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Quiet Time

© Stephen Weistling

When I hear from shiftworkers who relate their tribulations with the awful schedules they keep, one topic recurs. Simply put, night workers are not getting enough sleep during the day. You know all about it - household chores, babysitting, kids' sports, family gatherings, etc. continually interrupt any sort of normal sleep pattern. To make matters worse, when the shiftworker finally falls into bed somewhere between 9:00 am and 9 pm, depending on individual circumstances and shift starting and ending times, that shiftworker is often beset with an assortment of environmental factors that conspire to interrupt his or her sleep.

The key to getting good sleep during the day is making your bedroom day-sleeper friendly. This includes blackout shades for the windows, heating and air conditioning set to mimic nighttime temperatures, and most importantly, quiet. Beyond soundproofing your room like a recording studio, there isn't much we can do to filter out that noise from an architectural reference. But we can subdue the din to a dramatic degree.

This month's article will address the issue of QUIET!!!

As a shiftworker, I remember two major problems with my sleeping arrangements when I worked graveyards. Summer daytime temperatures and noise - especially when the kids were playing downstairs.

We were too cheap to run the air conditioner as low as I would have liked it, and there's not much you can do about the kids. But fortunately, I conquered the noise issue, and here's how I did it. Since I worked in a power plant, I had access to an assortment of earplugs. It was a safety rule, and if it hadn't been for earplugs, my hearing would have been severely affected by now.

But at home, I found that with a little experimentation, the right earplugs could be used to provide restful sleep for at least a few hours each afternoon. There were no more interruptions from the telephone, outside traffic, slamming doors, etc.

The first plugs I tried were made from a semi-soft rubber with small ribs with a lanyard attached between them. (This made them ideal for draping around your neck at work when not in use.) There was a small cylindrical "handle" that could be used to hold the plug and twist it if necessary while inserting it into the ear canal. This plug was most effective in blocking sound. But it was very uncomfortable when your ear hit the pillow. I could never seem to find the right position where it didn't hurt.