#56 - The Top 10 Blogs of 2020
As I write this, it’s January 1st 2021 - we made it !
It’s been quite a year at WINK. A year of growth and a lot to talk/write about when it comes to sleep.
And it’s clear our various blogs are one of the most popular webpages on our website.
We really appreciated the emails we received from subscribers and the conversations and debates that ensued on social media platforms.
So rather than write a blog that looks forward (eg, “Is Sleep Part of Your New Year’s Resolution”) - we’re gonna reflect back on a year of blogging.
Why?
Well it tells us a bit about what people like to read and learn about.
You might even learn a thing or two from us about blogging.
So now - a quote from a 90s band -
“Here We Go!”
Number 1
Yep. Despite a shitty year, people loved to read about depression.
We don’t know why - but we do know that posts and blogs about depression rank highly.
In 2020, we noticed far more views whenever we posted about depression.
And then we’d take a break from depressing posts - and views would gradually subside.
Then we’d post about depression - and views increased.
We used a classic A-B-A-B research design (where A was not a depressing post; and B was a depressing post).
So if you’re blogger - or post the occasional article - our data suggest you may wish to consider writing about depression and see what happens to your views?
Number 2
Sometimes people are just interested in knowing whether something they do is right or wrong.
Take for instance this morning - January 1st.
If we surveyed everyone’s wake-up time this morning, it’s likely that sleeping-in is completely normal today.
Just remember that although there’s plenty of studies that show sleeping-in can be bad - it rates as one of the most pleasurable activities.
Number 3
2020 will become synonymous with COVID-19 - but the other big event was the United States election.
And this blog was a joy to write - mainly due to the innovative research it was based on.
And that was because the main studies in this article did not directly measure sleep.
Instead, it was inferred from the absence of behaviour (in this case, tweeting).
This was only a recent post, yet it sky-rocketed to Number 3.
Why?
It could be that it was timely - written the day after the 2020 Election.
It could also be due to being different.
Amongst everyone trying to report on the latest news - this blog took a fresh approach. A topic that allowed people to take a small break from the ‘red wave’ and the ‘blue wave’.
So again - if you’re a blogger or post-er, perhaps consider taking a fresh approach on a topical issue in 2021?
Number 4
This blog had been simmering in the background for a while.
And it was sparked in 2019.
You see, at the Worldsleep2019 conference in Vancouver, my team and I presented our sleep science on the world stage; we networked with the greats; we learned the latest sleep science. The knowledge from this conference of 3,000+ attendees will undoubtedly begin to be reported in scientific journals for everyone to learn.
Yet when the conference was over and I went onto LinkedIn, I noticed a big change.
Many ‘sleep experts’ were debating with me - like I didn’t know what I was talking about.
And these ‘sleep experts’ weren’t at the conference.
When I looked them up - they hadn’t produced any sleep research.
And if they did, it was bugger all (ie, Aussie slang for ‘not much’ - eg, ‘The Sleep Doctor’ has published 9 studies - I’m at 112).
So I wrote this blog not only as a way to help me work through this disparity, but also to guide people who wouldn’t know the difference between a Dr Michael Breus and a Dr Michael Gradisar.
But colour me pink! (ie, I’m sorry I offended people). This blog sparked a debate.
Perhaps like other blogs in this list - writing a blog that is ‘polarising’ attracts more readers?
Like my criticism of the world’s biggest (ie, multi-billion dollar) sleep company - who I called out this week for suggesting to people to try a technique that could cause insomnia (you can click on the image to see what happened).
Number 5
When social isolation began, we made predictions about what might happen to people’s sleep.
We based this on two types of patients we’ve seen during our career:
Retirees who transition to a more unstructured lifestyle, and
Teenagers who cannot leave their room (let alone their house).
For the most part, when the data started to be published, the COVID-induced sleep was more like the second group.
People were sleeping-in later.
This meant they were getting more sleep.
We’ve seen this in adult studies - and even in one of our own studies with babies.
Again, this blog was likely popular because it was timely.
Then again, it was more like a vlog than a blog (ie, a video).
If you’re a blogger - have you considered filming a vlog?
Number 6
An oldie but a goodie.
Is this blog popular because it supports a behaviour that people already do?
Was it popular because people began questioning their tech use after watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix?
Or was it because I kept referring people to this blog whenever they suggested the blue light from screens affects our sleep?
If you ever write a blog that you feel is the ‘one-stop-shop’ that everyone can go to for the answer, then by all means keep referring people to it.
And don’t feel bad for it.
Science can help us feel more confident about what is right and what is wrong.
Coz (ie, slang for ‘Because’) at the end of the day - science is supposed to improve our lives.
Number 7
Sleep and well-being experts loved this blog. As did people in the tech industry.
It was a blog that spanned multiple types of readers.
But what inspired me to write this one?
A year ago, I was approached by a guy in the USA who wanted to get my take on a new piece of sleep tech.
After a year of testing the device, our discussions now turn to marketing, social media, crowdfunding, contracts and percentage of revenue - topics I was never taught in my Uni studies. Yet these are topics that are stimulating my academic brain!
But what also dawned on me was that I cannot do it all - meaning, I don’t have the time to take on all the opportunities to help people sleep better in the world.
That also means that there’s plenty of opportunities out there. And at the moment, I refer work to my other team members.
But it’s going to get to the point soon where we have to begin referring to others outside of our team.
And that may be you - well, we love our subscribers - but now we’ve created an Inner Circle - where people can now become members of WINK and learn so much more.
Not just about the science-side of sleep - but also the business of sleep.
We want to create an extended family of WINK members. People who will stand out, be stellar, and garner more of the dollars going around in this multi-billion dollar industry.
And like my motto at work - we will have FUN doing it!
So when our team is saturated with work - we want to refer work to our WINK members.
If you haven’t checked out what membership entails, have a scroll through our Login page.
And the even better news is that we’re going to lower the price of our WINKs and BLINKs in 2021 - as well as increase the discount on these products for our members (from 25% off to 50% off).
Number 8
In 2010 I did a sleep talk in the Arctic Circle (well, the University of Tromsø).
To get the significance of where this University is - right now they are experiencing the ‘Dark Period’ (what other people call the ‘Polar Night’).
My wife loves looking at the time-lapsed videos (have you ever seen the moon move across the sky like this?).
As part of that talk I described Bright Light Therapy - and a new way of delivering light.
I donned the prototype of the LED glasses during the talk.
It takes a lot of effort to make Norwegians laugh. And if making Norwegians laugh is on your bucket list - then wear a pair of these glasses around them.
As you can see from the picture of our 8th most popular blog - they look weird.
We don’t know if it’s the content that attracts people to blogs, or the title, but sometimes it may just be the image associated with a blog that gets them curious to learn more …
Number 9
I did my PhD on ‘Thermoregulation, Sleep and Insomnia’.
Back then, there were 3 research groups in the world looking into this topic (which isn’t much).
It’s not a popular topic at sleep conferences, and you don’t see many publications about it in scientific journals.
But twice a year, journalists love the topic (depending on which hemisphere they live in)!
And it seems that readers do too - because in this blog we spoke about how having a biological engine that burns hotter 24/7 may be a reason why people wake up during the night.
And like our 7th most popular blog (The Sleep Tech Boom) - the tech industry also liked this blog.
That’s because I was sent a $1,000 piece of sleep tech that is designed to cool people whilst they sleep.
I guess it does pay to blog, hey?
Does this device work? Well, I’m going to do a vlog about it in the next couple of months.
Why was this blog popular? Sometimes a simple message works.
Number 10
Even though this blog only came in at Number 10, melatonin is a popular topic.
So many people use it - but barely anyone knows how to use it.
Our Sleep & Melatonin BLINK was the 2nd most popular product on the WINK website in 2020.
If you’re a blogger, consider writing a blog on melatonin in 2021?
Just make sure you know how to use melatonin!
Honourable Mentions
These two blogs received the exact same number of views. And they were both 1 view behind our 10th most popular blog (Melatonin).
So we figured they should get an Honourable Mention.
And what they have in common is something that can keep us awake at night.
Thoughts.
Anyone who knows how to deliver Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia knows that the Behavioural techniques are so therapeutic that you rarely get to use the Cognitive techniques.
Yet Cognitive techniques can have an added effect.
It’s just that their effect is not so easy to see.
That’s because the improvements can occur weeks - even months - after learning them.
In 2021, we’ll be releasing our Short Online Course that will teach a range of cognitive techniques for insomnia - some that other experts don’t know.
Watch out for this in early 2020 - oh, and yes. Here’s another plug for the WINK membership (members will get 90% off the price).
Prof Michael Gradisar