the curse of being a light sleeper

I'm continuing to wake up at 6:30am every weekday morning (even when I go to sleep after 2am), with the creaking floor of the people upstairs. stepleton suggested earlier that my brain would get habituated, but this does not seem to be happening.

I guess it's time to try earplugs again! The problem is I've never found earplugs that are comfortable for longer than a few minutes.

I also want to talk to the people upstairs, ask them if they would welcome some thick carpeting, or if they can think of some other solutions. The space above my room is a corner of their living room, so it's odd that they would need to use it so much at 6:30am.

http://www.progress.org/2008/noise.htm

"Long-term exposure to environmental noise, especially at night, causes chronic disturbance of the natural sleep pattern -- even if you don't wake up completely," says Babisch of the German Federal Environmental Agency. "Studies in sleep labs have proved that persons exposed to this type of noise show increased levels of the stress hormones adrenalin and noradrenalin. These hormones regulate metabolic functions that affect risk factors such asthe blood fat level and blood sugar level."