Important PSA
First of all I should state that I've always been a big advocate of this app. I've been using it for maybe 10 years, pretty much since it first came out.
Recently, I did a bit of research and trial/error, and I have realized that the triple action "Daytime/Sunset/Bedtime" settings (each filtering out more blue light than the previous one) could actually be a great detriment to one's evening productivity.
So there's the daytime setting with no (or minimal) amount of blue light filtering. The "sunset" setting in flux is (by default) active between your local sunset time and your "bedtime". The "bedtime" in flux is the wakeup time you set in the preferences minus 9 hours, so if you left it default your bedtime is set at 11pm. Then at "bedtime" your color screen essentially becomes shades of yellow -- almost no blue light at all.
Here's the catch: If you live on a high enough latitude that you get shitty winter sunset times, like around 3-4pm (like I do) the "sunset" setting activates too early for your biological clock to keep a proper circadian rhythm.
Especially if your work is computer-based this "sunset" shit kicks in way too early and causes your brain to signal your somatic system (peripheral nervous system) to dial itself down, causing you to start feeling foggy and sluggish at times like 5-6pm at which time you're still supposed to be doing things; computer-work or otherwise.
Think about this: You sit at the computer all day. Flux kicks in at your 3pm sunset. You come home at 6pm and you're feeling sluggish AF. No energy left to cook, go to the gym, do laundry, whatever. Maybe you need to finish up on a work email that you left hanging, so you open your laptop at 7pm to churn it out quickly. The moment that yellow-shaded screen comes on, you start feeling foggy, you're like "oh fuck this but whatever lets just shit this thing out" you open your email app but you can't put 2 words together.
Does it sound familiar? No shit. You've been subject to essentially reverse bright light therapy.
If you live somewhere where you can't get enough sunlight you actually DO need the blue light exposure that flux conveniently filters out.
1-2 hours of lack of blue light exposure before bedtime is more than enough to keep a proper circadian rhythm.
This supposed "productivity" app has actually been fucking with my productivity and I wasn't even aware.
Well, fuck that shit. Here's the solution I developed:
I still have 'night shift' mode enabled on my phone because sometimes I check it late at night (if I cant fall asleep in bed) and I don't want the blue light to fuck with the rest of my night. But no f.lux on the computer.
To summarize, If the following apply to you:
Cheers
First of all I should state that I've always been a big advocate of this app. I've been using it for maybe 10 years, pretty much since it first came out.
Recently, I did a bit of research and trial/error, and I have realized that the triple action "Daytime/Sunset/Bedtime" settings (each filtering out more blue light than the previous one) could actually be a great detriment to one's evening productivity.
So there's the daytime setting with no (or minimal) amount of blue light filtering. The "sunset" setting in flux is (by default) active between your local sunset time and your "bedtime". The "bedtime" in flux is the wakeup time you set in the preferences minus 9 hours, so if you left it default your bedtime is set at 11pm. Then at "bedtime" your color screen essentially becomes shades of yellow -- almost no blue light at all.
Here's the catch: If you live on a high enough latitude that you get shitty winter sunset times, like around 3-4pm (like I do) the "sunset" setting activates too early for your biological clock to keep a proper circadian rhythm.
Especially if your work is computer-based this "sunset" shit kicks in way too early and causes your brain to signal your somatic system (peripheral nervous system) to dial itself down, causing you to start feeling foggy and sluggish at times like 5-6pm at which time you're still supposed to be doing things; computer-work or otherwise.
Think about this: You sit at the computer all day. Flux kicks in at your 3pm sunset. You come home at 6pm and you're feeling sluggish AF. No energy left to cook, go to the gym, do laundry, whatever. Maybe you need to finish up on a work email that you left hanging, so you open your laptop at 7pm to churn it out quickly. The moment that yellow-shaded screen comes on, you start feeling foggy, you're like "oh fuck this but whatever lets just shit this thing out" you open your email app but you can't put 2 words together.
Does it sound familiar? No shit. You've been subject to essentially reverse bright light therapy.
If you live somewhere where you can't get enough sunlight you actually DO need the blue light exposure that flux conveniently filters out.
1-2 hours of lack of blue light exposure before bedtime is more than enough to keep a proper circadian rhythm.
This supposed "productivity" app has actually been fucking with my productivity and I wasn't even aware.
Well, fuck that shit. Here's the solution I developed:
- Until 10pm: No filtering. No flux. None at all. Full-on fucking blue light baby. I can't get sunlight where I live, so as it turns out, my body was actually craving that frequency of light so bad, that the moment I switched it off I got a huge mood boost.
- After 10pm: No computer. Put the laptop down. Turn off the TV. You may read a book, listen to some music, smoke a cigar, go meet a friend or FWB, whatever. Just no staring at a light source, f.lux'ed or otherwise.
I still have 'night shift' mode enabled on my phone because sometimes I check it late at night (if I cant fall asleep in bed) and I don't want the blue light to fuck with the rest of my night. But no f.lux on the computer.
To summarize, If the following apply to you:
- Shit sunset (4:30pm or earlier)
- Weather always cloudy/overcast, not enough sunlight
- Office based work
- Evening hours sluggishness (as I described above)
Cheers
“Our great danger is not that we aim too high and fail, but that we aim too low and succeed.” ― Rollo Tomassi