Welcome to this week’s Thrive in Five, and the first one of the year – so a belated Happy New Year to you.
I’m currently in a hotel room up in Aberdeen, and there are a few things that I do to hack the hotel room and to try and guarantee myself the best night’s sleep. Because one of the things that can be disruptive about travel is the implication on sleep – you’re in a strange bed, in a hotel, preparing for something the next day or just unwinding from the day.
Here are a few things I do…
I carry a little bag around with me which contains my eye mask so I can always eliminate most of the light in a room by covering my eyes. I’ve got some very funky blue light blocking glasses. These are the ones you would wear for the last hour of bedtime (probably in your hotel room and not walking around the hotel!). That’s blocking 90% of all the light in the room. The issue with light is that it suppresses melatonin, and it prevents that sleepy hormone from kicking in.
I have a different pair of glasses that I’ll wear from about 7:00pm onwards if I’m in the room – though I would consider wearing them out! They block out around 40% to 50% of the light that I’m being subjected to. In hotel rooms, lighting can often be really harsh – so whilst they may not be particularly attractive, wearing the blue light blocking glasses is going to have a positive impact on sleep – especially if you twin that with the eye mask.
I also bring tea bags with me, or non-caffeinated beverages because usually in a hotel room, and it’s definitely the case in this hotel room, it’s just caffeinated beverages that are on offer.
In this hotel room there is a little red light on the television, which I will cover with some black tape or electric tape, whatever I decide to bring. Another little tip is, if the curtains in your room have that little gap between them that light leaks through, the clips that you find on the trouser hangers, can be used to clip curtains together so you can eliminate all the light that’s coming through.
There’s several things that you can do when you’re in a hotel room to hack it, to make it a little bit more conducive to sleep.
So my recommendations are to have a little bit of a pack with you, have some tea bags in there, get some glasses, get an eye mask, and get some crocodile clips that you can clip curtains together.
I hope you found that helpful, especially for any of you that frequently spend time in hotel rooms.
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