If you’re a light sensitive sleeper, one of our readers suggests this no-drug “assistant” for restful sleep: Blackout curtains.

This solution is great for those who live in areas of the world where the spring and summer days a long, like in the northwestern part of the United States. Not to mention photographers.

For instance, my husband keeps a very early work schedule, rising at 4:00 A.M. He needs to get to bed about 8:00 P.M. and the spring and summer sun is still shining then in Idaho (he’s a photographer, too).

For those who travel check out portable blackout curtains.

Not only can blackout curtains help with sleep schedules, they have that environmentally-friendly cache many consumers are looking for these days. They can help you save on your heating and cooling bills.

I think they call that multi-tasking.

Janet Muniz

Photo Credit: Anderson Mancini

Mother Earth has a transition thing going on right now, and it may be affecting your good sleep.

Yep, it’s springtime. Re-birth. Day after day of weather extremes. Night after night of heat-on, heat-off, windows left open then closed tight, covers on, covers off. Perhaps the pajamas need to come off when laying your head to rest, only to need them in the wee hours of the morning when the outside temperature dips 30 degrees.

Not only that, you are probably enjoying spring’s days, too—getting out there, riding bikes, doing yard work, dusting the cobwebs off your fishing pole or hiking gear. Working up a sweat? For the first time since last fall?

It’s all about temperature, folks. And it’s a good time to pay attention to what your ideal temperature for a good night’s rest is, since Mother Nature is giving you so many options.

Janet Muniz

Photo Credit: kudumomo

Do you sleep alone or with a partner? Remember—this includes pets, and pillows!

I sleep with three other beings: my husband and my two cats. Yes, four of us share a king-sized bed with three pillows.

Please, somebody make a bed bigger than a king!

Sleeping alone lets a person move and position the body at will. There’s always room to toss, turn or stay still.

Sleeping with bedtime partners usually means you’re sharing space. Believe me, space is premium with kitties: the space right next to you, the space between humans; under the covers, on top of you—I experience it all. My human partner pretty much keeps to his own space—he is a very light sleeper. Even the sound of the cats purring can bother him. He’s prone to insomnia, too. He’s the one who uses the extra pillow—when our boy-cat isn’t already using it.

With his own sleep issues, it’s no wonder that is it my husband who alerted me to my sleep apnea. Totally freaked him out that I stop breathing during sleep.

I’m just lucky the sound of the CPAP machine doesn’t keep him awake. The kitties—they’re O.K. with it, too.

How do these circumstances affect the quality of my sleep? I need to be forceful sometimes with the cats. Their little bodies can constrict my space so much that I have trouble moving freely.

At first, I didn’t want to disturb them, so I’d contort in all these crazy ways to avoid it. Now, I make the kitties move out of the way of my restful sleep.

That’s working out pretty well, actually.

Janet Muniz

Photo Credit: soundfromwayout