The Sleep Industrial Complex: How Gadgets Keep Us Awake
How treating insomnia like a math problem stops us from getting the sleep we need
INSOMNIA
TL;DR: The booming “sleep industrial complex” sells gadgets and apps that promise better rest—but often make insomnia worse by fueling anxiety and over-monitoring. Sleep isn’t something you can hack or control; it’s more like a relationship built on trust. Research shows the most effective approach is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i), which focuses on simple, consistent habits like keeping regular bedtimes, limiting bed to sleep, and letting go of pressure. Gadgets can support healthy routines, but they aren’t the solution. The key is to stop chasing sleep and start rebuilding trust with your body’s natural rhythms.
The Sleep Industrial Complex: How Gadgets Keep Us Awake
A Modern Obsession with Sleep
In the past decade, sleep has gone from a quiet, taken-for-granted part of life to a billion-dollar industry. Walk into any store or scroll through your feed and you’ll find endless promises of better rest: sleep trackers, smart mattresses, weighted blankets, blackout curtains, blue-light–blocking glasses, CBD oils, melatonin gummies, sound machines, white-noise apps, and more.
The irony? We’ve never had more tools available—and yet, rates of insomnia remain stubbornly high (Morin & Benca, 2012).
The prologue of Jade Wu’s Hello Sleep captures this perfectly. She introduces us to Kate, a software engineer who tracked every detail of her sleep as if she were debugging code. Instead of sleeping more, she grew more anxious, frustrated, and disconnected from the natural rhythms her body was trying to follow.
This story mirrors what I see often in my practice: when sleep becomes a project to manage or a problem to “hack,” we lose our ability to simply rest.
What Is the “Sleep Industrial Complex”?
The phrase “sleep industrial complex” captures the booming business built on our collective fear of not sleeping enough. Like the diet industry, it thrives by convincing us that we are broken, lacking, or failing at something natural—and that the solution is a product or gadget.
On the surface, the message seems reassuring: you can buy your way out of insomnia. But underneath, it reinforces the belief that your body can’t be trusted.
This mindset makes insomnia worse. Instead of relaxing into rest, you’re constantly evaluating, experimenting, and worrying about whether the newest device is “working.”
The Paradox of Monitoring Sleep
Let’s pause here: are sleep trackers, apps, and wearables all bad? Not necessarily. They can provide useful data for spotting patterns, like whether your bedtime is creeping later or if alcohol disrupts your deep sleep.
But here’s the paradox: the more closely you monitor sleep, the harder it often becomes to actually sleep.
This phenomenon is called orthosomnia—insomnia triggered by worrying about sleep quality itself. Research has shown that people who monitor their sleep too closely may actually experience heightened anxiety and worse sleep outcomes (Kolla et al., 2019).
Sleep doesn’t respond well to force. Unlike productivity or fitness goals, it’s not something you can push harder to achieve.
The Illusion of Control
The sleep industrial complex sells us the idea of control: that if we just find the right gadget, formula, or technique, we’ll finally conquer insomnia.
But here’s the truth: sleep is more like a friendship than a project. It thrives on trust, consistency, and letting go—not micromanagement.
Think about the last time you drifted off easily. It probably wasn’t after obsessing over your heart-rate variability. More likely, it was a night when you felt safe, calm, and unpressured.
The illusion of control keeps us chasing, but the chase itself is what pulls us further from rest.
What Actually Helps Sleep
So, if gadgets aren’t the magic answer, what does help? Research consistently points to approaches rooted in behavior, environment, and mindset rather than products.
Here are a few principles supported by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i), the gold standard treatment:
Consistency beats complexity. Going to bed and waking up at the same time, even on weekends, does more than any smart mattress ever could.
Bed = sleep and sex only. If your bed becomes a place of tossing, scrolling, or working, your brain stops associating it with rest.
Get up if you can’t sleep. Lying in bed awake trains your body to link bed with frustration. Instead, get up, do something quiet and calming, then return when sleepy.
Ditch the clock. Watching minutes tick by fuels anxiety. Turn it away or keep it out of reach.
Shift focus to rest, not performance. Instead of striving for eight perfect hours, aim to create conditions for rest—dim lights, gentle rituals, and self-compassion when sleep doesn’t come easily.
CBT-i is highly effective, with meta-analyses showing sustained improvements in both sleep onset and maintenance compared to medications or no treatment (Trauer et al., 2015).
Rebuilding Trust with Sleep
One of the most healing shifts my clients experience is reframing how they view sleep. Instead of seeing it as a problem to solve, they begin treating it as a relationship to rebuild.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Curiosity instead of judgment. Notice your patterns without labeling them “good” or “bad.”
Gentle consistency. Keep routines, but don’t punish yourself when life interrupts them.
Compassion in setbacks. A bad night isn’t a failure. It’s a normal fluctuation.
Letting go of control. Allow sleep to arrive on its own, rather than demanding it.
This mindset not only lowers anxiety, but it restores confidence in the body’s natural rhythms (Harvey, 2002).
When Gadgets Do Help
That said, let’s not throw out every tool. Some devices can support healthier habits—if used in the right way.
Light therapy lamps can help reset circadian rhythms, especially for shift workers or those struggling with seasonal changes.
Sound machines may reduce environmental disruptions in noisy settings.
Weighted blankets can provide soothing sensory input for anxiety.
The difference is in how we use them. Tools should support a healthy sleep relationship, not replace it. If a gadget becomes another thing to obsess over, it’s working against you.
Breaking Free from the Sleep Industrial Complex
The truth is liberating: you don’t need a drawer full of gadgets to sleep well. What you need is to step out of the cycle of pressure, performance, and control.
The next time you’re tempted to buy the newest sleep tracker, pause and ask:
Will this help me relax, or will it make me more anxious?
Am I using this as a crutch, or as a gentle support?
What’s one simple, free step I can take tonight instead?
Often, the answer is as straightforward as dimming the lights, reading a few pages of a calming book, or practicing slow breathing
Final Thoughts
The sleep industrial complex thrives on our desperation. But you don’t have to keep buying into the myth that rest comes from outside you. Your body already knows how to sleep—it’s built into your biology. The work is about clearing away the noise, not adding more to it.
If you’re struggling, remember this: you don’t need to fix sleep. You need to rebuild trust with it. That process is slower, gentler, and infinitely more effective than any gadget could ever promise.
✨ Keep reading to explore more articles on sleep and insomnia. And if you’d like support in making these changes, consider booking a free consultation—I’d be glad to walk alongside you in the process.
References
Harvey, A. G. (2002). A cognitive model of insomnia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(8), 869–893. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00061-4
Kolla, B. P., Mansukhani, M. P., & Mansukhani, L. L. (2019). Consumer sleep tracking devices: A review of mechanisms, validity, and utility. Expert Review of Medical Devices, 13(5), 497–506. https://doi.org/10.1080/17434440.2016.1171708
Morin, C. M., & Benca, R. (2012). Chronic insomnia. The Lancet, 379(9821), 1129–1141. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60750-2
Trauer, J. M., Qian, M. Y., Doyle, J. S., Rajaratnam, S. M. W., & Cunnington, D. (2015). Cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine, 163(3), 191–204. https://doi.org/10.7326/M14-2841
Wu, J. (2023). Hello Sleep: The Science and Art of Overcoming Insomnia Without Medications. St. Martin’s Essentials.
FAQ: Sleep, Gadgets, and Insomnia
Struggling with sleepless nights and wondering whether gadgets, apps, or therapy might help? Here are answers to some of the most common questions clients ask about insomnia, sleep tools, and evidence-based therapy.
1. Do sleep trackers actually work for improving insomnia?
Sleep trackers can provide interesting data, but research shows they don’t usually improve insomnia—and sometimes they make things worse by increasing anxiety. If you’re noticing more stress than benefit from tracking, it may be time to step back. If you do decide to use a tracker, the best thing you can do is to use it consistently and make data comparisons to yourself with the same tracker. Comparing between trackers or people can lead to confusions that perpetuate confusion and anxiety.
2. Should I stop using all gadgets if I can’t sleep?
Not necessarily. Some tools, like white-noise machines or light therapy lamps, can support healthy routines. The key is whether a gadget helps you relax—or if it makes you obsess about your sleep. If it’s the latter, it’s probably doing more harm than good.
3. What’s the best evidence-based treatment for insomnia?
The most effective treatment is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i). Dozens of studies show it improves sleep long-term by addressing unhelpful habits, thoughts, and sleep-related anxiety—without relying on medication.
4. How does therapy with you work for sleep issues?
I combine CBT-i with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which not only helps restore healthy sleep patterns but also teaches clients how to shift their relationship with sleep—moving from control and frustration toward trust and acceptance.
5. What if I want to start improving my sleep now?
You don’t need to wait. Begin with small changes: keep a consistent wake-up time, limit your bed to sleep and intimacy, and avoid clock-watching at night. If you’d like support applying CBT-i strategies in a personalized way, I offer free consultations to explore how therapy might help.