The Experiment
There is a lot more light in the the room than we actually think either by having weak shutters, computer or phone chargers, or even a little night light. The slightest quantity of light can stop your body’s melatonin production. By making it a habit to use an eye mask while you sleep, you drastically reduce light from getting into your eyes, enabling your body to rest in the dark. Try this easy experiment before you go to sleep this evening to find out how much ambient light there is in your room, your sensitivity to it, and what you can do instantly to stop it from interrupting your sleep.
Materials Needed
- Alarm Clock
- Sleep Mask or something to cover your eyes with
- Pencil or Pen
- Something to take notes with
Preparation First, place your mask and your alarm clock beside you and then set your it for at least fifteen minutes. This ensures that you won’t fall asleep during the experiment!
Step 1 – How Sensitive Are You to Light? Turn off all the lights, lie down on the bed, and shut your eyes. Give your eyes 1-minute to recalibrate to the dark. Now be aware of any light that seeps to your eyes. I found that this is a nice gauge to determine how receptive you are to the light around you.
Step 2 – How Effective Is Your Sleep Mask
With your eyes remaining closed, now put on your mask. What significant distinctions you notice with your mask in comparison to when you don’t have it on? Do you notice any ambient light while wearing the mask? If so then it’s likely you’ll need a mask that better fits the shape of your face.
Take notes of your own responses to these questions. I would say write it down on your writing pad but that will require you to not only open your eyes but also require you to flip on your lights so you are able to see what you’re writing and that would have to redo the experiment. So for the time being, just take notes and once you are done with the experiment you can record everything on a writing pad.
Step 3 – Identifying the Main Sources of Ambient Light
Remove your eye mask and open your eyes. Now your eyes should be calibrated with dark. Stare up at the ceiling and look for any background light in the room. It may be found everywhere in your room but some of the more typical places to find light are by the windows or door drafts. Once again, take mental notes of places in your room most abundant in light.
Step 4 – What Did You Learn?
Now switch on the lights and write down all of your observations. Here are a few questions to contemplate:
- What is the largest source of ambient light in your room?
- How sensitive are you to this light?
- How does covering your eyes help with the light sensitivity?
- What are some other things you can do to immediately to get rid of ambient light?
The Results
Through this experiment I realized that my room much more light than I thought. One thing especially was my computer. I knew my Macbook gave out a continual rhythm of white light in sleep mode but I never noticed how brighter it looked in the dark.
Also I never realized that while my laptop was charging there was miniature beam of orange light that originated from the computer charger. A faint beam of light goes not noticed in the daytime but is amplified by more than a hundred times in a dark room. I found that the largest source of ambient light came from the street lights and my drapes weren’t thoroughly keeping them out. They weren’t closed completely and the textile was semi-transparent. I was able to see the light through my drapes.
Take Action! Some Suggestions Now it is time to make some changes to the status quo. Review your notes and start with the quick fixes – these are the things you can do right away to completely eliminate the light in your room. Try flipping off your that night light of yours (if you own one) or pulling out your laptop charger when it’s not being used. Changing your existing window curtains for fuller and opaque ones might be expensive and difficult to physically replace; nevertheless, it is probably the most effective way of blocking out light. Wearing a good fitting eye mask will also prevent unwanted light from going into your eyes. Given that they are very affordable and can be bought almost anywhere, it should be an important item to add to everyone’s sleep regimen.
Find out more about ambient light and using the eye mask to improve your health by visiting John’s Eye Mask resource page.
