If you are having a hard time getting the sleep that you need, you will likely be paying for it in the quality of the work you do in your job or with your school work, or even in your personal relationships where you can’t give your loved ones your full attention.

It might be time for you to do something about the things or people in your life that are keeping you from getting the sleep that you really need. If there are people that you routinely associate with late in the nights, try to get your quality time together a little bit earlier in the day so that you can head off to sleep without having to ignore the other person.

There are also nightly rituals that you can get your body and mind accustomed to in order to help you prepare for sleep at night. These could include brushing your teeth, washing your face, making your bed or saying your prayers at night.

Using nightly rituals is actually something that you already do naturally. For example, you probably brush your teeth every night sometime between your last meal and the time you lay down to sleep at night.

Actions like this or getting into your pajamas will trigger your brain into getting ready to sleep. Although these are things that you are probably already doing you will get the most out of your nightly rituals if you will keep distractions out of the equation.

Many times you probably brush your teeth and start changing into your pajamas but you get distracted by something like your guitar, reading the comics again or checking your email. Every time you allow a distraction to interrupt your nightly schedule your brain will have to start over again.

Basically, you can have whatever you want in your nightly sleep ritual but you will have to be conscientious about your habits . For example, don’t let yourself do anything else besides get ready for bed once you have started your nightly ritual.

There are also certain things you should make a rule to avoid at night. Your body is making a sincere effort to calm down at night so you will need to treat your nighttime body different than you would treat your body during the middle of the day.

You will find that it is easier to get to sleep if you will refrain from eating heavy meals during the late evening as well as exercising too close to your bedtime. You will also sleep better if you will get up and go to bed at the same times every day.

Author's Bio: 

Cade Lennox is a health and fitness expert. He has written hundreds of articles about diet and exercise, as well as sleeping and mattresses, and recommends http://www.intellibed.com/research/intellibed to find out more about how your mattress affects back problems.