National Geographic | Our Picks of the Week

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OUR PICKS OF THE WEEK

At Nat Geo, we want to help you make smart choices about what to buy—and why. In this weekly email, we'll share with you the coolest, most intriguing products we've come across. This week: how to get a better night's sleep.

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY AMAZON

The Manta Sleep Mask has a lot going for it: soft, breathable cotton; a velcro strap; deep cups that cover your eyes gently; and most importantly, a snug fit that keeps out even the tiniest bit of light. Buy it here.

The loss of just one precious hour of sleep can feel like a blow. So what can you do to ensure a better night's rest?

To help readers cope with the arrival of daylight saving time, I recently compiled some of the helpful sleep tips that our reporters have gathered through the years.

Some of these you've probably heard before—make a bedtime ritual and stop drinking coffee after noon—but others were more surprising. For one, a nightcap is likely to hurt more than help. If you need to adjust your sleep schedule, you should only do so by 15 minutes a day. And while we all know that exposure to light at night is bad for your circadian rhythm, our reporters have found that a tablet is by far the worst of light-emitting devices.

As for when it's time to turn off the lights for good, I’m personally a fan of sleep masks to block out the ambient light in my bedroom.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY AMAZON

I found my favorite—the Alaska Bear sleep mask—four years ago after much trial and error. It’s silky and lightweight, plus I like that I can adjust the band to keep it from squeezing my head. (I actually wear it a little loose so that even in my morning stupor I can easily slip it off and let the sunshine signal to my body that it’s time to wake up!)

See below for a few other tools, chosen by our editorial team, that might help you get a restful night's sleep.

—Amy McKeever, digital editorial manager

BUY THE ALASKA BEAR SLEEP MASK AT AMAZON

See our guide to the best sleep trackers

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OURA

We rated this our favorite sleep tracker overall for its sleek design and slew of sleep metrics, as well as heart rate variability and body temperature. It also combines your health data into three daily "scores," making it easy to compare your sleep quality from day to day.

CHECK THE PRICE AT OURA

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY BEST BUY

Apple Watch Series 8 & 9

Along with their other health tracking tools, Apple's Series 8 and 9 smart watches sport some robust sleep tracking abilities—from the average amount of time you sleep to your respiratory rate.

CHECK THE PRICE AT BEST BUY

WHITE NOISE MACHINES

See our guide to the best white noise machines

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY AMAZON

LectroFan Classic

This white noise machine topped our list. It offers 20 non-looping, digitally created sounds and comes with a 60-minute timer. Its compact size makes it a great option for travelers—and it's also affordable at under $50.

CHECK THE PRICE AT AMAZON

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY AMAZON

Hatch Restore 2

This machine offers everything from meditation to a lighting program designed to help you fall asleep and wake up. It also comes loaded with upgrades, including a free app to manage sleep routines, 10 new alarms, 21 new sleep sounds, and much more.

CHECK THE PRICE AT AMAZON

WEIGHTED BLANKETS

See our guide to the best weighted blankets

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY AMAZON

Gravity Weighted Blanket

Our favorite weighted blanket comes from one of the first companies to introduce and popularize the concept. It's made with lots of attention to detail, including high-quality materials and fine-grade glass beads that are evenly distributed throughout the blanket.

CHECK THE PRICE AT AMAZON

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY BALOO

Baloo Weighted Blanket

Baloo uses chemical-free, breathable cotton—an excellent material for people with sensitive skin. This blanket is filled with lead-free glass microbeads that create a gentle and even weight across the body.

CHECK THE PRICE AT BALOO

AIRPLANE ACCESSORIES

See our guide to sleeping soundly on an airplane

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY CABEAU

Cabeau Evolution Classic Neck Pillow

Airplane seats that barely recline aren't exactly made for sleeping. This pillow, with its raised sides, supports your head and can help prevent neck cramps, giving you a shot at a nap.

CHECK THE PRICE AT CABEAU

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY AMAZON

Sony WF 1000XMF4 Truly Wireless Noise Canceling Headphone

One way to drown out noises on a plane is to use noise canceling headphones. You can try an over-the-ear style or an ear bud option, like this set from Sony, which fits comfortably in your ears.

CHECK THE PRICE AT AMAZON

*Although we are sharing our personal opinions of these experiences or products with you, National Geographic is not endorsing these experiences or products on behalf of anyone. It has not performed product safety testing on any of these products, did not manufacture them, and is not selling, or distributing them and is not making any representations about the safety or caliber of these products or experiences for individual consumers. Prices and availability are subject to change from the date of publication.

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