Picture This:

8 AM - Alarm buzzer goes off for about 20 minutes before you actually realize that it is - during which time you are probably having a dream and you think that the buzzer is part of your dream, and you just ignore it. Finally you hit the snooze button. A couple more minutes sleep wouldn't hurt.....

8:30 AM - Off goes Mr. Happy. Once again you grunt and groan, and this time you turn off the alarm. Okay, I'll get up now! Geez!

8: 50 AM - You glance over at the clock and jump out of bed, finally. Dammit, I'm late again!

Sound familiar? I does to me! Why does this happen? Because you didn't go to bed until 3 AM! What else could you expect! Now, myself being a very late-night person, I've come across a few things that help me go to bed earlier. (Not to say I practice these all the time - but sometimes they do help!)

-First of all, get up early. Get used to rising early, and you'll get used to feeling more tired (earlier) during the night.

-Do everything that has to be done before at least 10 O' Clock. Otherwise you'll find yourself up all hours of the night trying to finish things you should've done earlier, but figured you'd do them later.

-DON'T eat any junk food before you go to bed. Junk food means sugar - Sugar means "Sugar Rush!". At least an hour before will do fine. If you eat junk before sleep time, you'll probably end up getting a burst of energy and not want to go to bed.

-Clear your mind. The last thing you want to do is try to get some shut-eye while all your mind really wants to do is gossip! Try to resolve any troublesome issues before you go to bed - that way you can be more content.

-Discipline yourself!! Don't let yourself get away with staying up too late and sleeping in the next morning - punish yourself so that the next night you'll remember to get to bed on time - But don't be too hard on yourself all the same.

-Turn OFF the television. I've learned the hard way with that one. Tv is very distracting, and trying to get some Z's while trying not to watch the television will only keep you up restless for the night.

These are just a few suggestions to help you get to bed on time - and most of them you are aware of, but maybe just don't practice them too often. Try to stick to a set sleeping schedule when at all possible - and this will also be more healthy for you body. And remember, if worse comes to worse - see a doctor, you may have a more serious sleeping problem. After all, life is too short to be wasted trying to get to sleep every night!

-J-