Many of us are knock down drag out tired because we feel we can't seem to ever get enough sleep, but many just figure that's the way it is, and keep going along to the point where your health is suffering from lack of adequate rest. Here are some tips for getting more sleep.
1. Upgrade your bed
Sometimes the problem with lack of sleep is the bed itself. It may be too old, too lumpy, and too worn out to actually support healthy rest. Upgrade if you can, but if that's not financially possible, look into adding a temporary mattress pad or even try sleeping on an air mattress for a while to see if you can't get some more zzz's in.
2. Your bed should be for sleeping
We work at a desk in an office, we eat at a kitchen table, we watch tv on the couch, so why aren't we letting our bed be for sleeping? Too many people cram work, eating, watching tv and other activity into the bedroom and with it comes stress and outside problems and things that force us awake rather then put us to sleep. The bed should be for one of two activities only...sleep and happy happy joy times in the sack and nothing else.
3. Make your bedroom relaxing
A lot of extra clutter, an old bedspread, and other mess in a bedroom can just make you more stressed thinking about your day and how much you have to do or just having that dirty bedroom and feeling like it's one more thing you have to get done. Clean out the space and make it all about sleep. It should be clean and serene. There should be nothing in there that reminds you of anything but serenity, peace, and calmness. Add a few nice scents, get some fluffy or supportive pillows, get a bedspread without a lot of pattern--just anything that makes it a peaceful space for you.
4. Turn off stimuli
Right before bed, a lot of people start cranking up the activity. They turn on the tv, the music, the laptop, answer work calls...they do everything but create a calm quiet space for them to fall asleep in. At least an hour before bed, shut all the noise off, and start dimming or turning off external lights just as one would if they were trying to start getting a toddler down for sleep. The same reasons it works for them are the same reasons it will help you.
5. Get into a routine
Speaking of toddlers, parents have daily routines to help get toddlers to rest and you should too for yourself. We are creatures of habit and having a routine can help you get to sleep because like Pavlov's dogs, you'll begin to associate the steps with getting something in return, in this case, more sleep. At say 9pm, take your shower, brush the teeth, turn off the lights. 10pm, pull out a book, read for a little bit, and then get in bed. 10:30 journal, and then 11pm turn off the lights, and go to sleep. If you wake up shortly after, don't turn on the lights and start activating your brain. Sit there for a while, close your eyes, relax your body one body part at a time, and then allow yourself to drift back to sleep.
Nothing will work if you don't put efforts into giving it a try and then sticking to it for a while to see if something does work for you. If you truly want and need more rest, you have to make it worth your time to explore ways to get it.
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