Ten Rules of Healthy Sleep

1. Go to bed and get up on a regular schedule.
2. If your sleeplessness stems from worry or grief, try to correct what’s bothering you, accepting that you may not be able to change your situation overnight, but by taking one step at a time positive changes can be achieved. A pastor, counselor, or trusted friend may provide support through the difficulty.
3. Don’t drink alcohol before bedtime—and don’t smoke. Alcohol can disrupt sleep patterns and make insomnia worse. Nicotine also contributes to wakefulness.
4. Avoid eating a heavy meal in the evening. The evening meal should be the lightest of the day. Don’t drink large amounts of liquid before retiring. In addition to the discomfort of having a heavy meal sitting in the stomach to be digested, the process of digestion requires energy; energy utilized in this way detracts from the energy needed to fuel the process of repair and restoration vital to optimal body function.
5. Eliminate caffeinated beverages.
6. Avoid daytime naps, even when you are tired.
7. Spend an hour or more relaxing before you retire—read. listen to music, or take a warm bath. Try to fill your thoughts with something that will soothe and uplift mind, body, and spirit.
8. If you are unable to fall asleep after twenty minutes, get up and dosomething rather than lying there trying to fall asleep. But don’t bring work to bed. If you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep, try reading for a short time. Meditation, counting sheep (or flowers, or whatever appeals to you) or reconstructing a happy event or narrative may lull you back to sleep.
9. Avoid reproaching yourself. Don’t make your sleeplessness a cause for additional worry. Insomnia is not a crime. Sleeping exactly eight hours is sometimes not possible. Avoid setting up a chain of thinking in which frustration and anxiety keep you fretting over lost sleep.
10. Avoid being a clock watcher. Turn the clock to the wall if you can’t helplooking at the time and worrying. If these commonsense tips don’t work the first night, they may start working over a week’s time.