Only-Slightly-Belated Question of the Day: December 23, 2018

questionoftheday asks: Do you sleep in silence, or do you have to have background noise? Is there a reason for this? How about light? Does it have to be pitch black, or do you need at least a sliver of light to sleep?

My answer: I keep a humidifier running in my bedroom at night throughout the year, because even when I don't need much humidification it's still a very good white-noise machine. (it's the wicking kind that inherently adapts to the ambient moisture level, so it doesn't over-humidify in summer: it just uses very little water then)

I also recorded the humidifier's sound and keep a copy on my phone, as an emergency backup in case of power outage or travel. (Haven't tried using it yet, not sure how well it'll work.)

I have a very hard time getting to sleep if I can hear snoring, though: I would definitely much rather have silence than that.

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A nightlight in the same room is excessive and keeps me awake. A bit of indirect light is best. The streetlights out the window work well for this.

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(My mom and occasionally my dad snore, and when I was a kid they always used a nightlight. I did not realise how terrible sleeping in their bed was until after I stopped. I actually resisted using my own bed at the time, because better the devil you know.)