Having sleeping problems? I can say, from personal experience, that there is nothing more frustrating than laying in bed all night and being completely unable to drift off to sleep. Lack of sleep can cause a number of problems in your daily life and will certainly make you less productive. If you’ve been walking around like the living dead (or just find you have trouble sleeping sometimes) and don’t want to resort to sleeping pills, try some of these tips on for size:
- Stretch Out: try a relaxing stretching session before bed to get rid of the day’s tension.
- Keep Your Workspace Separate from Your Room: having your desk next to your bed or using your laptop in bed tend to blur the lines between stress and sleep. Try removing clutter from your sleeping space, and make sure that your sleeping space remains a relaxing place in which to sleep. (Editor’s Note: practicing this tip helped me a great deal when I suffered from a bout of insomnia when I was living in the dorms in college. Soon after I stopped using my bed as a workspace, I could finally sleep again!)
- Snack Smart: watch what you’re eating in the evening. You want to stay away from caffeine and sugar. If you’re looking for a late night snack, nuts, cheese and but butters are good choices.
- Aromatherapy: good essential oil choices are lavender, ylang ylang, jasmine and sandalwood.
- Tea: the standard remedy, chamomile tea, can definitely do the trick. You can also try warm milk if you consume dairy.
- Wear a Sleep Mask: the light from street lamps outside or even from the bright numbers on digital alarm clocks can be distracting. To create total darkness, you can just slip a mask on.
What are some of your best tips to remedy sleeping problems?
For more sleepy time tips, head over to 20 Natural Tips to Stop Tossing & Turning.