How to get better sleep (without counting sheep)

Sleep is extremely good for our bodies. It allows us to recharge, recover and prepare for the following day. However, thoughts in your mind can stop you from getting good quality sleep. I have a job interview coming up soon and as I'm sick with nerves about it, I can't stop thinking about what I need to do and how I'm going to prepare.

According to the National Sleep Foundation Survey in 2009, the number of people reporting sleep problems increased by 13% since 2001. 

Even when you're not exactly worried about anything, your mind doesn't switch off from the things you need to do the following day. You even feel bad when you haven't got the ideal 6-8 hours sleep. However, this is a lieeee. Not everyone needs 6-8 hours sleep to function better the next day. One of my friends is as fresh as a daisy after 4 hours sleep, whereas I need 7-8 otherwise I feel like a zombie. We are all different when it comes to sleep patterns/hours, so make sure you are having the correct hours you need. What is also useful is to go to bed at similar times every night. This will help your body clock calm down and give you regular sleeping patterns. 

So, what I thought I would do is to just go through some tips that might help you (and me!) get a better night's sleep (:

1) Get everything out of your head

When you've got tonnes of things to think about and you're re-playing your to-do list oooover and ooover in your head whilst lying in bed, you can't possibly get to sleep. To avoid this, jot down all of these ideas and thoughts in a notepad and write a to-do list of how you're going to solve them etc. Once these are down on paper, you can stop worrying about them and concentrate on hitting the hay.

2) No technology

I am SO bad at this. Just before I go to sleep, I am on my laptop on facebook, looking up blogs and checking my e-mails. Then when I am in bed, I'm on my phone texting a special someone ( (: ). But then, I just can't get to sleep!!! According to professionals, using technology within an hour of going to sleep can have a negative influence on the quality of your sleep. This can be for a number of reasons such as the bright lights of the laptop screen can hinder the development of melatonin which is the hormone that promotes sleep and just that your technological devices have so much information and stuff blaring at you that just before bed, your brain is OVERFLOWING with information. So, if you want to get better sleep, no phones or laptops!
(for more info: http://signalnews.com/study-tech-before-bed-bad-for-sleep220)

3) Create a zzzz environment

As well as no technology before bed, it would also be best to stay away from bright lights. Dimmed lights can create a more calming environment and replace the technological devices with things that may relax you more such as comfy pillows and soft music ( I don't mean classical, some good ones to listen to before bed are Ed Sheeran, Jack Johnson and Ben Howard!) What I do as well is I only associate my bed with sleeping and don't sit or lie down on it during the day. 

4) No drinkies before bed

What I've found is that if I have a drink after 8pm, I suddenly wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and this interrupts my sleep. Going to the bathroom in the night is the worst as you have to walk out of your room, all the way to the bathroom and back and then you forget what comfortable position you were in. So I advise to not drink as much in the evening.

5) Wear socks

Now, I am not a wearing-socks-in-bed type of person. But research has shown that cold hands and feet can interrupt sleep as the body's heating system is strongly connected to sleep cycles. Everyone is different but I personally get very hot in the night and have to whack a leg out of my duvet, so socks wouldn't work for me. But if you do feel that you get a bit chilly at night and chills just keep you up at night, layer up a bit!

6) Eat these

There are certain foods that can help you get better sleep. For one, SALMON and TUNA are full of vitamin B6 which is needed to make melatonin. DAIRY products like yogurts and milk have tonnes of calcium which helps you to fall asleep. BANANAS are also full of vitamin B6 to help the salmon along which making melatonin. I read AGES ago that celery is also good to eat before bed, but don't quote me on that.
There are also special tea brands that are supposed to help calm you before bed.

So, if you try some of these out, I hope they help! And sweet dreams (: