Struggling to sleep? These tips might help!

In our fast paced world, with so much going on in all our lives. Being sociable, work, doing exercise and many of important tasks you crack on with everyday. It can be so easy to forget or not even realise one of the most important parts of your everyday life, Sleep. A good night sleep is vital to starting the day right. I know when I have had an awful night sleep and have a busy day ahead, I feel that I have almost set myself up for a difficult day and a potential struggle even before I am actually out of bed. I know you can agree with me on that one! I know there are many different posts online with tips and tricks to getting "the perfect" nights rest, but as someone who has had a lot of difficultly sleeping properly over the past year or so, I would love to share with you lovely people what has helped me and I really do hope that this can help many of you that are in the same position. I am no expert of this but I think passing this knowledge on is always good to try.

#1 Get into a routine

I know this sounds like an obvious one, but I really did want to just touch base on this as it really is the most essential one in my eyes! I really used to not pay any attention to this and to be honest I wish I had done this one sooner than I did as it has helped me a lot. It is good to have a plan for your weekday pattern, weekends too but of course that can be different due to having the free time of enjoying your days off so I do not worry too much about those two days. Your routine will become so natural after a period of time that you won't even think about doing it, it will just click in your mind without you even noticing. My advice would be to write down rough times to the build up of your time to sleep. So from the evening just right down rough times that you will eat your evening meal, have a shower, when you actually plan to try to sleep. This may take some time to get used to but it is well worth at least giving a go!

#2 Make sure your bedroom is tidy before you go to sleep

Keeping your room tidy! I know this one can be a complete pain in the arse (trust me I was the exact same!) but the way I see it, a clear and clean room helps to keep a clear mind, it is also one less thing to be thinking about. Whenever I have been at a low point in my life, especially during most of 2019, I was so unmotivated to do anything, my room could not have been anymore messy. Clothes on the floor not put away, bed not made, the list goes on. But one day even while still in a bad frame of mind, I decided to completely change this and sort through everything top to bottom until I could stand a look around my room and felt calm and some form of happiness from just doing a task like this. It is in your control and as much as it can be difficult for many reasons, like you might just want to be lazy or to the more serious line that you just might be in a bad place, I feel you and completely understand. Giving it a go will honestly help you to get a better night sleep. Like they say Rome was not built in a day! Size difference, of course but just take your time with it, step by step you will get there. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and you can feel so relaxed looking around your room just for the simple reason being it looks tidy and the way you want it to be, it may sound strange to some but it is a better accomplishment that you think. Once it is done it's just making sure you keep on top of it and to this day I must say I do find it much easier than before! Give it a try.

#3 Read and / or meditate before you go to sleep.

To be honest, this is something I definitely need to do much, much more! The power of reading even for a few minutes or meditating is honestly one of the most relaxing feelings I have ever experienced in my life. I know if you are not a big reader (I am not myself) give it a go! Rather than checking your phone or watching TV, try read something you think you might be interested in. It will do you the world of good (This kind of goes back to #1 as it would be amazing if you can add this into your routine before going to bed.) Mediation is in my opinion the best way to keep the mind safe, clear and happy. I never really thought much about it before but after going through a difficult time, my brother and therapist recommended it to me to give a try and it really has helped me when I have put some time to one side and focused. You can do this for as long as you feel is necessary. I usually do 5-10 minutes depending how I am feeling from that particular day. Of course you can do this for as long as you want there a thousands of different exercises online such as YouTube and great apps which have helped me, but we will get onto that later. If you haven't tried doing either of these before going to bed, I definitely recommend!

#4 Write down one positive thing that happened in your day and something you are grateful for

I am grateful for so many things. I have a amazing family and friends who all have done so much for me and have been there for me. It can be so easy to forget what you are grateful for at times and this is completely normal, especially when you are not feeling good about you. Last year, my mum bought me a notepad and told me to do this every night, write on thing positive that happened that day and also one thing that I was grateful for. And to her advice it was honestly amazing for me. To write these positive things down, pen to paper just felt so much better than typing on a phone or an other electric device. You are putting your mind in a positive way of thinking just from doing this simple task. You can spend as long as you want on this and of course right as much down as you want to. Some days you might be able to think of 10 things and other days it might take you a while to even think of a couple, that's okay too! The exercise is to help keep a positive thought in your mind before you sleep. I would love for you to share on my page things you are grateful for and something positive that has happened in your day!

#5 Listening to Calm Music

This is one of my favorite ones to discuss! Listening to any form of calm music you have on your playlist. I feel it really does help ease your mind and help you to just wind down and relax. I know a few of you might be wondering about the picture above.When I struggled to sleep, I was so desperate to find something to support and help as quickly as possible and that's when I come across an App called "Calm." This app honestly changed my life and I know that sounds over dramatic but it really has! I had tried so many different ways to sleep and this beautiful app just had everything I needed. (As you can all probably know anyway, this is not sponsored by Calm in anyway but I just have a lot of love for this app!) the app is free but if you want to access it's full potential there is a fee which you can choose from monthly to yearly costs. There are many different sections and selections to choose from Sleep stories, meditation exercises, Various music, the list goes on. My personal favorite is the sounds of nature, it really has helped me over the past year! I would recommend every single on of you to give it a go, even if you just try the free version, it's still great!

Thank you for reading my post, I really do hope that this has helped in some way to getting a better night sleep. Always make sure you look after yourself. Self care is vital like I have said before. I wish you all a lovely weekend. Stay Safe! Here's to better sleep!