Like pretty much every other living thing on the planet, you have a circadian rhythm, or “body clock” that regulates many biological processes over a 24-hour period.
Your preference for late nights or early mornings will largely be determined by that clock.
Perhaps at 9am you’re only functioning at half your ability until the coffee is flowing and the biscuits are kicking in. Or maybe you’re a “morningness” type, and wonder what all the fuss is about. There are, of course, many in the middle, neither one nor the other, and where you fit on the scale may also be largely be determined by your age.
For Dr Paul Kelley, of Oxford University’s Sleep and Circadian Institute, that’s what’s keeping him awake at night. He’s one of a team of researchers that have been warning us that not enough Z’s is turning us into a ‘sleep-deprived society’.
The problem stems from the 9 to 5 pattern that the working world has almost uniformly adopted. It only really suits the over 55s, definitely not children and teenagers, and in order to decrease our anxieties (and improve GCSE results), schools and offices should start at 10am.
Not that we are completely against that, but as Lenny Henry is fond on telling us, other factors can influence how comfortable that night’s sleep can be. For starters, there’s no need to let the outside world intrude on your peace and quiet (and secondary glazing, as we will see, can help with that) as no one likes a noisy neighbour.
With the nights now drawing in, we are just about at the time of year when it’s no longer essential to have an open window to make sleep bearable, all the while hoping that all-too-near barking dog has a sore throat tonight. And yet, an uninterrupted night’s sleep is not a guarantee. Even pensioners are using noise as a weapon these days, as the perplexing prosecution last week of 75 year old Thomas Flowers proved. Playing loud music and deliberately using power tools in the early hours led to magistrates confiscating his, er, drill.
Late night DIY and Kylie Minogue may thankfully be beyond the pale for most grumpy granddads (although we think our suggestions might have been more appropriate…) doing little as they do for neighbourly relations, but the fact is that some are more easily distracted than others.
For the average person, maintaining good noise insulation standards in our homes allows us to enjoy our privacy undisturbed, hold a conversation without having to shout, watch TV or listen to music at a comfortable volume and most importantly, get that good night’s sleep!
But we are all different. The human ear responds differently to high and low frequencies, often filtering the worst effects, yet correctly specified acoustic glazing will further reduce the volume, eliminating it completely or reducing it to a whisper. Chiltern Dynamics, market leaders in acoustic testing and modelling, found our products capable of reducing noise levels by over 50db – that’s enough to make a passing motorbike sound like a purring cat. It’s also one of the most obvious benefits that our customers mention to us after we’ve renovated their home.
One of our favourites said: “The Secondary Glazing is beautifully made. It is barely visible and the noise is so quiet. Amazing!” whilst another noted: “Thursday night was the first night we have slept a complete night through since we moved into the flat!”
It may be that as you get older, you notice the benefit of a little quiet more. Or that you’re experiencing less ‘slow wave’ or deep sleep, as older people are prone to do, and you’re alert to the benefits. Either way, your tolerance to noise whilst sleeping, it would seem, resides deep within your brain and as a result of your genes. For a lucky few, ‘the sleeping brain’s spontaneous activity heralds individual resilience to disruptive stimuli’. For the rest of us, we’ll need to use our head in a different way… time to give us a call?
Keep it down! 12 songs pensioner Thomas could have played his long suffering neighbour…
- Bon Jovi – Sleep When I’m Dead: New Jersey mop top waves his own tombstone about.
- Silence Is Golden – Not many Dagenham bands have a smash hit. The Tremeloes did, circa 1967.
- Daft Punk – (Up all night to) Get Lucky – Sound of the Summer.
- Bjork – It’s Oh So Quiet. Until the ice lady started singing.
- Public Enemy – Bring Boise – Bass! How low can you go?! The incredible. etc.
- Tired – Adele gets a bit grumpy.
- The Monkees – Daydream Believer. So annoying, even Davy Jones was angry as he recorded it.
- The Beatles – I’m So Tired. Lennon’s ode to sleeplessness. Inexplicably takes it out on Sir Walter Raleigh.
- Faithless – Insomnia – Man turns fruitless midnight fridge raid into greatest dance song ever made.
- Anything by AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long, Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution, Shake Your Foundations – they’re almost his age too.
- Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are made of this) – Not the Señor Coconut version or cover by Macedonian darkwave band, Mizar, obviously.
- Slade – Cum on feel the Noize – Baby baby baaaybaah! Wolverhampton’s / 1970’s Oasis on top form.