Me: (to myself) I really need to sleep, I have to wake up early tomorrow morning. I don't believe it's already 2:21am. I am only going to get 3.6 hours of sleep...

(more time passes)

Me: (to myself) Why can't I sleep? I am tired. I did all the right things. Lights were dim, didn't have any caffeine, didn't do anything active in the last 3 hours ... oh wow, it's already 3:11 am. How am I going to function tomorrow...

Usually I go to bed when I can barely keep my eyes open but when I have something important to wake up for the next day and want to go to sleep early, I always find it hard to fall asleep.

It is frustrating. The more I want to sleep, the more awake I become.

I used to get up from bed and try to do some work. I know it is not good to stimulate the mind when you are trying to sleep but it seemed like a waste of time to just lie in bed awake. I would work until my eyes became heavy and then go to bed. The next morning I would have a hard time waking up and be easily distracted all day. It was becoming a barrier in my life (click here to read The Three Reasons Why You Should Sleep More) and to my success (click here to read How to Sleep Your Way to Success).

Luckily for me (and you), I found a technique that has worked very well to help me sleep. It is easy and effective and you don't need to buy anything special. The great thing is that this technique is still good even if you don't fall asleep.

Still interested? Keep reading ...

If you have no problems sleeping, feel free to scroll down to the comments section and share your own tips.

For the rest of you who are still reading so you can get to bed, here is what you can to do to fall asleep faster:

1. Goto bed and lie down on your back with your arms at your sides

2. Be fully aware of your breathing (in and out). Notice your abs moving up and down with your breath.

3. Once you are aware of your breath, pay attention to a part of your body when breathing in and relax that part when you breathe out. Start from the top of your body and repeat the process of awareness then relaxation for each body part all the way to the bottom (head -> eyes -> nose -> mouth -> shoulders -> chest -> stomach -> thighs -> calves -> feet -> toes).

I usually fall asleep fairly quickly. I don't remember ever going past the shoulder.

This deep relaxation exercise helps to keep my mind from wandering and at the same time serves to relax my body. I use it all the time now and it works. The next time you can't fall asleep, relax deeply by being mindful and then letting go of each part of your body.

This method is so effective that I almost fell asleep writing this article.

I'm not kidding.

(For those of you still having trouble sleeping at night, you may want to try these 15 sleep tips. You can also read this article and this article)

The post Tired but Cannot Sleep? – How to End Sleeplessness Once and for All appeared first on Embrace Possibility.

If you think sleep is a luxury for people with nothing to do, this article is for you.

In our society today, sleep has become equated with the lazy and we view those who can function with 4 or less hours of sleep as superheroes or hard workers deserving a badge of honor. I used to think the same way. In college, I always touted the fact that I pulled  frequent all-nighters but was yet still able to survive. The ability to function with little sleep was a desired trait.

How wrong I was...like my Econ 101 professor always said, "There is no such thing as a free lunch." It is not possible to be sleep deprived and perform at your best. In The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz found that the difference between the top performing athletes and the mediocre ones was that the best knew how to rest effectively. Just take a look at your own experience and think back to the days you had ample sleep versus the days you didn't. I have yet to meet anyone that told me they performed better with less sleep than with more.

I know what you're thinking ... how am I going to find the time to sleep 7-8 hours daily and still do everything that I want to do. This is a question that I struggled with myself. I have so many things to do and so little time but through the tracking of my daily tasks and hours of sleep, I have found that I get more things done in a week where I have enough sleep versus a week when I am sleep deprived. It is true that I may get more things done on the day I sleep only a few hours but I am a lot less productive the next couple of days.

This is when I decided that it is more productive to sleep and that sleeping is actually one of the key factors to success and healthy lifestyle. I am now averaging over 7 hours of sleep and getting more done than ever. What helped me let go of the opportunity cost of sleeping was to make ample rest one of the goals I want to achieve. Once I put sleep on my to-do list, I didn't treat it as something I can put off in the name of completing my goals. As with my other goals, I track it daily to make sure I am aware of it even on my busiest days.

I think we have all experienced the benefits of sleep. If you haven't, check out this article: The Three Reasons Why You Should Sleep More.

So if you're reading this late at night, GET SOME SLEEP. It'll do wonders for your life and your complexion.

The post How to Sleep Your Way to Success appeared first on Embrace Possibility.