadian biology and light environment.
If you’re unaware of circadian biology, it refers to the fact that human beings are circadian creatures who operate on a 24-hour cycle that is controlled by the solar cycle. Our master clock is know as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) which is located in the hypothalamus of the brain. This master clock, in turn, controls various peripheral clocks which are linked to each organ within the body.
There are 25,000 genes in your nuclear DNA, and every single one of them comes packaged with a peripheral clock gene as well. The SCN is important because it controls every energetic, metabolic, and growth process in the human body through these peripheral clocks.
Now that you understand that the human body evolved to become the most sophisticated time-keeping system in the Universe, the question arises as to what external cues it responds to.
Light is the most powerful of these external circadian cues, otherwise known as zeitgebers which either keeps us in sync or knocks us out of sync.
This is where your phone, computer, or laptop comes into play. If you consider that we are a species evolved for outside living, it’s no surprise that we are mismatched to our current environment, which then manifests as chronic disease over time.
People are spending less time outside than ever before in the history of our species which creates a host of second and third order consequences for human health. First of which is that we’re barely getting sunlight exposure, and with it the full light spectrum. Second of which is that we’re bombarded with isolated artificial blue light and non-native electromagnetic frequencies from our technology use.
Mother Nature never makes a mistake. She has created a perfect system, especially in regards to light from the sun and how it relates to human biology. You’ll never find blue light wavelengths without red light wavelengths because the sun is a perfect package of all light wavelengths.
Blue light from the sun isn’t inherently harmful and comes with a range of benefits, just like any of the other light wavelengths. Artificial light from technology is a different story. Society has divorced blue from red which is inherently regenerative. Artificial and isolated blue light causes a number of problems from hair loss to the destruction of the eyes. It’s an affront to human biology.
If you spend the majority of your time on technology without any protection, then you are destroying the very circadian foundation your body is built upon.
Non-native electromagnetic frequencies (nnEMFs) are another problem. Now, there are natural electromagnetic frequencies made by nature which our body evolved to be around. Our mitochondria even evolved the ability to sense these natural EMFs for general function.
But nnEMFs are entirely man-made, hence the label “non-native.” This is an attempt to hack our way around Mother Nature through the use of technology, but all reckless inputs in systems thinking create a backfiring effect.
The backfiring mechanism behind this just so happens to be the destruction of your mitochondria, melanin, and every other aspect of the body. Wifi, Bluetooth, 5G, all of these inputs are foreign to the body and create havoc at the cellular level. The research on this has gone back to the early 1800s, if not earlier.
With all of this information, what is an online worker supposed to do?
I’ll give you the most practical action steps:
Watch sunrise and sunset as much as possible: Rayleigh scattering allows the red light spectrum to be magnified during these times while all other wavelengths are scattered due to the sun’s position in relation to the atmosphere. This time is one of regeneration for your body.
Rise with the sun: Get outside as quickly as you can after waking with your eyes and skin in the game. No sunglasses. No contacts. Wear glasses if you have poor eyesight and lower them from eye level. Most of your bare skin exposed. No sunscreen. Early AM full spectrum light from the sun is integral to our biology and improves energy levels, sleep quality, hormone production, mental health, and much more.
Sunbathe on the regular: Sunbathing is a habit that will bolster your health and give you more leverage against these harmful inputs from technology. If you’re worried about burning, sunbathing in the early morning time primes the skin for higher midday UV-A and UV-B conditions.
Open the windows when inside: Glass artificially manipulates the sun’s full light spectrum in harmful ways. The greatest way to avoid this altogether is to open the windows while you’re working since light works at the quantum level. It’s able to act as both a particle and a wave, hence scattering throughout your indoor environment.
Block artificial light as much as you can within your household and from technology: Get a pair of dark-lensed blue light blockers. Use software like Iris or f.lux on all of your tech. Download 1 Tap Zap for your phone or change it to red scale. This will protect everything from your circadian rhythm to your eyesight.
Block artificial light strictly after sunset: Follow all of the recommendations mentioned above, but there are a few other important points. The first is to get bulbs purely made to be within the red light spectrum that are also low EMF/no flicker. The second is to use more firelight after sunset. The third is to cover most of your skin because the skin contains light-sensing proteins known as non-visual photoreceptors.
Mitigate nnEMF exposure when working: Never wear bluetooth headphones. Use wired headphones instead. Stop placing your phone next to your head when taking a call. Use the speaker function instead. Never place your laptop on your lap. Never place your phone in your pocket. Don’t work next to your router. Don’t use tech when it’s charging and plugged into the outlet. These are all effective ways of reducing your exposure to harmful non-native electromagnetic frequencies.
All of this comes down to one simple saying:
Brighter days and darker nights.
Make the day time as bright as you can with full spectrum sunlight, while making it as dark as possible after sunset in combination with the use of circadian-friendly lighting.
If you use this framework as somebody who works online, you’ll have the foundation to protect your health and avoid common symptoms of technology use like headaches, eye strain, so forth.
You’ll also be a step ahead of your competition since most people are not doing this.
Much love,
Zaid
Zaid,thanks for the research and guidance here. I’d be curious your thoughts on why I seem to consistently wake up at the same time each morning. It is + or - 2 mins to the dot. I. Assuming this is a good thing given I try to follow your advice on light.
When u mean sunrise, I assume u mean get out 10-20 mins before it so u get to see it, plus do u still get the benefits if it's cloudy?