When you were 20 years old, you could pull an all nighter, skip your morning shower, and still show up cute for your day.

What in the heck happened?

Now it seems if we don’t get enough sleep, we look like we spent the night in a barroom.  We’re a little foggier, there are bags under our eyes, and we just don’t have as much oomph as we’d like.

Here are 7 tips for making sure you get the best sleep possible.

Be sure you’re comfy!

I know this sounds obvious.  But if your bed is uncomfortable, if your pillow is too soft or too hard, if your blankets are too heavy, if the room is too warm, etc. it’s going to interfere with your ability to fall asleep and to get back to sleep if you wake up in the middle of the night.  Sometimes people aren’t even aware that they’re uncomfortable.  They get so used to their sleeping circumstances that they just accept them as a matter of course.  I have a friend who preferred to sleep with the blanket untucked at the end of her bed, but slept for years with the blanket tucked, and making her feet feel trapped, because her grandmother had told her when she was a child that it was the “right” way to sleep.  She had forgotten that her grandmother had told her that.  It never occurred to her to pull the covers out so that her feet wouldn’t feel bound to the mattress!

Try to go to bed empty.

Avoid drinking anything for an hour or so before bed.  If you tend to get thirsty, drink more during the day, and be sure to have a good hearty visit to the bathroom right before getting into bed.

On the other hand, don’t go to bed empty.

It’s hard to sleep when you’re hungry.   Have a light snack before bed, preferably one without sugar or white carbs.

Listen to music or podcasts on your phone or iPod

This is my favourite trick.  Podcasts, especially, prevent my mind from rehashing issues from the day or fretting about tomorrow.  Some of my favourite podcasts are Useless Information, Stuff You Should Know, and History Chicks.  These podcasts are extremely interesting.  Oddly enough, boring podcasts keep me awake and annoyed.  But fascinating podcasts seem to lead me blissfully to sleep.  I always go back and start each episode where I left off when I fell asleep the night before, so that eventually, I’ll listen to a complete episode.

Try melatonin.

I know people who swear by it.  Information can be found here: Melatonin and Sleep

Go to bed at the same time each night.

How many hours of sleep do you really need each night? Be honest.  Don’t say “Six!” because you think there’s something lazy or weak about requiring eight hours each night.  If you have to get up at a certain time, count back that many hours, and pad it with an extra half hour.  Are you worried about waking up before your alarm?  Well, then you can get up a little earlier and get a few things accomplished.  Take a walk, work on the book you’ve been meaning to write, meditate, unload the dishwasher, chop vegetables, you get the idea.

Silence a loud bed partner.

Not literally.  (Although if your bed partner snores, gently talk him/her into sleep apnea screening.  I’ll do a whole ‘nother post about that another time.)

But if your partner is a snorer, consider wearing earplugs to bed.  Or listen to your iPod with earphones.

Good sleep seems to be at the core of everything.  Without it, nothing else works as well as it should.  It’s harder to eat properly because we’re more likely to crave sugar or greasy white carbs.  It’s harder to exercise because we’re tired.  It’s harder to think straight.  It’s harder to will ourselves through the things we need to accomplish during the day.

Good night!

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