Overstimulated? How to create a low-stimulus sleeping environment
You are tired and really only want one thing: sleep. Yet your mind remains active. Sounds seem to come in louder, light suddenly bothers you, and even small things in your bedroom can feel irritating.
When you are overstimulated, settling down can be difficult. And precisely at the moment you want to sleep, stimuli sometimes stand out even more.
A quiet evening helps, but also take a look at the place where you try to relax every night. Is your bedroom actually quiet, dark, and comfortable?
In this article, we explain what overstimulation means and how you can create a low-stimulus sleeping environment step by step.
What does it mean to be overstimulated?
Your brain is constantly processing information.
Sounds, light, conversations, screens, movements, smells, and touches are all forms of stimuli.
Normally, we can process a lot of that information without consciously thinking about it. But after a busy day, it can feel like everything is coming in at once.
For example, you might notice that:
- your head stays busy;
- sound becomes irritating more quickly;
- you have a need for rest;
- bright light feels unpleasant;
- you find it difficult to relax;
- you become irritable more easily;
- you are tired, yet cannot settle down.
How sensitive someone is to certain stimuli varies greatly per person.
This also applies to sleep. Research into light sensitivity, for example, shows that there are large individual differences in how people physiologically respond to light in the evening and at night. (PubMed)
That is why there is no single perfect sleeping environment for everyone.
Why do you notice stimuli while in bed?
Everything happens during the day.
You are working, talking to people, driving a car, looking at your phone, and are busy with what is happening around you.
When you lie in bed, much of that falls away.
And then, suddenly, that one sound from outside may stand out.
Or the light from a charger.
The warmth under your duvet.
A partner who is moving.
Traffic in the street.
Thoughts that you barely noticed earlier in the day.
That does not automatically mean these stimuli are the cause of your sleep problems. However, it is logical to take a critical look at your sleeping environment when you notice that you have trouble settling down in the evening.
Unable to sleep due to overstimulation
If you are overstimulated and cannot sleep, the temptation to do something else is great.
Checking Instagram for a moment.
Watching one more video.
Reading the news.
Answering messages.
But by doing that, you are adding new visual, mental, and sometimes emotional stimuli.
A better first step is therefore often not to do more, but to gradually reduce the amount of new stimuli.
Preferably start that before you even get into bed.
For example, dim the light, put work away, and try to make the last part of the evening quieter.
The American National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends, among other things, using the hour before sleep for quiet activities and avoiding bright artificial light. A quiet, cool, and dark bedroom is also part of their advice for healthy sleep. (NHLBI, NIH)
Do you have structural difficulty falling asleep?
Read also: Unable to sleep? Causes and 10 tips for sleeping better.
7 ways to create a low-stimulus bedroom
A low-stimulus bedroom does not mean you have to sleep in a completely silent, pitch-black space.
The goal is primarily to reduce unnecessary stimuli and discover which conditions you find pleasant.
1. Start with light
Light is one of the most obvious stimuli in a bedroom.
Take a look around in the evening when all the normal lighting is off.
Does street lighting come through the curtains?
Is there a bright light on your television?
Does a charger emit light?
Does light shine in from the hallway under the door?
Research into exposure to light during the night shows a link between higher nighttime light exposure and sleep problems. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis also found a link between higher exposure to artificial light at night and increased sleep disturbance. (PubMed)
Therefore, make the sleeping environment as dark as is pleasant for you.
You can do this with good curtains, but also look at the small light sources directly around your bed.
Read also: Blacking out your bedroom: how to make your bedroom truly dark.
2. Reduce unexpected sounds
A completely silent bedroom is not necessary for everyone.
What can be particularly annoying are sounds that change suddenly.
A scooter.
A slamming door.
Neighbors.
A dog outside.
A snoring partner.
Research shows that ambient noise during sleep can continue to be processed by the brain and, at a sufficient volume, can lead to arousals or awakening. (PubMed)
Therefore, start at the source.
Can you better close a window? Dampen a door? Turn off equipment?
When you cannot remove the sound source, a constant background noise can be more pleasant for some people.
Read also: White noise: what is it and does it help with sleep?
White noise is not a treatment for overstimulation. However, it can be used to make varying ambient sounds less noticeable.
3. Make your bedroom visually calmer
Not every stimulus needs to be scientifically measured to be practically annoying.
A bedroom full of stuff, screens, cables, bright colors, and flashing equipment can simply feel less restful than a tidy room.
That does not mean your bedroom has to be completely beige and empty.
Start simple.
Remove items you don't need from around the bed.
Don't put your work next to your pillow.
Turn off notifications.
And don't use your nightstand as a storage place for everything you still have to do tomorrow.
Your bedroom doesn't have to be perfect.
It primarily needs to feel like a place where you no longer have to perform.
4. Pay attention to temperature and air
Overstimulation is not just about what you see and hear.
Physical comfort counts too.
A room that feels stuffy or a bed in which you are constantly hot can make it more difficult to lie comfortably.
A cool bedroom is therefore often made part of general advice for a sleep-friendly environment. (NHLBI, NIH)
Ventilate your bedroom and also look at your duvet, bedding, and air circulation.
Are you often hot at night?
Read also: What is the ideal temperature in the bedroom?
5. Make the last hour of your evening calmer
A low-stimulus bedroom helps little when you are in the middle of a heated group chat five seconds before.
Therefore, try to create a transition between day and night.
That doesn't have to be a complicated sleep ritual.
For example:
phone away → light softer → brush teeth → lay out things for tomorrow → do something quiet → go to bed.
The more predictable the last part of your evening becomes, the fewer new things you have to process.
You can also try to briefly write down thoughts that keep circulating.
Not to solve them in the evening.
Just so you can park them until tomorrow.
6. Find out which stimuli actually bother you
I think this might be the most important point.
Not everyone is sensitive to the same things.
One person can sleep next to a busy road but goes crazy from a small LED light.
Another needs total darkness but finds fan noise pleasant.
That is why it makes little sense to blindly carry out twenty sleep tips.
Rather, test one thing at a time.
For example:
Week 1: make the bedroom darker.
Week 2: adjust the sound environment.
Week 3: improve temperature and ventilation.
Optionally keep a brief note of how easily you fell asleep, how often you woke up, and how you felt in the morning.
This is how you discover which changes actually make a difference for you.
7. Look at the environment directly around your bed
Changing an entire bedroom can be quite drastic.
And actually, that is remarkable.
Because, in the end, you don't need to control the entire room while sleeping.
You spend hours in one specific spot.
Your bed.
That insight has been an important part of the development of Sleepimprover.
Why Sleepimprover fits well with a low-stimulus sleeping environment
At Sleepimprover, we don't try to say that one specific function ensures that someone sleeps better.
The starting point is precisely that people can be disturbed by various environmental stimuli.
That is why we combine multiple functions around the same sleeping spot.
Less light around your sleeping spot
The blackout hood creates a shielded environment around the bed and is intended to limit light from the outside.
That can be interesting, for example, when your bedroom doesn't get completely dark or when you have to sleep during the day.
Determine the sound environment yourself
Sleepimprover has white noise and other soothing sounds.
White noise can be used as a constant background sound to make certain varying sounds less noticeable.
The scientific evidence for white noise as a general sleep aid is, by the way, mixed. A systematic review found the quality of evidence to be low, and results ranged from improvement to sleep disturbance. That is why we deliberately present white noise as an adjustable function, not as a guarantee of better sleep. (PubMed)
Air circulation around the bed
In Sleepimprover, fans provide air circulation around the sleeping spot.
In addition, there are four positions for cooling elements.
That gives you extra options when heat is one of the things you suffer from at night.
Insight into the sleep climate
With the integrated air quality monitor, you can track values such as temperature, humidity, and CO₂.
That makes it possible not only to rely on:
“I think it’s stuffy in here.”
but actually to see how certain values change during the night.
Soothing aroma as a personal choice
Sleepimprover also includes an aroma diffuser.
Scent is personal. Where one person finds a certain scent relaxing, another experiences it as an extra stimulus.
That is why you should also not see an aroma diffuser in a low-stimulus sleeping environment as something that has to be on.
Quite the opposite.
It is a function you can use when you feel the need.
Waking up with light
The wake-up light also has a different function than the blackout during the night.
During sleep, you want to be able to limit unwanted light. Around the time you want to wake up, you can consciously add light.
Light plays an important role in alertness and the sleep-wake rhythm, although effects depend on, among other things, timing, intensity, and individual sensitivity. (PubMed)
That is why we don't see the wake-up light as a solution against overstimulation, but as part of being able to set your own sleep and wake environment.
You don't have to use every function
That is ultimately perhaps the most important thing.
A low-stimulus environment does not mean:
the more sleep functions, the better.
It means:
only use the stimuli that you find pleasant and limit the rest as much as possible.
That is why you can use and adjust functions individually within Sleepimprover.
Sleepimprover is not a medical treatment for overstimulation, insomnia, autism, ADHD, or any other condition.
It was developed to give more control over a number of environmental factors around your sleeping spot.
→ View Sleepimprover and discover all the functions.
Overstimulated in bed? Try this short routine
Are you in bed tonight and does your head feel much too busy?
Try not to immediately try ten new sleep techniques.
Start small.
1. Put your phone away.
No more new messages, videos, or news.
2. Reduce the light.
Make your environment quiet and dark.
3. Check your comfort.
Are you hot? Is the room stuffy? Does your bed lie comfortably?
4. Listen to your environment.
Which sounds actually stand out?
5. Give yourself time.
You don't have to be asleep within five minutes just because you have decided it is bedtime.
Do you consistently stay awake?
Then look not only at overstimulation, but at the full picture.
Read also: Unable to sleep? Causes and 10 tips for sleeping better.
Low-stimulus does not mean the same as stimulus-free
This distinction is important.
A bedroom without a single stimulus practically does not exist.
You hear your own breathing.
You feel your bed.
You smell your environment.
You notice temperature.
The goal therefore does not have to be to switch off everything.
The goal is to make the stimuli that you experience as disturbing as manageable as possible.
For someone, that can mean total darkness and silence.
For someone else, it might be a dark environment with soft, constant background noise and airflow.
There is no universal setting.
When might there be more going on?
Everyone may feel the need for fewer stimuli after a busy day.
But when you sleep poorly for a long time, are severely limited by overstimulation, or experience major problems during the day, just adjusting your bedroom may not be enough.
Discuss persistent sleep complaints with your GP if they affect your daily functioning or if you are concerned about the cause.
A quiet sleeping environment can be pleasant, but it does not replace a professional assessment when needed.
Frequently asked questions about overstimulation and sleep
Can you not sleep because of overstimulation?
Many stimuli and feeling overwhelmed can make it harder to unwind. However, when you sleep poorly on a structural basis, several factors may play a role. Therefore, look at both your evening routine and your sleeping environment, as well as any other complaints.
How do you make a bedroom low-stimulus?
Start with the most obvious environmental factors: reduce unwanted light and sound, clear away visual distractions around the bed, and ensure a comfortable temperature and sufficient ventilation.
Does complete silence help with overstimulation?
Not necessarily. Some people find silence pleasant, while others notice small sounds more strongly when it is completely quiet. A constant background noise like white noise can be more pleasant for some people.
Which color is best for a low-stimulus bedroom?
There is no color that automatically makes everyone sleep better. Above all, choose colors and a layout that you find calming and avoid unnecessary visual clutter around your sleeping area.
Can white noise help with overstimulation?
Yes, it can. Especially when sounds are a major source of stimulation for you, white noise can help create a quieter and more constant sound environment. It masks certain intermittent sounds, making them less noticeable. Whether you find this pleasant varies from person to person.
Is an aroma diffuser good for overstimulation?
That varies greatly from person to person. A scent that someone finds relaxing can be an extra stimulus for someone else. Therefore, only use scent if you notice that you personally find it pleasant.
A quiet sleeping environment is personal
When you are overstimulated, the solution is not automatically to make your bedroom completely empty, dark, and silent.
Start by observing.
What keeps you awake?
Light?
Sound?
Heat?
A busy mind?
Or a combination?
Then reduce the stimuli that are actually bothering you one by one.
Ultimately, that is the premise behind Sleepimprover: not dictating how everyone should sleep, but making different elements of the environment around the bed adjustable and controllable.
→ Discover Sleepimprover and see how you can adjust your own sleeping environment.