Sleep is not for the weak.  At some point in our lives, it eludes us all, leaving us dark-eyed and limp-tailed in the morning.

Almost everyone you know has a “magic way” to get you to sleep, from old-wives tales involving bars of soap to enough booze to knock out an elephant.

Try something different tonight and see how it works.  Try something else if that doesn’t work.  It’s your health and you’re not allowed to give up.  Print out this list of sleep tips and place it on your bedside table. Try one or two of these per night to see what works for you!

1. Drink herbal tea (green and black have caffeine, so be careful!)
2. Read a book (one that’s not too engaging, you’ll never sleep)
3. Put away the iPad (no matter how dim the screen is, it’s keeping you up)
4. Have a sleep-inducing snack (note snack, nothing too heavy)
5. Stretch it out (but gently, otherwise you’ll wake up sore)
6. Meditate (don’t force it)
7. Hide the light (blackout curtains, turn off excess room lights)
8. Take a warm shower (you’ll feel nice and cleansed)
9. Exercise regularly (exhausts you a little more and calms your rhythms)
10. Eat an earlier dinner (give yourself time to digest)
11. Soothe with smell (lavender works well)
12. Destress (this is huge)
13. Put away the wine (you’ll wake up halfway through the night)
14. Find the right temperature (the colder you get the easier you’ll fall asleep.   Too cold and you will bundle up and sweat)
15. Do yoga (helps calm and center your body)
16. Don’t nap (huge sleep killer if you can’t sleep–throws off your schedule)
17. Get a new mattress (but don’t be swindled by the expensive ones)
18. Stop your afternoon coffee break (the caffeine will throw off your sleep schedule)
19. Try a natural remedy (melatonin)
20. Have a routine (probably one of the best ways to get to sleep)

You’ve probably heard it before: all the best take naps. Bill Clinton, during his presidency, took naps (with whom is still to be determined).

The number one fear among those who don’t nap: if I take a nap, I’ll be tired the rest of the day!

The key to napping is to time it correctly.

Recent studies have shown that “90-minute cycles…our ultradian rhythms” are where we’re at our peak productivity. 20-minute troughs in between are where we should break, stretch, distract ourselves, walk outside, readjust, or nap.

The study also found that “[t]op-tier violinists practice no more than 4 1/2 hours a day, in 90-minute bursts, plus they got more sleep than their peers (notably, 20-30 minute afternoon naps)”. That afternoon break allows them the ability to do four “r”s:

• Relax
• Rest
• Reset
• Rejuvenate

Relax: Your muscles become less tense, your blood pressure decreases, and headaches disappear
Rest: Your body requires downtime, this is the most effective way
Reset: Your trains of thought are stopped and reoriented, and pick up in a clearer place than when you fell asleep. The problems you had before napping are more easily solved or put into perspective afterwards.
Rejuvenate: You have more energy waking up if you time your nap correctly.

That twenty or thirty minute nap could be the difference between success and productivity or drowsiness, anxiety, irritability, and dead-ends.

But, you say, “my work schedule doesn’t allow for naps!”

The ideal afternoon nap time is between 3 and 5 PM. If there is zero way you can steal away twenty minutes for a nap, don’t neglect that break! Use it to go and walk around outside (best), or at the very least step away from your desk. Staying in place and changing tasks is not a recipe for productivity but for burnout.

The ideal is that afternoon nap.

One of the greatest mysteries of science is why we need sleep.

That’s right, folks. We’ve been to the moon, we know what a circadian rhythm is, but we still have no clue why we sleep.

But recently, scientists finally narrowed down sleep to a “switch”:

Researchers from Oxford University have further narrowed the search by subjecting poor fruit flies to sleep deprivation and discovering in the process the molecules that regulate a handful of sleep-promoting neurons in the brain.

Once the molecules act on the neurons, they fire off, telling the brain that we’re tired and need to sleep.

This is wonderful news, because it allows us to perform more studies and find out if the “switch” in the brain can malfunction, or if neural damage to this region can result in insomnia and other sleep disorders.

During sleep, these neurons remain active, which shows they may have more of a purpose than just putting us to sleep.

Hopefully we’ll have a better understanding of why we sleep before we make it to Mars.

According to a recent British study, women are chronically sleep deprived of around an hour and 20 minutes of sleep per night.

Over time, this adds up, and even as the body acclimates to less sleep, it just learns to go without the benefits that sleep provides.

While people try a variety of get-to-sleep-quick cures and remedies, they may be missing a few that are easily overlooked: sex and a good book.

One in six (17 per cent) say they sleep longer and deeper after sex, and 55 per cent say the secret to deep slumber is a great book.

Your grandmother’s habit of reading romance novels before bed may be more than just interest and a way to pass the time—by getting lost in that other world, you’re able to calm and relax your body down to sleep.

thanks, 50 shades of grey!

Sex has a similar effect, allowing your mind to be occupied while your body relaxes instead of your mind keeping your body from relaxing.

So the next time you need to go to sleep, pick up one of those trashy romance books. Or live the story yourself.

it’s not the most attractive thing in the world, but it could save your life

Sleep apnea is one of those conditions that goes widely undiagnosed, yet so many people are affected by the symptoms.

Many wake up tired and groggy, struggling to stay awake during the day, becoming forgetful, and snoring heavily during the night.

Sleep apnea is a condition where your body stops breathing throughout the night—causing you in many instances to not get enough oxygen to your body.

Fortunately, there’s a new and inexpensive way to treat sleep apnea:

a relatively new device used on some sleep apnea patients. It’s a mouthpiece that reshapes your throat as you sleep, stopping sleep apnea for many patients.

If you’re being plagued by the above symptoms, it’s worth getting to a doctor and getting them checked out. After all, sleep apnea is not something you want to go untreated another night.

Didn’t get your full eight hours?

Don’t want to look like a bowser tomorrow?

Here are some tips and tricks to keep you sleeping soundly throughout the night:

1) Makeup off: “[l]eaving it on overnight makes things so much worse and very often causes eyes to water maddeningly”
2) Oil up: “[a] facial oil seems to make the biggest impact in a few hours, leaving skin plumper and softer”
3) Hydrate: “[a] pint of water before bed (not for the weak-bladdered) will make you look better”
4) Put on a mask: “a brightening mask mixed with your cleanser, then removed with a hot flannel, is a really fast way of faking a decent night’s kip”

It seems like the old adage of “beauty sleep” is actually true.

By now, you probably know that counting sheep just doesn’t work.

There has to be a better way.

Many people read before bed, but if you end up reading something engaging, then it’s hopeless. You’re knee-deep in Twilight and it’s 2AM and you have a meeting at 8.

So here’s something novel: “odd though it may seem, try reading something dull.”

light reading

I’m not saying to pick up the manual for the TV and diving in, but a few really boring news articles or a long and drawn out book may just be the solution to your nighttime woes. Students know this phenomenon—it’s called “studying”.

There’s more high-tech sleeping gizmos than ever that promise you a good night’s sleep. Here’s nine well-known ones on the market:

1. Zeo Sleep Tracker
2. Lark Sleep Monitor
3. Fitbit Flex
4. Renew Sleep Clock
5. Wakemate Wristband
6. BodyMedia Activity Monitor
7. SleepTracker Watch
8. Omrom Sensor Sleep Clock
9. Jawbone Up

Some, like the Jawbone Up, are no longer for sale (bricked after software updates), but all start at around $100, so it’s worth researching which work best for you before making the plunge.  We’ll be reviewing all of these soon, but we’d like our readers to give these a whirl so we can get a wider variety of opinion.

You’ve heard the tales: get your beauty sleep or someday, you’ll be a sallow, wrinkly old spinster hag.

And according to a new study by the British Medical Journal, that’s true.

According to the study:

researchers photographed a group of people after a normal eight hours of sleep and then after 31 hours of no sleep. They then showed the photos to another group of untrained observers who were asked to rate the healthiness of the subjects. The photos were shown in random order so the observers couldn’t tell who had had sleep and who hadn’t.

I know you’re feeling self-conscious about this already, but trust me–the result is even worse:

The results showed that sleep-deprived people appeared less healthy, less attractive and more tired than the well-rested people.

Wow.

I mean, you’d think there would be a little bit of shading under the eyes, a few light signs of fatigue, but that’s pretty intense.

So remember, get your beauty sleep…and wake up hag-free!

don’t look at me i haven’t slept