Make your sleep a PRIORITY. Do all the things you need to do to get this back on track.
Remember, if your sleep is messed up, so are you. Here’s a list of the best ideas on improving sleep (prioritized starting with what to do first):
- Use a thought awareness exercise like meditation to quiet your mind (5-‐15min/day)
- Less than 100mg of caffeine/day, none after 12noon, and ideally none at all!
- Reduce or eliminate the use of amphetamines (talk to your doctor if prescriptions)
- Go to bed so you can get 8hrs of sleep each night (don’t judge until 7 straight days)
- Get to bed at night and up in the morning at the same times (within 30min)
- Learn to manage stress during the day. This will change the hormones in your body and enable you to sleep at night
- Reserve your bed for sleeping (no eating, reading, talking, radio or TV)
- Exercise regularly during the day (3-‐4 times/wk for 30-‐40min)
- Use an anti-‐snoring device (some are very effective).
- Use ear plugs if there are noises in your room
- Be ok with whatever dreams you might have (they don’t mean anything unless you say they do)
- Get hydrated 7 days in a row (64oz of water per day or more, spaced out evenly during waking hours)
- Try taking a warm bath with lavender before bed
- Get your body fat below 30% for women and 25% for men
- If you awake exhausted each morning, you may have a disorder like sleep apnea. Get tested by a sleep clinic like this one: http://www.dallas-‐sleep.com/index.php
- Last resort (and we hesitate to even list it) -‐ talk to your doctor about a sleeping pill. This should ONLY be done if the others do not help after really giving them a good try. Even then, it should be only temporary until you find out what the real cause is. There are often serious side effects & addictions from sleep medications like this.
Dr.Bob
CEO-Founder
Mental Training, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
www.mentaltraininginc.com
www.onlinementaltrainer.com
