Contrary to accepted faith, there is no such thing as "catching up" on sleep. Once you have lost sleep, it is gone everlastingly. Extended periods of sleep deprivation will eventually affect your health. The concept of beauty sleep, however, is not a legend. Getting enough sleep each night is one of the best (and most inexpensive) beauty aids on the market.

Contrary to popular faith, there is no such thing as "catching up" on sleep. Once you have lost sleep, it is gone everlastingly. Extended periods of sleep deprivation will finally affect your health. The concept of beauty sleep, however, is not a myth. Getting enough sleep each night is one of the best (and most cheap) beauty aids on the market.

Take a good look around at the space in which you are sleeping. Is it favorable to sleep? Make sure you have a firm, contented mattress, good pillows, and clean, comfortable sheets. Use the right quantity of blankets--if you have too few blankets, you will be cold at night and will not fall into a deep sleep. If you have too many blankets, you will overheat and have the similar problem sleeping well. Make sure there is not too much light coming into the room. If essential, purchase dark curtains or window shades that will totally block outside light coming in from streetlights or the early morning sun.

Get rid of other sleep distractions as well. For example, if you have a digital clock with a bright, glowing LED display readout, you might think getting an old-fashioned clock. Find a clock that does not tick loudly, that does not glow in the dark, and that does not brightly show the time so that you find yourself checking it frequently throughout the night.

Make sure also that noise is not a matter in your sleep space. If street traffic or other outside noise is a problem, you may have to think options to eliminate or reduce outside noise from coming into your sleep space. Another possible answer is to block outside noise with a white noise sleep machine that plays calming sounds, such as waves crashing onto the shore or crickets chirping. You might also consider relocating your sleep space to one more room in the house, further from noise sources.

The idea of counting sheep may seem silly and archaic, but it actually works. The whole idea behind counting sheep is to get your mind to stop spinning in circles and to focus on something very boring and recurring, such as picturing sheep elegantly and peacefully jumping over a fence, one after another. You do not have to count sheep to put this theory to work for you, however. The main idea is to stop all of the millions of small thoughts that are running through your mind, causing you stress and prevent you from sleeping at night.

Make a rule for yourself that, once you are in bed, you will think about only one thing. It may be sheep jumping over a fence. It may be remembering that calming afternoon you spent lounging poolside in the temperate sun on your last Mexican Riviera cruise. It may be daydreaming about your dream vacation, something simple and relaxing, such as laying on a beach in the Caribbean, or strolling down the Champs D'Elysees in Paris throughout springtime.

Whatever you choose, make sure that it is amazing that relaxes you, rather than something that stresses you. Do not, for example, choose as your one thing to think about something work-related, such as a scheme you need to complete. Do not choose as your one thing to think about a to-do list of things you want to come to an end around the house tomorrow. Once you have decided on a topic for the night, stick to it. Any time your mind begin to stray to other topics, pull your mind back to center and focus again on the relaxing image you select.

Narcotic and over-the-counter sleep aids may be okay on instance, for rare, one-time sleep difficulties. However, in the long run, those products can cause more damage than good. They can be habit-forming, and once you start taking them, you may soon find that you cannot sleep without them. Also, for sufferers of chronic insomnia, those kinds of remedies are only putting a bandage over the problem, rather than getting to the root of what is disturbing your ability to sleep.