If you are having problems getting to sleep or staying asleep, try these simple steps...

1.  STICK TO A SLEEP SCHEDULE

What commonly happens when you start to have sleep problems is you start staying in bed longer to try and catch up on lost sleep.  You have a lie in at weekends and on holidays. You might go to bed earlier than usual. 

Unfortunately this change in behaviour will often make the problem worse. Spending more time in bed will not help you sleep better, its usually the opposite that works.

So.... set up a routine and stick to it.  Go to bed at the same time everyday and set your alarm to wake you up everyday at the same time even on holidays and weekends.

2. WHAT TO EAT & DRINK

There are a couple of things you can do which can help you get a better quality of sleep.

The first is to avoid caffeine after about midday. If you love coffee, don't stop drinking it in a morning or just after lunch. Enjoy it.  The caffeine should be out of your system by bedtime.

The second thing is to avoid large meals for a few hours before bedtime. This allows time for your body to digest your meal and avoids you getting indigestion and heartburn which may well disrupt your sleep.

Lastly avoid alcohol for a few hours before bedtime. Lots of people use alcohol to help them get off to sleep which it can do, however it actually disrupts some stages of sleep so you are likely to wake more during the night and you won't get a decent nights sleep. You will likely feel worse then next day ( as most of us have all experienced)

3. SETTLE ANY WORRIES BEFORE YOU GO TO BED

If you are busy all day, you might not have time to process thoughts, concerns and worries.  What commonly happens is you go to bed, it's nice and quiet and you suddenly have the space to start thinking and worrying. This of course is not helpful for sleep. If you find that this happens then the best way to tackle this situation is to start a worry journal or diary. 

Get a journal and every night spend 20 minutes writing any thoughts, concerns & worries in the journal with possible solutions for these worries. Using a journal in this way has been shown to significantly help with sleep

4. DON'T LIE IN BED AWAKE TRYING TO GET TO SLEEP

If you are still awake after 20-30 minutes of trying to go to sleep, get up and go to do something else that is relaxing away from the bedroom. The worst thing you can do is lie in bed trying to sleep.  The same applies if you are woken in the night with hot sweats for instance.

Once you feel sleepy, go back to bed and repeat the process if you still can't get back to sleep.

Make sure you do something that you find relaxing. Its fine to watch television if that is something you like to do. Other useful things are reading, listening to music, knitting and colouring. 

I would advise avoiding computer screens and your mobile phone however.

5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD NIGHTS SLEEP, TRY TO FORGET ABOUT IT 

When you start worrying about not sleeping and not being able to cope at work the next day you set in motion what is called sleep anxiety.  When this occurs you might find that your sleep actually starts to get worse.

If you have a bad nights sleep or even several bad nights sleep, reassure yourself that you are not going to come to any harm. You will get enough sleep to survive the day.  Sleep is a bit like breathing, your body will make sure that you get enough to function. So do yourself a favour and stop worrying about not sleeping.