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Good sleep hygiene is the ultimate flex. The recommendations repeat: Go to bed at 9 P.M., sober, looking at a paperback instead of a screen. Use an alarm clock instead of a cell phone app. But what happens when you’re doing all of that and sleep still doesn’t come? I don’t have insomnia per se, but I still endure hours of staring at my ceiling and calculating the exact amount of Zs I’ll get if I pass out right that second. I needed a more physiological cue to lull my body into relaxation.

A weighted blanket: sure. A candle that I only ever light while I’m winding down. A tea chock full of l-theanine. While wading through each of these solutions, the most helpful for me has been switching out my bedside lamp for a little auto-dimming light with a warm, indirect glow.

When Casper sent me its nightlight to try, I hadn’t realized how smart the gadget really was. I’d just chosen it for its automatic dimming feature and its small profile on my bedside table. It’s compact but functional—my favorite combination.

The Glow Light is gesture-controlled: You flip it over (like an hourglass) to start the light, and twist it if you’d like it to be either dimmer or brighter. If you wiggle it, the device will default to its lowest dimness setting. Tap the top if you’d like some more time before it dims entirely. This customization allowed me to adjust my levels for my activity easily, and I didn’t even have to reference any how-to guides or frustratedly search for an explainer video. 

To buy: $129; amazon.com and casper.com.

For being a lamp, the Glow Light is also pretty controlled. If you sleep next to another person, you could easily use it without disturbing them, as its radius is personal-sized. Since the light is, um, light and portable, you can also carry it around for use as a nightlight that won’t disturb anyone else in your home, as it’s not as pointed as a flashlight. This light is gentler and more diffused, and will also keep you from defaulting to a phone or overhead that might interfere with your ability to fall back asleep after your venture. While I normally just keep it on the wireless charger stand, the Glow Light can last up to seven hours on full brightness from a fifteen-minute charge.

I used the lamp by itself for days before I realized there was an accompanying app. The app allows you to set the amount of time over which your lamp will dim, your preferred wakeup time (it’ll gradually get brighter when you specify) or to bundle groups of Glow Lights to all operate on the same cycle. I could see this remote control being especially great for parents who exasperatedly have to remind their kiddos to stop what they’re doing and go to bed; these types of timers and cues can be helpful. 

A few weeks later, I’m pleased with the intuitive nature of the device. The dim light allows me to more definitively enter my nighttime routine, and it keeps me company up until I pass out. I’ve built out a ritual around this gadget that puts me in a better mood and reminds me to rest during my daytime and nighttime transitions.

If you could use a healthier segue into sleep, the Casper Glow Light is an incredible tool to have in your repertoire. Casper also offers a thirty night risk-free trial, so it’s easy to see if it helps you snooze. Join me in making this genius little nightlight part of your routine.

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