There are many factors which contribute to poor sleep: doing too much; stress/anxiety; relationship difficulties; depression; poor diet; alcohol/substance misuse; lack of exercise and worry about lack of sleep.

We can break the cycle of disturbed sleep by making some changes to our sleeping environment; to our behaviour and to our thinking.

 Change your sleeping environment:

– Bed should only be for sleep and sex! Ban all electronic devises including tv

– Create a quiet and restful environment with soft lights and soothing colours; make sure it’s dark enough

– Clear away clutter

– Adjust the temperature making sure that you are neither too hot or too cold in bed

Change your behaviour:

– Switch off all electronic devises, including your smart phone at least one hour before bedtime. Checking and updating keeps us stimulated when we should be winding down and the blue light emitted from electronic screens suppresses sleep-inducing brain chemicals.

– Get some exercise and some fresh air every day; but don’t excercise late at night.

– Reduce daily caffeine intake (tea/coffee/energy drinks)

– Keep a regular pattern of going to bed and getting up at the same time everyday, regardless of how you have slept

– Create a bedtime routine and use it every night to wind down before going to bed

– Don’t watch the clock – knowing the time won’t shorten or lengthen the night, it just makes us worry about how little sleep we are getting

Change your thinking:

– We often lie awake going over problems in our head; this interferes with our sleep and rarely generates a solution.  If something is troubling you, write it down in a book, close the book, put it away and tell yourself you will deal with it tomorrow

– Worry about lack of sleep keeps us awake!  Tell yourself that even if you can’t sleep you will lie and rest and remember we can function well on less sleep than we often think (National average is 7 hours but we can do with much less)

– Don’t label yourself with a ‘sleep problem’ or as an ‘insomniac’; this gives the issue too much importance.  Instead think of it as a phase of disturbed sleep that will soon pass

– Use mindfulness or relaxation techniques to stop rumination and troubling thoughts   You will find some useful mindfulness excercises at www. bemindful.co.uk

– Trust your body’s natural ability to sleep