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> I don't use a set of blackout curtains, but I know several friends that say it makes a real difference. Maybe a year ago, I was planning on having a sleep st
by scruple 5y ago
> I don't use a set of blackout curtains, but I know several friends that say it makes a real difference.
Maybe a year ago, I was planning on having a sleep study done. At some point in my 30s I stopped feeling like I was recovering when I slept. I decided, however, that there were some things that I could work on improving before having a sleep study.
Most of what I addressed falls under sleep hygiene: Blackout curtains, better sheets, better blanket/comforter, better pillows, a better mattress, a sleep mask, reducing noise. It took a while to sort all of this out. "Better" is also subjective.
I also slowly worked on getting to bed earlier. I used to get into bed around 11:30pm. Now I'm in bed between 9:30 and 10pm. I read a little bit and then sleep. I stopped having calories after ~7pm.
We have young children, too. 3 under 3. I sleep very well now. Despite the regular interruptions I actually feel like I am getting the highest quality sleep of my adult life right now.
The blackout curtains, though... The difference they made from one day to the next was immediately obvious. My wife and I both woke up feeling more refreshed, looked at each other and said, "Why did we wait so long to do this?"
- aantix 5y ago+1 for the blackout curtains. Easily 20% better sleep. And our only source of light at night prior was a street light outside our bedroom window.
- cj 5y agoBlackout curtains are great for sleeping, but I have trouble waking up and getting out of bed when the room is still completely dark (when it’s light outside in the AM). Recently bought some Hue smart lights to simulate sunrise with blackout curtains which is helping. Next up, motorized blinds that open at a scheduled time. (#firstworldproblems)
- agumonkey 5y agoAccidentally set up android's new gradually lit screen alarm, and it really made waking up quite nicer. The kind of "oh wow, so simple yet so nice" feeling when it happens.
- btgeekboy 5y agoLiving in Seattle, having lights that turn on in the morning really help wake me up in the winter months. I use an Alexa routine which turns on NPR and turns the nightstand lights to ~50% so they’re providing light but not harshly so.
- tlokas 5y agoI live in the arctic, and black out curtains in the summer is a must have (as it's daylight 24/7 for a month). And around december it's dark 24/7, so a sunrise lamp helps a lot to wake up naturally and not feel like total crap every morning.
- scanny 5y agoHere in Germany they have metal shutters that vertically descend and black out all light and sound. It’s common on most windows. They are permeated with little holes that allows light and sound in if they have not fully descended. If they have then the little holes are folded shut. I’ve found the same issue where if they’re completely down waking up is hard, so I leave the top two rows of holes open to let in natural light. I think having a small amount of light gradually filtering in helps a bunch to wake-up. Video of shutters - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_KePLmie7lE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_KePLmie7lE
- jcynix 5y ago> Here in Germany they have metal shutters [...] Small correction: not metal, these are (mostly) made out of plastic nowadays, sometimes aluminum, and earlier, from wood. But yes, the effect if they aren't fully closed, is nicely adjustable to limit light without making a room pitch fark.
- egeozcan 5y agoI'm living in Germany and my wife really likes shutting them fully. That really makes it hard for me to wake up. I wish I could automate them. 2 problems: We don't own the flat we are living in and I wouldn't even know where to start hacking these fully closed electronic systems.
- BrandiATMuhkuh 5y agoI think you are looking for something like this. https://www.jalousiescout.de/gurtwickler/elektrische-gurtwickler/jaromat-eco-ap-15-5.html https://www.jalousiescout.de/gurtwickler/elektrische-gurtwic... I believe most tool stores (OBI, Bauhaus) have them. At least here in Austria.
- BrandoElFollito 5y agoI live in France and we have the same shutters (metal plates rolling vertically with th esmall holes that can be uncovered). I automate what I can at home - the CHO (Chief Home Officer - my wife) mostly disapproves because of some weird concerns about reliability (70% of availability for lights is that I call great, but opinions vary). There is a simple solution for the shutters - you can use a Shelly 2.5 (https://shelly.cloud/products/shelly-25-smart-home-automation-relay/ https://shelly.cloud/products/shelly-25-smart-home-automatio...) that you connect in parallel to the shutter. It works wonders if you have a manual switch on the wall and probably with a remote too (I specifically asked for a manual switch on the wall). You can program the device itself to open the shutters at, say, 10 minutes before sunrise or whatever. You can easily remove them when you leave your flat and reuse somewhere else. The Real Solution For Real Hackers (c) is to use Home Assistant (https://www.home-assistant.io/ https://www.home-assistant.io/). <flamewar on> Do not settle for inferior systems such as jeedom, domoticz, ... </flame war off please do not hunt me>
- ptman 5y agoI've had great success with Wake-up Lights / Sunrise alarm clocks. They do get quite bright when fully lit.
- bestnameever 5y agoHue smart lights simulated sunrise was a game changer for me.
- egeozcan 5y agoWhen I wake up and realize that in the morning, all I get for light is out of a smart-bulb, I get inexplicably depressed.
- rubenbe 5y agoI did buy the motorized curtains. It is quite expensive, but works pretty well. I'm really happy about them, nothing beats natural light to wake up.
- frn123 5y agoI got SwitchBot Curtain for a simple DYI motorized curtains project. Affordable and trivial to install. I let the light in 10 minutes before the alarm. Should've got it sooner.
- derefr 5y agoI've always wondered why both "sunrise lamps" (like the one you're referring to) and "light-therapy lamps" (i.e. lamps of 10000+lm with a diffuser) exist, but there are no sunrise light-therapy lamps, which 1. go from dim to holy-wow-that's-bright on a slow timer, and 2. which are designed in a shape where you could fit them around your bed somehow. (IMHO, they'd ideally be a flat ceiling panel!)
- mikeiz404 5y agoHave you tried a sleep mask? Once you lift it off the room will be light again. I found that to help quite a bit and as a bonus they are portable and much more economical than motorized blinds or blackout curtains. That being said motorized shades do seem pretty neat and may have a privacy advantage depending on where you live.
- whoisburbansky 5y agoWould you say the blackout curtains made a bigger difference than the sleep mask?
- yojo 5y agoNot OP, but had the same experience several years ago. The answer is yes. If you want a cheap test, you can tape aluminum foil over your bedroom window(s) for a night (learned this from The Martian!). It will fully block all light, and you probably already have what you need to try it in your home. Note that it does have the downside that from the outside you look like a crazy person. I also use this trick when traveling - some AirBnBs have crazy thin curtains.
- whoisburbansky 5y agoHuh, that's kind of wild. I'd assumed that blocking all light out at your eyes would do the same trick, I'll have to try the blackout curtains. Thanks!
- yojo 5y agoI use a mask too, but it moves around when I sleep. Even properly positioned I haven’t found a mask that doesn’t leak around the edges.
- scruple 5y agoI have this problem, too. I've tried probably a dozen masks, the best was one that I got overseas in Southeast Asia and it has no branding, etc.
- mikeiz404 5y agoYour face structure may be different than mine but I found this sleep mask stays put and works well at blocking out the light — https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07D3M5TTZ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07D3M5TTZ
- 5y ago
- ijustwanttovote 5y agoMy wife was complaining about waking up in the middle of the night. I grabbed some black out curtains. She woke up the next day feeling better than she has for a long time. Turns out there was a streetlight that would hit her in the face and was causing her to wake up. We didn't realize it until we got the blackout curtains.