5 Ways to Get Better Sleep in a Noisy City Apartment

Before we get started, you need to know that we know what makes a champion sleeper. I’m not talking about merely being able to get a good eight hours of sleep per night. 

We want to educate on how you can go to sleep anywhere and anytime regardless of the noise and commotion around me. 

Power nap under your desk in the cubicle—no problem. 10-minute pre-show nap in the Uber with a talkative driver—done deal. Thanksgiving pre- and post-meal couch dozing—we’ve done it thousands of times. 

And if you don’t believe us, here my secret recipe for a 45- minute nap in a huge city in your expensive apartment, like Chicago for example, with not much time to prepare.

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Set It Up Properly

Let’s say you’re home at 2:00 p.m. and you have an important presentation on a new marketing plan at 5:00 p.m. You need to be sharp and you’ll want 45 minutes of the afternoon napping bliss. 

So, go to your room and just close the shades because you don’t need total darkness for this to work.  Turn on the white noise fan—no apps for needed—and turn the TV on to some mindless show or to a stupid movie. 

If the show is good, you might be tempted to pay attention, so the only brainless TV will do.

The TV has to be the perfect volume because you want to hear it but not be distracted by it. The TV acts like another layer of white noise and keeps you from thinking about that big meeting that will occur in a few hours. It’ll also distract you from the sirens or car horns going off in the big city. 

Within five minutes you’ll be totally out, and naturally, wake up 45 minutes later with that great afternoon nap refreshment accomplished.

Now that you realize we know the expert tips on really getting some good sleep, here are five proprietary tips that will help you get what you need if you have rented a noisy city apartment.

Hello Darkness

Light is the number one enemy of quality night sleep. Get in bed, close whatever window coverings you have, and close your eyes. 

After three minutes open them. If your room is dark, you might be OK. If there are halos of light around the windows and street light is streaming in, beware five or six in the morning when the sun will jolt you out of bed. 

If you see light, buy the best room darkening drapes you can and make sure there are no gaps that will let the morning light in.

White Noise

We already told you that we prefer natural fan noise, but there are some great white noise machines out there and many apps. 

Connect your phone to an external speaker and you can cover up almost any annoying city noise. Make sure that the white noise is consistent, however, because any break in the action can easily wake you up.

Sleep Cool

Personally, we like the night room temperature at 69 degrees. Then we get a load of covers and pile them on, and It almost feels like you might be sleeping outside in the country in a cold atmosphere. Perfect!

A hot stuffy room can keep you tossin’ and turnin’ all night, so turn down the AC. If you can’t get your room colder than 73 degrees, get a fan and point it at your head. 

This will give you the illusion of coolness and will help with the white noise situation.

Mattress

We’ve all slept in hotels with bad mattresses. We may be young, but when we get up it feels like someone needs to put us under a dough roller to straighten us out. 

We’re also convinced that the number of chiropractors in small towns is directly proportional to the number of bad mattresses in crappy hotels. Simply, bad mattresses mean bad sleep, so get one that you like. 

It doesn’t make any difference to me whether you get a soft or a hard one as long as it’s a good one.

Designated Spot

Finally, make sure that the main thing that goes on in your bedroom is sleep. 

Get that desk out of there, move your guitar amp to another space, and while you’re at it, through a blanket over your modem so those green lights don’t flash you to death. 

If you designate a spot for sleeping only, you have a head start to a good night’s sleep.

Bonus Tip

While too much alcohol may cause you to pass out, usually the sleep that results is not high-quality dozing. 

Prescription sleep hypnotics like Lunesta might get you to sleep, but you probably won’t sleep through the night without waking up a few times. It’s best to do natural sleep if at all possible.

For some of us, sleep is way up on our list of necessities, as it should be! We’ve always marveled at that person that says they work 16 hours a day and sleep for four. 

We’d be in very rough shape if we could only get fours of sleep per night, so we do everything we can to ensure that we’re out for at least eight hours. 

Remember, Tom Brady gets more than that as he explained in a recent Sports Illustrated article:

““I firmly believe that sleep and recovery are critical aspects of an effective and holistic training program. Proper sleep has helped me get to where I am today as an athlete and it is something that I continue to rely on every day.”