5 tips to help you get a good nights sleep

There is nothing quite like a good nights sleep to set you up for the day, but there is also nothing more frustrating than not being able to get off to sleep either. In this article I am going to give you 5 tips to help you get a great nights sleep:

Exercise - I know, you hear this about everything from heart health to losing weight, but exercise really does do you a world of good, and if you do it after a hard day at the office then the release of endorphins triggered by exercise, along with the fact you are using your muscles, will help to relieve the stress that has built up during the day and help you to sleep. Don't do it too close to going to sleep, but an hour after dinner you could get 30 minutes in and then be ready to sleep like a log later. The good news is that one of the best ways to exercise and relieve stress is by being intimate with your partner, who knew exercise could be so fun?

Relax before going to bed - You may think that watching TV before you go to bed, or even worse, in bed, is a good way to wind down after a hard day's work, but you are still overloading your senses with sights and sounds and some of the TV that is on now can hardly be called relaxing! This means when you lie down to go to sleep then your mind is going to be reeling from the programs you have been watching. Instead take just 20 - 30 minutes before bed to read, or sit and chat with your partner, wash up, anything that gets you to slow down and gives your mind a rest!

Cut down on the caffeine - Caffeine is a stimulant and a drug, and it can stay in your system for hours, so that 9pm cup of coffee is not the best way to get some sleep… keep away from caffeine in the evenings, and if you can then cut it out altogether (I did and it is the best decision I've made!).

Add some noise - This may sound odd, but often some gentle noise will help to block out annoying background sounds like water dripping, and helps to slowly lull you into sleep. If you haven't tried it before then you might not believe it, but I am a huge fan of this!

Keep regular hours - You might have a hectic life, but if your sleeping hours are all over the place then your body and mind cannot prepare. By keeping to regular hours then your body and mind know what is coming up and can start to prepare for you to sleep, it also means you can get in a regular number of hours each night. If you can't go to bed at a regular time, then make sure you get UP at a regular time, so after a late night you wake up tired, and that prompts you to go to bed earlier and catch up. Having a regular time to wake up forces you to be more regular going to bed.

Hopefully those tips will help you get some sleep tonight!