Four Tips That Will Help You Fall Asleep Tonight

If you didn't sleep well last night, you're not alone.  I spent the entire night tossing and turning.  I couldn’t get comfortable.  I was too hot and then I was too cold and then as soon as I’d fall asleep, my thoughts would wake me up.

Most of us experience insomnia at some point in our lives and if this is you, here are four tips that will help you fall asleep tonight.

1.  Don't Look at the Clock.  It just reinforces the idea that you'll never fall asleep.  If you can't help looking at it, try turning it around so you can't.

2.  Don't Stay In Bed More Than 15 Minutes.  If you can’t sleep, you need to teach your brain that your bed is for sleeping, not lying awake worrying. So you're supposed to leave the bedroom and do something quiet, like reading.

3.  Don't Turn on the Overhead Light.  Bright light disrupts the production of melatonin and wakes you up.  So if you can't sleep, or you get out of bed to go to the bathroom, turn on a lamp instead of hitting a light switch. And you should use dim lights when you're getting READY for bed too, because the sooner your body starts producing melatonin, the sooner you'll start feeling sleepy.

4.  Don't Make Your Brain Do Anything.  Don't balance your checkbook, catch up on work, or do anything else that's too stimulating.  It just tells your brain that you need to stay awake. And if you watch TV, turn on the sleep timer, then put something boring on that you don't really care about. If it's something you're interested in, you definitely won't fall asleep.