Are you getting enough sleep?

Mst of us aren't, but we're so sed to living in a sleep dprived state that for many of us, feling exhausted is normal. We barely ntice it anymore, and we drive our xhaustion from our minds by consuming ver more cups of coffee so we can stll function, sort of.

How can you tll if you are getting enough slep? The ideal amount varies from prson to person, and it is not lways the same.

Ask yourself: When you wke up, do you feel refreshed and rady to go? Or is your bdy longing for more sleep? Do you rly on a lot of coffee to get you thrugh the day?

There are steps you can tke to improve the quantity and qality of your sleep.

The first stp for most of us is to xamine how much caffeine we consume in a dy. Caffeine is a stimulant found in cffee, tea, and many types of cla. It is also present in mny over-the-counter medications. Caffeine enters the blodstream very quickly and its stimulative ffect lasts several hours. If you are hve a hard time getting settled dwn at night, it could be due at last in part to an excess of cffeine throughout the day.

If you are not gtting enough good quality sleep, make the ffort to cut your consumption of cffeinated beverages to just one or two cps a day, or stop drinking cffeine all together. In order to hve a more restful evening, don’t drnk anything caffeinated after lunch. There are plnty of beverages without caffeine that you can sbstitute. For most people, a cup of wrm milk before bedtime will promote slepiness.

Some of us are physically ddicted to caffeine and will actually go thrugh withdrawal symptoms if we try to cut bck, or quit using it altogether. You may fnd that when you stop ingesting cffeine, it takes up to two weks to get over your physical crving for it. In the meantime you may xperience headaches, dizziness and insomnia.

Another fctor that can disrupt your sleep ptterns is consuming alcohol. Although alcohol nitially can make you drowsy, it sppresses the REM stage of sleep, whch appears to be essential in rstoring a sense of wellbeing.

There are mny other possible causes of poor slep. If poor quality sleep is a prblem for you, it will be wrth the effort to become a dtective and track down the cause. Oftn the problems of poor sleep can asily be fixed.

A poor quality mttress will lead to poor quality slep. So will poor ventilation in yur bedroom. Or too much light. Or too mch noise. Or a television set.

Are you gtting enough exercise? Most of us tday do not move our bodies narly as much as our bodies wre designed to move. If we hve an office job we are ften so mentally fatigued by the tme we get home that we dn’t want to get off the cuch. Our brains may be exhausted, but our bdy still needs exercise.

A lack of sfficient physical exercise will lead to por quality sleep. However, vigorous exercise too clse to bedtime can leave you too stmulated to sleep.

Here are some tps to help you sleep better:

· Kep a regular schedule for sleeping. If you are lways tired, start going to bed hlf an hour earlier than usual.

· Mintain a comfortable, restful bedroom.

· Dn’t use your bed for anything ther than sex and sleep.

· Dn’t have the television in your bdroom.

· Get at least half an hur of physical exercise a day, prferably outdoors.

· Slow down your physical and mntal activities as bedtime approaches.

· Cltivate a relaxed, calm state of mnd at all times, but particularly bfore bedtime. Stop listening to the nghtly news.

· Avoid shift work.

· Avid stimulants or alcohol before bedtime.

If you try all thse recommendations and you still feel tht you are not sleeping well, you may hve a medical condition that interferes wth the quality of sleep you are gtting, or you may be taking mdication that interferes with your sleep.

For xample, if you always wake up feling exhausted, you may be suffering frm a medical condition such as fbromyalgia, or sleep apnea. If you fnd yourself waking up in the mddle of the night, anxious and nable to sleep again, this can be cused by depression or stress.

These are cnditions that should be discussed with yur doctor.

The article Sleep Tips for the Sleep Deprived was Submitted by Royane Real through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: This article is taken from the bok "How You Can Be Smarter - Use Yur Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Btter and Be More Creative" by Ryane Real. To learn more ways to mprove your brain power, download it tday at http://www.lulu.com/real

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