Ever wondered why you’re not a morning person? You’re not alone! Searches for this have soared by 100% in the last 12 months alone. To explore why this is, we’ve teamed up with Dave Gibson, Sleep Coach and founder of The Sleep Site to explain how to hack your sleep routine and become more of a morning person. Now’s the perfect time to change up your routine – as the clocks spring forward and the mornings grow lighter, the change in daylight is more than just a sign that spring is here; it’s a golden opportunity to transform your day!
Become an Early Riser with Light Exposure
Whether you’re a morning person or a night owl is more than just a habit, it’s actually linked to your genetics as Dave Gibson explains, “we all inherit natural sleep/wake chronotypes which dictate what time of the day we’re most alert and when we feel the tiredness kick in”.
Don’t worry, it’s not completely set in stone, and if you do want become more of an early riser, changing your habits around sleep can help to influence your biorhythm. “While you can’t completely change your natural body clock from being a night-owl to a morning lark, if you ensure that when you wake up, you make it as bright as you can straight away, you can help reset your body clock earlier,” Gibson explains, “exposure to morning light and consistent sleep schedules can help you shift your natural rhythms over time.”
But who wants to jump out of bed to switch on the lights and open the curtains the moment they wake up? Not many of us! So we’ve come up with some small changes you can make in your daily routine to help facilitate this.
If you’re looking at how to improve sleep, Electric Blinds are a great place to start. With our SmartView app, you can program them so you blinds raise autonomously in the morning, letting the all-important natural sunlight seep into your home and hack your morning routine. “Natural sunlight is one of the key mechanisms that strengthens our circadian rhythm, which is what helps us get a more restful sleep,” Gibson adds.
So, how much natural sunlight should you try to enjoy every day? Gibson recommends 30 minutes of exposure to natural light as early as possible every day, “our bodies need 1000 lux to function at their best. Even if you can’t get out – after all, life can get in the way sometimes – just letting the sunlight stream in through your window can deliver 700 lux, which is a vast improvement compared to artificial indoor lighting.”
And not only does natural light help to regulate your circadian rhythm, it also enhances vitamin D production, which combine to boost your mood too! Setting timers on your blinds for them to open when you need to wake up is a great way to kickstart your day with plenty of natural sunlight.
Bring Sleepmaxxing Into Your Routine
If you’ve been online recently, you’ve probably also seen the latest trend taking the internet by storm – ‘sleepmaxxing’. With over 8 million views on videos posted to TikTok alone in the last three months, this trend focuses on sleep optimisation, looking at tips and tricks to help you get better and more sleep. So, how can you add sleepmaxxing to your routine?
“Being woken up by sunlight is one of the most productive ways to engage in this trend as it is essentially the most natural way of waking, as long as you have had sufficient sleep,” Gibson says. Like Electric Blinds, sunrise-style alarm clocks make a great addition to your routine. And we’re not the only ones who think so – they’ve soared in popularity in recent years with searches of ‘sunlight lamp’ breaking out on Google with the search interest increasing by over 5000% in the last five years.
Improve Sleep with Blackout Blinds
While Electric Blinds are an expert-backed method of how improving your sleep cycle and becoming more of a morning person, Gibson also explains how investing in Blackout Blinds in the bedroom is also beneficial for improving sleep, “exposure to light is one of the key mechanisms that wakes us, and conversely, the absence of light is a key initiator of sleep along with a decreasing body temperature. Blackout Blinds and Curtains are the best option for stopping light leakage into the bedroom from streetlights in the evening and the rising sun in the morning. It is the absence of light after the setting sun that stimulates the pineal gland in the brain to release melatonin, which is the hormone that creates our ‘desire to sleep’.”
Luckily, we have a wide range of blackout blinds & curtains available so you’re sure to find the perfect complement to your home. The question is, which style of Blackout Blind should you choose? We’ve listed some of our favourites below to help you decide!
Our Blackout Blinds with Side Tracks are the perfect choice if you’re looking to block out as much light as possible. These blinds combine opaque, energy-efficient, and noise-reducing fabric with a fully enclosed frame system to offer the most complete blackout in our collection. Plus, TotalShade and Click2Shade also offer no drill recess fitting!
Blackout Roman Blinds are an ever popular choice for bedrooms, and with a plethora of fabrics and designs to choose from, you’re sure to find the perfect match for any interior. Plus, you can add our SmartView electric upgrade to most of these, allowing you to enjoy both the blackout qualities of these blinds in the evenings and natural sunlight in the mornings.
Improve Sleep with Blackout Curtains
Blackout Curtains are ideal at improving sleep quality and bring a soft, sumptuous look to your window. With a wide variety of fabrics, patterns and designer names, you’re sure to find the perfect print for your home. What’s more, they also layer wonderfully with other styles of blinds to create depth and add interest to your window. Pair with a Roman Blind for a more traditional look, or layer them with a Wooden Blind for a more modern, contemporary finish.
Hopefully this has given you some great tips and tricks for hacking your sleep routine, and inspiration on how to transform your bedroom into a sleep sanctuary! Explore our full collection of blinds & curtains, or for more ideas on how to upgrade your décor, check out our Sleep Easy Quiz today.
