There’s a lot of advice out there about getting good sleep — it’s VERY important. We quickly adjust to being sleep-deprived, and don’t notice that we aren’t functioning at a normal level, but lack of sleep really affects us. If you’re feeling blue or listless, try going to sleep thirty minutes earlier for a week. It can really help.

Here are tips that have helped me get good sleep:

Good habits for good sleep:

1. Exercise most days, even if it’s just to take a walk.

2. No caffeine after 7:00 p.m.

3. An hour before bedtime, avoid doing any kind of work that takes alert thinking. Addressing envelopes–okay. Analyzing an article–nope.

4. Adjust your bedroom temperature to be slightly chilly.

5. Keep your bedroom dark. Studies show that even the tiny light from a digital alarm clock can disrupt a sleep cycle. We have about six devices in our room that glow bright green; it’s like sleeping in a mad . The Big Man has a new pet, a Roomba (yes, he loves his robot vacuum) that gives out so much light that I have to cover it with a pillow before bed.

6. Keep the bedroom as tidy as possible. It’s not restful to fight through chaos into bed.

If sleep won’t come:

7. Breathe deeply and slowly until you can’t stand it anymore.

8. If your mind is racing (you’re planning a trip, a move; you’re worried about a medical diagnosis), write down what’s on your mind. This technique really works for me.

9. Slather yourself with body lotion. This feels good and also, if you’re having trouble sleeping because you’re hot, it cools you down.

10. If your feet are cold, put on socks.

11. Stretch your whole body.

12. Have a warm drink. Supposedly warm milk contains melatonin and trytophan and so helps induce sleep, but in fact, a glass of milk doesn’t contain enough to have any effect. But it’s still a soothing drink. My nighttime favorite: 1/3 mug of milk, add boiling water, one packet of Equal, and a dash of vanilla. A real nursery treat.

13. Yawn.

14. Stretch your toes up and down several times.

15. Tell yourself, “I have to get up now.” Imagine that you just hit the snooze alarm and in a minute, you’re going to be marching through the morning routine. Often this is an exhausting enough prospect to make me fall asleep.

16. If you still can’t sleep, re-frame: re-frame your sleeplessness as a welcome opportunity to snatch some extra time out of your day. I get up and tackle mundane chores, like paying bills, organizing books, or tidying up. Then I start the day with a wonderful feeling of having accomplished something even before 6:45 am.

What am I missing? Are there some more great sleep-inducing strategies out there?

良好的睡眠，對人類非常重要，為此已出現許許多多的良言。但我們總是快速適應睡眠時間被剝奪的情況，而忽視我們的身體正在不良運轉。缺乏睡眠實實在在影響著我們。如果你感覺精神抑郁或是無精打采，嘗試每天早睡三十分鐘，堅持一個星期。此法肯定有用。

     下面是一些幫助我獲得好睡眠的心得體會。

1，盡可能每天都鍛煉，即使僅僅是散步也好。

2，晚上七點后不要喝咖啡。

3，睡覺前一個小時，避免做任何要求強度腦力的工作。如為信封填寫地址，而不是分析某篇文章。

4，調節臥室溫度到微寒。

5，保證你房間的黑暗狀態。研究顯示即使是電子鐘傳出的微弱的光線也能破壞睡眠習慣。我們房間里有大約六種裝置發明亮的綠光;在這樣的房間里睡覺就像誰在一個讓人發瘋的科學家實驗室。我的丈夫有一個新寵物，羅姆芭（他的確喜歡這遙控吸塵器），但它發出如此多的光以致我不得不用枕頭蓋住它。

6，盡可能保持臥室整潔。床上亂糟糟的不可能睡好覺。

7，緩慢深呼吸直到你不能忍受為止。

8，如果你心里有事（如計劃一次旅行，或活動，或你擔憂某次醫生的診斷），把你心里所想的寫出來。這方法對我挺管用。

9，在身體上涂上沐浴露。這樣，皮膚摸起來就會很舒服，并且使你心情平靜，如果是因為天氣熱導致你不能入睡。

10，如果感覺腳冷，就穿上襪子。

11，舒展你的整個身體。

12，喝點熱飲料。熱飲料被認為含有甲氧基色胺和trytophan，但正是如此它才能誘發睡意，而且一杯熱牛奶不足以產生任何影響。我晚上最喜歡的是1/3馬克杯的牛奶，外加一杯開水，一包加了少量的香草的Equal。款待自己恰如喂養幼兒。

13，打呵欠。

14，向上向下舒展幾次你的腳趾頭。

15，告訴你自己，“我必須現在起床。”想象你剛響聲

地呼嚕不到一分鐘，就得開始一早上的例行事務。而我，常常是困乏實在撐不住的希望是我突然入睡的。

16，如果你仍然不能入睡，重新設想：設想你的無眠是一次在白天中獲得額外時間的機會。我起床后，做日常家務，如支付賬單，整理書籍、房間等。接著我開始一天的工作，懷著奇特的希望，希望我能在早上6：45之前完成某些事情。

我在想要什么呢？有更多的誘導入眠的策略問世了嗎？