Tips to Sleep Better

The truth is that stress will affect the amount of sleep that you get at night. Many people spend hours laying in bed, worrying about things that they didn't get done that day or things that may need to be done the next day! If you are lucky to fall asleep, simply because you are so tired, you may end up waking up in the middle of the night. At that time, your mind may start working overtime and there is no way that you are going to be able to fall back to sleep.

However, it doesn't have to be this way. Here are some tips to help you sleep better, even when you are really stressed.

Cut back on your caffeine consumption.

Even though you may not think about it, the truth is that coffee and caffeine can keep you up all night. There are some individuals who don't have a problem sleeping, even if they drink a soda before they lay down. However, most people need to stop drinking caffeine after a certain point, if they want to be able to sleep at night. You may want to rethink having coffee after lunch, especially if you need to sleep well that night!

This being said, it is important that you know some of the most common hidden sources of caffeine. You may be getting too much caffeine and not even know it! There is caffeine in chocolate, breath mints, energy water, and even pain medicine.

And how much alcohol you drink too!

Though you may think that you feel sleepy after drinking an alcoholic beverage, the truth is that it can actually have the opposite effect. There are many studies that show that alcohol can keep you awake. In fact, a study done in 2011 found that women slept more fitfully and for a shorter amount of time after consuming alcohol.

Write down your worries (so you can forget about them).

If you lay awake at night worrying about things, you may want to try writing them down. This will work especially well if you are making a list in your head about all of the things that you need to get done the next day. You can write them down, so you don't have to worry about remembering them in the morning. Instead, you can get the sleep that you need.

You may also want to write down other things that pop into your head so that your body can forget about them until later. You don't have to worry about forgetting anything so that you can just go to sleep instead.

Tense and relax your body.

When you are laying in bed worrying, you might need to do something else to get your mind off of everything running through it. It might help if you tense certain parts of your body. Then, after holding it tight, you can relax and let the tension go. You may start with one part of your body, until you have gone through all of your body parts. This may help your entire body relax so that you are able to get some sleep.

If you are struggling to get your best sleep, you may need to watch your caffeine and alcohol consumption. You may need to put down your coffee before lunch, though you also need to make sure that you aren't accidentally having too much caffeine. You may be taking in some extra caffeine through chocolate, energy drinks, or even your headache medicine!

If you can't sleep because your mind won't stop, you may need to write down your worries (or even your to-do list for the next day). Once it is written down, you can forget about it, and fall asleep. You may even want to try tensing and relaxing your body. This can really help your whole body relax so that it is ready to fall asleep.