Sleep is an important part of our life. We need to get a maximum of 7 hours of sleep daily in order to be healthy happy individuals. A number of physical and psychological factors can disturb our natural sleep cycles and cause us to sleep lesser than we should. Factors like working late night shifts that make you stay up against the clock, medication taken to relieve aches and pain, diabetes and arthritis can work against helping you to sleep.

PMS and hot flashes of menopause can be factors that lead to lack of sleep. The number one cause, however, for lack of sleep is stress. It is a proven fact that stress can be a sleep snatcher and causes you to have restless nights thereby leading to other health problems.

A few factors that will help you to get better sleep involve not over eating at night. Indulgence in food at night can cause acidity or keep you up in the attempt to digest the food you have eaten.

Avoiding caffeine based drinks atleast 6 hours before bed time helps you to get a good night’s sleep. Reduce the amount of tea and coffee you drink in the day as well because it keeps you up at night. Avoid alcoholic drinks as well. Alcohol gets you intoxicated and this may lead to restlessness at night or over sleeping; both of which are bad for your health.

Set a time by which you need to be in bed and stick to your schedule by all means. Do not be tempted to stay up later that the time you have set to be in bed by.

Exercise regularly. This helps to increase your increase your blood circulation and reduces the amount of time that you are up. Cardio workouts and strength training help you to sleep well at night, even if you sleep for just a few hours.

Don’t smoke close to your bed time and if you are awake at night or if you are working the night shift you must avoid smoking completely.