Annie Chou

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Joanne Chen |Annie Chou

By emitting a constant, monotonous hum, white noise machines have long helped to enhance relaxation, foster restful sleep, and improve focus. A white noise machine can block unwelcome or distracting noises while you are trying to sleep, and it may even help to quiet a cacophony of anxiety-inducing thoughts in the middle of the night. Since 2016, we’ve tested more than 30 popular devices and apps against an array of annoying noises, and we’ve interviewed sleep researchers and audio engineers.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Caira Blackwell |Annie Chou

An expensive mattress doesn’t make sense for every living situation. Most good-quality foam, innerspring, and hybrid (part coil and part foam) mattresses cost more than $1,000, which may be more than you want to spend if you’re outfitting a guest bedroom, heading to college, or simply on a budget. But a lot of the cheap mattresses online are uncomfortable, low-quality, and saggy—and ultimately they could wind up being a waste of money and effort.

Feb 16, 2024 | nytimes.com | Annie Chou

I’ve never had an easy time drifting off to sleep. I typically spread out in bed, tossing and turning incessantly before finally conking out. I’ve tried weighted blankets, hoping they would help quell my restless shifting, but I would wake up at 3 a.m., a frantic, sweaty mess. Then I started seeing ads for Hug Sleep’s Sleep Pod, a Shark Tank–famous, adult-size, full-body swaddle designed to offer calming pressure without the heft and heat of a weighted blanket.