How to Get a Better Nights Sleep, One Night at a Time

Are you finding yourself always wishing that there were more hours in each day?  Unfortunately, there never will be more than 24 hours for us to use, so it’s important to make the most out of each one.  When it comes to taking care of all of the daily chores, our jobs and getting enough sleep, you may find it hard to manage everything at once.  The secret to getting more sleep, however, it fairly easy to learn:  it all comes down to managing your time in a better way, allowing you to get everything done. We live in a society where many people think that sleep is a luxury, instead of being something that we must have in order to survive and to thrive.  Those who aren’t getting enough sleep have trouble maintaining normal cognitive function, and over time, they can lose the ability to drive safely and to carry out their normal, everyday tasks. When you don’t get enough sleep, you aren't just slower and tougher to deal with, but you’re much less focused on the tasks at hand.  This simply results in wasted time, as you are constantly trying to make up for your lack of concentration.  It’s a tough cycle that many American’s are stuck in and it’s very unhealthy. Although we live in a world that is always “on”, thanks to the Internet and our growing social networks, it’s harder than ever to get the sleep that we so desperately need.  There are more ways to waste time than ever, making it important to recognize the activities that are taking up your valuable time.  When you can identify activities like wasting time on social networking sites and watching hours of television after dinner, it’s so much easier to see where you can stat adjusting your schedule in order to fit in more sleep.

 What is Keeping You From Sleeping?

[caption id="attachment_184" align="alignright" width="300"] Creating a Life & Sleep Schedule will quickly help you identify holes that need fixed.[/caption] When you want to start making more time in your life for sleeping, it’s a good idea to identify how you are currently spending your time. Track the different things you do each day for a week or so and organize them by subject and category.  This is a good way to visually see just where your time is going.  If you see big sections for things like “being online” or “going out with friends”, then you’ll know that it’s time to revaluate how you are spending your precious time.

 Creating a Life Schedule that Works for You

If you haven’t yet mastered the art of balancing the needs of everyday life with your need for physical rest and periods of inactivity, then it’s time to start blocking out time for your days.  Decide how much you want to spend on your activities and block out time on a schedule.  Include things like responding to emails and text messages and spending quality time with your kids.  When you take the time to evaluate what is really important in your life, you’ll find that it’s easier to fit everything in while still maintaining a healthy sleep schedule.