Do you have a hard time falling asleep? Like most busy women, you probably have a long list of things to do and not nearly enough time to do them. When bedtime finally rolls around for you, does your mind race even though you’re physically exhausted?

Isn’t that frustrating? And the longer you’re awake, the more aggravated you get – which wakes you up even more.

Do you ever find yourself:

• Looking at the clock assuring yourself you still can get six hours?
• Counting how many hours are left until the alarm clock goes off?
• Thinking of getting up?
• Turning on the TV to help you unwind?

Or maybe you fall asleep easily, but wake between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m. with thoughts running rampant through your head. You feel tired, but wired.

Like you, I need every precious minute of sleep I can get. Balancing family, pets, career and self-care are important to me. I know they’re important to you too. If we’re not getting seven to eight hours of deep, restorative and uninterrupted sleep, there’s no way we can take care of what’s most important to us without burning out.

Plus, long-term sleep deprivation increases risk of cardiovascular disease, depression,?diabetes, panic attacks, and even weight gain.

When we’re rested, we’re way more confident, much happier, able to multi-task more efficiently, and feel more in control of our hectic schedules.

So what to do?

Here are my Top Five Tips for getting to sleep and staying asleep. I’ve been using them, and I can honestly say it’s a relief to have tools to help me get a great eight.

• Breathe – Sounds way too simple, right? This one I actually learned from Patrick Jane on the Mentalist. No, I?m not kidding. He suggested to one of the characters in the show to breathe in to the count of one and out to the count of two because it ?helps induce sleep. Guess what? I tried it, and it works. It has a meditative quality that?s relaxing and helps stops the monkey-mind.
• Caffeine – Drink caffeinated beverages in moderation. Notice I’m not saying don’t drink coffee or caffeinated teas. Try not to drink it all day or late in the day. There has to be a natural progression towards winding down.
• Dim the lights ? Light from a TV, lamp or Kindle sends a signal telling your body to wake up.
• Acupoints – Acupressure points are used for calming your mind and relaxing your body. Try holding a point located three finger lengths down from the inside of your wrist (or try motion sickness bands). The other point is just below the center of your breastbone. Holding either of these points induces deep breathing, which relaxes your body and encourages rest.
• Avoid wine – Having a glass of wine (or two) after work to help you unwind is nice, but it may be disturbing the second half of your sleep cycle (waking between 1:00 and 3:00 AM). Try drinking it before 6:00 PM, with food and if you can, keep it to one glass.

I know some of these tips may sound all too familiar to you. If that’s true, then you’re halfway there to a better night’s rest. The other half is actually implementing the suggestions.

Do you have tips that work for you? Please share them in the comments below.?I?d love to hear them!

If you’ve tried all these tips and more and nothing has worked, let’s talk. You can reach me by email or phone.

Sleep tight!