Tips for a good night’s sleep

You’ve drank your milky drink, had that long, warm bubbly bath and seeped your pillow in lavender in preparation for a good nights sleep yet why is it that you are laying awake to the ticking of the clock unable to doze off for the night?

If you have trouble sleeping and can’t seem to switch off, it may be that there is too much space in your mind for the stresses and trouble of the day to creep in. The trouble is that for some of us, we live such a busy lifestyle that the only time we really get to think is just as our head hits the pillow and that is not conducive for a restful night.

I am a night owl at the best of times but I have a job that demands an early start and I used to get very upset when I couldn’t get to sleep because I knew just how tired I would feel the next day. If you are in this situation, I empathise completely and have put together a few little ideas that may just help you drop off to sleep! They all involve thinking but hopefully it is the sort of thinking that will encourage your brain to switch off.

Next time you are having difficulty dropping off then try one of the following brain activities, designed to tire it out and make it submit through boredom:

• Try mentally listing some pop and rock bands in alphabetical order
• Think of your favourite band and mentally list all the songs that they have sung
• Cast your mind back to school and try and remember as many classmates as you can think of
• Mentally list all of your friends on face book
• Play a word association game – this can get really surreal as you drift off to sleep!
• Play a name link game. Think of a name and follow it with a name that begins with the last letter of the previous name. For example, Tom, Miranda, Andrew, William, molly etc.

If you really can’t sleep and still have things on your mind that are worrying you, get out of bed and write them down. Find a talk station on the radio and listen to the phone-ins on a low level, so that you really have to concentrate. You will either be really interested in the topic or bored into sleeping. I find the late night politics show a useful way of boring my brain into sleep mode!