How To Get A Good Night’s Sleep

If you’re not getting enough good sleep, you’ll feel terrible
much of the time Your productivity, your health, and your
relationships will suffer
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to improve the
quantity and quality of your sleep
The first step for most of us is to examine how much caffeine we
consume in a day Caffeine is a stimulant found in coffee, tea,
and many types of cola It is also present in many
over-the-counter medications
Caffeine enters the bloodstream very quickly and its stimulative
effect lasts several hours If you are have a hard time getting
settled down at night, it could be due at least in part to an
excess of caffeine throughout the day
If you are not getting enough good quality sleep, make the
effort to cut your consumption of caffeinated beverages to just
one or two cups a day, or stop drinking caffeine all together
In order to have a more restful evening, don’t drink anything
caffeinated after lunch
There are plenty of beverages without caffeine that you can
substitute For most people, a cup of warm milk before bedtime
will promote sleepiness Some of us are physically addicted to
caffeine and will actually go through withdrawal symptoms if we
try to cut back, or quit using it altogether
You may find that when you stop ingesting caffeine, it takes up
to two weeks to get over your physical craving for it In the
meantime you may experience headaches, dizziness and insomnia
Another factor that can disrupt your sleep patterns is the
consumption of alcohol Although alcohol initially can make you
drowsy, it suppresses the REM stage of sleep, which appears to
be essential in restoring a sense of wellbeing
There are many other possible causes of poor sleep If poor
quality sleep is a problem for you, it will be worth the effort
to become a detective and track down the cause Often the
problems of poor sleep can easily be fixed
A poor quality mattress will lead to poor quality sleep So will
poor ventilation in your bedroom Or too much light Or too much
noise Or a television set
Are you getting enough exercise? Most of us today do not move
our bodies nearly as much as our bodies were designed to move
If we have an office job we are often so mentally fatigued by
the time we get home that we don’t want to get off the couch
Our brains may be exhausted, but our body still needs exercise
A lack of sufficient physical exercise will lead to poor quality
sleep However, vigorous exercise too close to bedtime can leave
you too stimulated to sleep
Sleep experts advise:
- Keep a regular schedule for sleeping
- Maintain a comfortable, restful bedroom – Don’t use your bed
for anything other than sex and sleep
- Don’t have the television in your bedroom
- Get at least half an hour of physical exercise a day,
preferably outdoors
- Slow down your physical and mental activities as bedtime
approaches
- Cultivate a relaxed, calm state of mind at all times, but
particularly before bedtime
- Avoid shift work
- Avoid stimulants or alcohol before bedtime
If you try all these recommendations and you still feel that you
are not sleeping well, you may have a medical condition that
interferes with the quality of sleep you are getting, or you may
be taking medication that interferes with your sleep
For example, if you always wake up feeling exhausted, you may be
suffering from a medical condition such as fibromyalgia, or
sleep apnea
If you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night,
anxious and unable to sleep again, this can be caused by
depression or stress
These are conditions that should be discussed with your doctor

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