Insomnia
3. Improving your sleep
Simple measures can improve the quality of your sleep.
- A good daily sleep/wake routine is all-important. Don't go to bed until you feel you can't stay awake, but always get up at the same time each day, including weekends.
- Exposure to the sun is important to set your body clock, so try to get outdoors each day. When the weather is too poor to get out, turn up the light levels throughout the day.
- In the four hours before bedtime, avoid heavy meals, alcohol (it helps you doze off but disrupts your sleep pattern), tea, coffee and stimulating activities such as exercise, or exciting books/films.
- If you wake up in the small hours, get up and do something dull, like polishing your shoes. Write down your thoughts to deal with later if you wake with your mind racing.
- If you feel sleepy after lunch, have a short nap (up to an hour) but never nap after about 5pm as this will prevent you sleeping at night.
- If none of these things works, it may help to keep a sleep diary, listing what you did and ate/drank before bedtime and how this affected your sleep. Over time you will probably learn what disturbs your sleep patterns and what helps.
- You may find that herbal remedies or relaxation/meditation techniques help.
