I have been using a sleeping mask ever since my Balham flatshare days where the landlord thought that instead of putting in curtains, he’d simply hang a piece of bright pink flimsy material in the window, which rather than block out the sun fully encouraged it to come flooding in early each morning with its unwelcome glorious pink hue. Then in my Dorset flat I started using earplugs when I inherited neighbours who slept underneath me and liked to wake up for a chat every two hours and snore loudly between each conversation. So earplugs and a sleeping mask have long been a part of my bedtime routine and they are also essential for communal backpacker living. But whilst the sleeping mask blocks out the light and the earplugs block out some (but not all) of the noise, there is absolutely nothing that will block out the movement of a restless sleeper jiggling about in the bunk either above or below you.