How to sleep during the day: making a bright room dark

Sleeping while the sun is up is hard mostly because the room isn't dark. Daylight gets in around the curtains and under the door, and every charger adds a little glow. Here's how to make a bright bedroom as dark as you can, starting with the cheapest fixes.

Where daylight gets in

• Around the curtains. Even blackout curtains leak at the sides and top if they're mounted inside the window frame or don't overlap the wall.
• Through thin blinds and light fabrics. Slatted blinds and pale curtains turn the whole window into a soft lamp.
• Under and around the door. A bright hallway puts a line of light across the floor.
• From your own devices. Charger, router and TV standby lights are easy to ignore at night and easy to notice in a room you've worked to make dark.

Fix the room first

1. Hang blackout curtains wide and high. Mount the rod above the frame and a few inches past each side so the fabric overlaps the wall. A wrap-around rod closes the side gaps.
2. Close the gaps that are left. Hook-and-loop strips or removable tape along the curtain edges stop the light that leaks around them.
3. Block the door. A draft stopper along the bottom of the door blocks the hallway light.
4. Cover the small lights. Block or dim LEDs on chargers, power strips and the router (but never smoke or carbon monoxide detectors). Our guide to covering LED lights goes through each one.
5. Put the phone face down and turn on do not disturb, so notifications don't light up the room.

Then a mask for what's left

Most day-sleep bedrooms never get fully dark, and break rooms, sofas and hotel rooms are harder still. A sleep mask blocks whatever light gets past the curtains. For daytime use, a few things matter more than usual:

• A seal at the nose. Bright daylight shows up first in the gap beside your nose, so look for a shaped nose bridge.
• Nothing pressing on your eyes. Molded cups keep the foam off your lids, which makes a mask easier to wear for a long daytime sleep. See contoured vs. flat sleep masks.
• A strap that holds when you roll over. Run it just above your ears and snug it until the mask stays put when you turn your head. More in our guide for side sleepers.

Light isn't the only problem

Daytime is louder too: traffic, deliveries, people at home. Foam earplugs or a fan or white noise machine cover most of it. A cool room helps, and blackout curtains also keep out some of the afternoon heat.

The Contour Mask for day sleep

The Contour Mask has deep molded eye cups, a contoured foam nose bridge, slim sides for side sleeping and an adjustable strap. Add Blackout Dots for the LEDs in the room. More answers are in the FAQ.