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Comment by gargarplex | Hacker News Reader

I added a real blackout curtain to my room and really noticed a difference in the quality of my sleep and my general mood. It was designed to really black out all light... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZJ88DY/

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Ikea also has a great assortment of easy to install blackout shades, http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70349252/

What we ought to have is a blackout shade that will automatically roll down at night and back up in the morning, when we want sunlight to start waking us up.

I use a combination of blackout shades, Philips hue lights, and the Sleep cycle app on my phone. It starts the lights very dim and red at the beginning of a 20 minute wake up window, slowly brightens them, and then rings the alarm whenever I start rolling over. It is a little complicated, but it has worked well for a few years now.

Someday, most windows will have an internally plate between the glazings that is moved up at night automatically.

A Phillips light-alarm clock does the other half of the job, now, for me.

Look for motorized roller curtain. I have those in two bedrooms. They are actually very convenient, even though I just have the remote control and not any automation. DIY persons can also find instructions for getting the shades from IKEA and motors from Ebay.

Mine are using motors/control from Somfy. Those have at least worked flawlessly for several years.

For the roller curtains there are also models which have "things" on the sides where the curtain slides in. This blocks the light that would otherwise shine in from there. If this is not an option, should look for curtain which is dark from the outside. This should also help a little bit.

Those unfortunately don't fit all window sizes. If you need custom sizes, a company called BlackoutEZ makes the same product but let's you pick the size.

I can attest to these blackout covers making daytime sleep not hell. I don't even need zolpidem to fall asleep anymore.

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