Avoid the Daylight Savings Time Blues

March 3-10 is the National Sleep Foundation’s annual week–long campaign to celebrate the health benefits of sleep.                      

Daylight Savings Begins March 10th and that means we spring forward 1 hour on Saturday night.  Sleep experts recommend training yourself for the time change by going to bed 10-15 minutes earlier every night until you’re going to bed one hour earlier.  But what if you have difficulty falling asleep?   You might want to consider making some simple changes to your bedroom. 

 The idea is to create an environment that is conducive to sleep – calm, cool and dark. 

CALM: The bedroom should be used for rest and relaxation – a sanctuary. So eliminate all those things that disturb your calm. Eliminate clutter. Vacuum and clean regularly to remove dust and other allergens that can disturb your sleep. Choose a calming color pal­ette such as blues, greens and purples. Add plants like spider plants and peace lilies to clean the air naturally. Use drapery panels to soften harsh visual edges and dampen sound. Area rugs can also be used to absorb as well. 

COOL: The best sleep environments are cool – somewhere between 65-70°F – so turn down the ther­mostat by a few degrees in the evening. You’ll improve your sleep and decrease your heating bill. Use window treatments to control the temperature in your rooms. Some treatments have higher R-factors, a measure of resistance to heat flow, which means they provide more insulation than window treatments with lower R-fac­tors. Cellular shades are excellent insulators and can also help to regulate the temperature. 

DARK: Light disrupts sleep. It is relatively easy to turn off inside lights, reposition your alarm clock or turn off the television. Other light sources, like street lamps, moonlight or outdoor lighting are controlled by limiting access. If light is seeping in through the gaps between your window treatment and the window frame, you may benefit from adding drapery panels and cornice boxes that cover the gaps. If you’re in the market for new blinds, routless louvers eliminate the tiny holes traditional blinds have.

Conversely, homeowners who add programmable motoriza­tion to their window treatments can open the window coverings in the morning allowing the sunlight to assist in the waking process.

These tips should help you acquire better quality sleep, which will lead to higher productivity, better health, and a positive attitude throughout the day. For more resources regarding sleep visit www.sleepfoundation.org.  This week, I will also share daily sleep and design tips on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/budgetblindsgreatertampa.

Elaine Trotter is the co-owner of Budget Blinds of Greater Tampa, a custom window covering company that provides a convenient shop at home service to clients in Hillsborough and Pasco counties.  For more information visit their website at www.budgetblinds.com/northtampa or call 813-968-5050.