How to Sleep During The Day When Working Nights

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How to Sleep During the Day
04 May

Not everyone works a 9-5 for 40 hours a week, especially not those who are in the healthcare industry. A lot of nurses and doctors work 12 hour shifts through the night only to come home and try to sleep during the day in a sun-lit room. If they’re lucky they might live with someone who has a similar work schedule, if not then their roommate might not care or be able to stay quiet throughout the day.

Get To Sleep During the Day

Since so many people are forced to work at home for the time being, it’s likely that a roommate might just not have the ability to be silent all day. Between answering calls or making lunch or dinner, sometimes people just have to make some noise. Now, this may not be an issues for everyone, some people can sleep through anything, but this one is for all of our light sleepers who can’t get decent sleep during the day.

Use Blackout Curtains to Sleep

Personally, I can’t sleep with lights on or sunlight shining into my room, but I’m also a pretty light sleeper. Luckily my neighborhood is filled with oak trees, so even when the sun comes out, it can’t make its way into my bedroom windows. Because of this I can get away with hanging the sheer curtains I have and they pretty much keep out any light that could have come through the window.

If you just have an issue with light then regular blackout curtains will be fine. Blackout curtains are made out of multiple layers of thick fabric material that will block out around 90% of light. A smaller, less expensive alternative to blackout curtains is wearing an eye mask while you’re trying to sleep during the day, but not everyone can sleep with something touching their face.

Light Sleepers

Use Soundproof Curtains to Sleep

I must have gotten lucky to be living where I live, because I don’t have to deal with too much sunlight in my room (sad when I actually do want some natural light), and I don’t live on a busy road with bad traffic noise. However, if both sunlight and outside noise bother you while you sleep during the day, get soundproof curtains that double as blackout curtains. It’s the best of both worlds!

Unlike normal blackout curtains, soundproof curtains will be lined with an STC-rated material, in this case it’s Mass Loaded Vinyl. This material allows the curtains to actually block the sounds that are disturbing you. You may be thinking, “The blackout curtains I bought are also described as soundproof and they’re cheaper so what’s the difference?” The difference is that regular blackout curtains are only made with thick fabric, and while light can’t travel very easily through thick fabric, sound can.

Sound Blocking Door Cover for Loud Roommates

While I don’t have issues with sound or light coming through my bedroom windows, I do have issues with the noise from outside my bedroom door. Fortunately I don’t work hours that require me to sleep during the day, but even at night my roommate likes to watch TV on full volume when I need to get to sleep for work the next morning.

The solution? If you need to sleep during the day, or any time for that matter, but you have a loud roommate, you could probably use a soundproof door cover. These are made from the same materials as the soundproof curtains, and work to cover up common gaps around and under a door. You might not realize this, but that inch wide gap at the bottom of your door is probably letting in 50% of sound from outside the door. One of our soundproofing rules of thumb says: “A 1% opening on a surface will let in 50% of noise.”

How to Sleep During the Day When Working Nights

So hopefully one of these 3 suggestions will work for you. If you’re not looking to spend a lot of money, or make a lot of modifications to your room, ear plugs and an eye mask might be all you need. Some people just live in loud areas with loud people and may need to spend the extra money and put in some extra time to soundproof their bedroom so they can sleep during the day.