Very little can be more frustrating than not being able to sleep. You lie awake for hours, watching the time pass by on your alarm clock, unable to sleep. It may not be so bad if you only have occasional nights when you are unable to sleep, but if you are prone to chronic insomnia, it can soon take its toll, not only on your ability to sleep at night, but also to function during the day. What can you do to stop counting sheep at night and start catching zzz’s? Below, Dr. Nathen Horst offers some fast facts about the epidemic of sleeplessness in the United States, as well as some tips to help you sleep easier at night to wake up more refreshed in the morning.

Sleep Facts

Adults should get anywhere from seven to 10 hours of sleep each night. Children and seniors need more sleep, as much as 16 hours per day for infants. Unfortunately, more than one-third (35 percent) of American adults aren’t even getting seven hours of sleep a night. Even worse, that percentage rises as we get older. A total of 37 percent of American adults between the ages of 20 and 39 don’t get enough sleep, which goes up to 40 percent for those between the ages of 40 and 49.

Given all of this lost sleep, it shouldn’t be surprising that somewhere between 50 million and 70 million American adults have some type of sleep disorder, with insomnia being the most common of these. One-third of adults suffer from short-term insomnia, while 10 percent suffer from long-term, chronic insomnia.

Sleeping Easy

If you have ever tried to help your children learn to sleep through the night, you know how important it is to maintain consistency. The exact same principle applies to establishing a regular bedtime routine for yourself so that you get enough sleep.

Set a schedule and stick to it: There’s nothing more luxurious than getting to stay up late on the weekend and then sleep in the following morning. Unfortunately, this will throw off your body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm. The first step in making sure you get enough sleep is to set a regular time for going to bed and waking up, even on the weekends. Once this routine is established, your body will instinctively know when it wants to go to bed and wake up.

Watch what you eat and drink: It’s obvious that you don’t want to consume any caffeinated beverages late at night, but did you know that caffeine’s effects can last from four to six hours? You may want to restrict any caffeine consumption to before dinnertime, so that you won’t be feeling its effects when you are trying to sleep. Greasy or spicy food can upset your stomach, so those may also not be optimal dinner choices, unless you want your bedtime interrupted by trips to the bathroom.

Reserve the bedroom for sleeping: If you are like most people, you probably have watched TV, or spent time on your laptop or tablet, while curled up in bed. While you may think these are relaxing activities, the truth is that they aren’t. They actually stimulate your brain and cause it to associate your bedroom with activities that keep you awake, rather than those allowing you to sleep. Take the TV out and banish the laptop and the tablet from the bedroom. You can read a chapter or two of an actual book before bedtime as a way to wind down instead.

The best way to prevent staring at the bedroom ceiling at 3 am is to start by setting a regular bedtime routine. Train yourself to associate certain times with going to bed and waking up, and the bedroom with being the place reserved only for sleeping. Before you know it, you will be back to sleeping the whole night through!