The Counter-Intuitive Curtains

Early on when Sarah and I moved into my current rental house, Sarah ordered us some black-out curtains. The ones she purchased came from a recommendation from a couple we know. Our bedroom was really bright in the morning. And we thought that maybe removing some of that light would give us a better night sleep. We had the curtains up for quite some time (year and a half or so).

One day we were watching a program on TV and one of the people on the show said something that made me question how much the curtains were actually helping me sleep. The program we were watching was one of those lifestyle makeover shows. The person that the crew was making over had been sleeping in his living room as opposed to his bedroom. When the crew asked him why he was choosing to do so (aside from his bedroom being a mess), he said that “I like to wake up with the sun.”  As the episode came to an end the crew had revamped his bedroom and made it livable for him. One of the upgrades that they chose was to add a bedside light that triggered and lit similar to the sun’s light in the morning.

This got me thinking. When we originally moved into the rental house (before the black-out curtain addition) I slept better and I seemed to wake up earlier and more refreshed – something I marked up to being in a new house and becoming adjusted to my new surroundings. For the last year and a half or so, I have been sleeping pretty horribly, well not horribly, but I have had real trouble getting up in the mornings and feeling tired most days. It was when the makeoveree in the show said that he liked waking up with the sun that it hit me. What if trouble sleeping had to do with not having enough sunlight in the morning.

That night I asked my girlfriend if we could open one of the curtains that night. The next morning I woke up about an hour before my alarm went off. And the strange thing was that I was not tired and I was ready to get things done. I felt motivated and energetic. It struck me as odd, but being a natural skeptic I chalked it up to a one off occurrence possible having to do with the curtains being open, but unlikely to effect my sleeping so dramatically over the long term.

The next morning I woke up before my alarm as well and with the same energetic disposition. I mentioned this to Sarah, and though she admitted to not liking having the room so bright so early in the morning, she confessed that she was waking up earlier and feeling very similar to myself. She said she felt “up and at ’em”.

We have been sleeping with the curtains open for the last two weeks or so, and I have noticed no wain in the effects of the morning sunshine on my sleeping habits. This morning Sarah and I awoke at almost the same time, and because I awoke before my alarm, we were able to stay in bed and snuggle in the morning sunshine. It was nice.

Time will tell if our better sleep, early rising time, and energetic feelings in the morning are a short term effect of a pretty dramatic (yet so simple) adjustment to our surroundings. But as of right now, I am convinced that this small decision to open the curtains is a “game-changer”.