Do Blackout Curtains Help With Sleep?
Do you feel like there is too much light in your bedroom at night or in the morning? Too much light in your bedroom could be severely interfering with your sleep. Here’s how blackout curtains can help.
Why does light affect your sleep?
Light is one of the key signals for your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is essentially your master ‘body clock’ that takes its cues from your general sleeping patterns, light exposure and temperature. This body clock starts facilitating the release of the sleep hormone melatonin about 2 hours before ‘bedtime’.
So, reducing your exposure to light at night time may help signal to your body that it’s time for bed and help you achieve a deeper sleep. This means you should be avoiding exposure to sunlight, reducing your screen time, and dimming the lights or lamps in your bedroom. Unless you live deeply rural, you will also need to find ways to reduce light from cars, streetlights and other homes entering your bedroom. That’s where blackout curtains come in.
What are blackout curtains?
Blackout curtain or lining fabric is made from dense, tightly woven materials that do not allow light through. Because the material is dense, blackout fabrics also have great insulation and noise-cancelling properties.
How blackout curtains help you get a better night’s sleep
When installed correctly, blackout curtains (or blackout curtain lining) almost completely stop external light entering your bedroom, and so contribute to an environment that allows a deeper sleep. They need to full cover the window frame for the blackout effect to work properly, so light doesn’t come through the sides. Blackout fabrics will also help reduce your energy bill and make it easier for you to control the temperature in your bedroom – another crucial factor for your circadian rhythm.
Blackout curtains will drastically improve sleep for night shift workers
If your job or lifestyle mean you need to get your rest during daylight hours, blackout curtains are a fantastic way to reduce light exposure and ‘trick’ your circadian rhythm into producing melatonin.
If you would like to add a blackout lining to your current curtains or book your curtains or blinds in for a maintenance clean, contact the team at Curtain Clean on 0800 579 0501.
Speed is Emotional
ADHD – it’s so hot right now!
Local creative powerhouse Jo Randerson (ONZM) unpacks their diagnosis, neurodivergent parenting, sad songs, men taking their time, and so much more in this highly lauded “funny as hell” theatre extravaganza.
Finally having its home premiere as part of Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, this incredible mahi is so much more than a performance – it’s a revelation. Jo Randerson has a brain that never stops and a fountain of restless energy fueling their fiercely funny artistic voice. Who knew?! that this fountain was fed by something they had diagnosed in their 40s alongside their son: ADHD.
In Speed is Emotional Jo bares their soul, sharing the exhilaration, exhaustion, joy, and absurdity of living and parenting with neurodivergence. Jo weaves their punk poetic magic into a beautiful comedy about transcending labels and living with a voltage so high it’s going to blow the mains.
Review
“…a livewire plunge into the chaos, colour and comedy of living a neurodiverse life” – Blackguard Media Reviews
Dates
11 – 28 Mar
Tues – Sat 7pm, Sun 4pm
$25 – $45
Circa One
Accessibility
Access tickets $20 per person. NZSL and audio described performances available as per the below times. All performances are relaxed, and audiences may enter or leave at any time. To book tickets for ANZFA please call 04 801 7992 or email circa@circa.co.nz. Service dogs are welcome, please let us know if you have any access seating requirements.
Audio Described performances
7pm, Tues 17 March
7pm, Thu 26 March
NZSL-interpreted performances
4pm, Sun 15 March
7pm, Sat 21 March
7pm, Thu 26 March
Audience Care
Suitable for family audiences, parental discretion.
Duration 75 minutes (no interval)
Writer and Performer Jo Randerson
Director Isobel MacKinnon
Production Company Barbarian Productions
Creative team
Bekky Boyce
Steven Junil Park
Elliot Vaughan
Poll: Would you participate in local initiatives aimed at stopping plastic from reaching our oceans?
Volunteers will be scouring the foreshore, riverbanks, and islands for rubbish on Saturday the 13th as part of the Clean Up the Hutt event.
This initiative helps stop plastic from reaching our oceans and makes our waterways cleaner and safer for everyone.
We want to know: Should this be rolled out across all coastal cities in Aotearoa? And more importantly… would you get involved? 💚
Want the details? The Post has you covered.
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75.3% Yes!
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13% Maybe ...
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11.7% No.
Poll: Are Kiwis allergic to “exuberance”? 🥝
In The Post’s opinion piece on the developments set to open across Aotearoa in 2026, John Coop suggests that, as a nation, we’re “allergic to exuberance.”
We want to know: Are we really allergic to showing our excitement?
Is it time to lean into a more optimistic view of the place we call home? As big projects take shape and new opportunities emerge, perhaps it’s worth asking whether a little more confidence (and enthusiasm!) could do us some good.
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41.2% Yes
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34% Maybe?
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24.8% No
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