Light plays a huge part in our sleep. For a quick reference, check out the prior entries in the sleep challenge. Previously, we talked about blocking all the light coming through your bedroom window. These days we have many sources of light. Many people are lucky or unlucky enough (depending on your perspective) to share a room. Because of this, you can’t always control light while you sleep. You may have a spouse that has to have a light to go to the bathroom at night. Perhaps you have a newborn that needs a special lamp to fight jaundice. Or maybe your special someone insists on watching TV in bed well after you want to go to sleep. While the goal here isn’t to solve your relationship issues, here’s a suggestion that might help.
If you can’t eliminate all the light in your room, try a sleeping mask. A comfortable sleeping mask over your eyes and earplugs in your ears can block many of the disturbances ruining your sleep. Even better, this change doesn’t require negotiation with anybody else. Just buy the mask and start using it. If someone makes fun of you, send the guilt back their way by casually mentioning you wouldn’t need it if they’d turn the TV off at night. Maybe your dedication to sleep will rub off on them. Based on their attitude, they could probably use a little better sleep.