Healthy & Sensible Sleep!

It's a well known fact that some people can get to sleep quicker and with more ease than others. I have a good friend who is generally asleep just ten minutes after her head hits the pillow.

SORRY WHAT? HOW?

Seriously, I can't do that.

I have over time, however, developed my own, erm, 'tactics' to get a better night's sleep, which I find particularly effective at stressful times (exam season and the like) where the precious, valuable sleep time is taken over by thoughts of 'Oh my gosh I'm going to fail.'

I would like to point out here that I am in no way a sleep therapist and I really can't promise that these techniques will work for everyone!

1) TURN OFF YOUR PHONE

Seriously, I know this gets said all the time, but it really does work. And don't do what I did at first and just put it on silent, because you WILL check it, and that's even worse than it being on. Real talk.

2. IF YOU MUST HAVE IT ON...

...Then download a Sleep app, like SleepGenius, which plays soothing music designed to work in harmony with your body and relax you, getting you to sleep. Really though, it sounds like bulls**t, and I was initially skeptical, but it works.

3. HERBAL TEA

These actually work. I always find that a warm drink soothes me, and I'd particularly recommend herbal teas with sleep-inducing ingredients, such as camomile or lavender. One that I find particularly effective is Twinings' 'Caramelised Apple', which tastes absolutely divine as well as sending me straight off to sleep!

4. WINDOWS

Ideally, your room should be in a sort of mid-temperature range to allow you to be comfortable, so if you need to, open your window.

5. WRITE A TO-DO LIST

If the thing keeping you up is stress and you lie awake thinking you just have too much to do, I find that making a list of things you need to do before going to bed is particularly helpful. This way, you can wake up tomorrow and the list will still be there, you won't have forgotten anything.

6. IF ALL ELSE FAILS...

...Get up, walk around and get a drink. This is actually, like, SCIENTIFIC. This actually helps. So yeah.

I'm really sorry if none of these work for you! But if they did, great! :D