Are you feeling tired, ill and find yourself nodding off at your desk even though you love your job? It can sometimes be obvious why you’re not sleeping, staying up till three am to binge watch your favourite tv programmes for example is probably not going to do you much good. But on other occasions, it can be harder to pinpoint what’s causing you to spend hours counting sheep, instead of catching the sleepy train to dreamland.

Your Bedroom Looks Like An Apple Store

We sit at our desks all day staring at a screen and then we pack up, take the train home and eat dinner while watching another screen. Then, we’ll head up to bed, and before we go to sleep, we’ll stare at one more screen while checking emails, using the Kindle app and Skyping friends and family before finally shutting our eyes. Unless they’re all switched off, each one will be emitting a pale blue light, flashing, or buzzing periodically. This can jolt you awake or prevent you from falling asleep when you're just drifting off. The light interupts the natural sleep cycle too, since light is a powerful 'wake up' message to the brain.

A Few Drinks Turned Into A Party

Any liquid consumed before bed will lead to more trips to the bathroom, thus disturbing your rest, but alcohol is especially bad as it leaves your mind alert, wide awake and buzzing at precisely the wrong time. Try to limit all liquids three hours before bedtime although if you’re suffering from a dry throat or a cough then pour a small glass of cold water for overnight. Alcohol that’s consumed in the late evening will also lead to lighter, broken sleep as your system is dealing with the effects of the drink. You might believe that a couple of glasses of wine makes you sleepy and indeed they do but they also lower the quality of the sleep. This then means you aren’t getting enough REM sleep which is what our bodies need the most in order to feel relaxed and refreshed the next day. 

The Duvet Needs Changing

If you’re someone who complains that the room is either too hot or cold, tosses and turns all night, or hogs the covers just to throw them off then it may be that you have the wrong duvet on. Duvets actually have a warmth rating so the higher the heat, or tog, the warmer the duvet will be. There are also duvets for certain times of the year so it could be worth seeing if you’ve been shivering under a summer one or sweating under a winter one all this time.

You’ve Had An Evening Workout 

While exercise is vital for our overall health and wellbeing a workout to close to sleep will mean your brain is still firing on all cylinders, pumping endorphins through the body and leaving you feeling twitchy, restless and far too awake. It’s even worse if you’ve combined the gym with a warm down shower at home as the lukewarm water helps to stimulate the skin and raises your body temperature. Sleep happens quicker when the body's cooler, so it’s paramount you give it a chance to cool off before you hit the covers. 

The Mattress Has Saggy Springs

If you wake up feeling more like you’ve gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson than having just enjoyed a blissful night’s sleep your mattress may be the culprit. A mattress that has noticeable springs, has a dip in the middle or feels softer than it should certainly won’t be doing your quest to get rest any favors. Any mattress where the springs are poking through is very dangerous and should be immediately discarded. Look to replace it with a medium firm one with a good guarantee, or consider buying a pocket spring mattress or memory foam one which will greatly increase how comfortable you are which, in turn, should help those troubling bouts of insomnia in no time.

Dinner Was Like A Banquet

If you’ve eaten a big meal, your body then has to work overtime to digest the food, as well as dealing with bloating if you’ve eaten too much or any water retention if you’ve not drunk enough during the day. Spicy food like an Indian or a large meal of pasta can stimulate the body even further leaving you feeling more like an overblown beach ball than a human being. If you are hungry in the evening aim to have small, healthier snacks that have a combination of protein and carbohydrates for instance, a banana, some natural popcorn or peanut butter on toast. 

There's Too Much Light Entering The Room 

Even having the hall or landing light on can dilute the quality of sleep as the best rest happens when your body is in the dark, or even pitch black room. If you have street lights shining in through the window, it can disrupt you, make it harder to fall asleep and even wake you up again. Make sure to shut the curtains or blinds and block out as much light as possible. Not all kids like the dark, in fact, it’s quite a common childhood fear, so buy your children night lights or low light lamps that are safe for use overnight and are light enough to comfort them but not enough so that they can’t sleep.

Let’s be honest: now isn’t the time of year that most of us are thinking about getting healthy. No one wants to go out in the snow or rain to run, and when the mornings and evenings are both so dark it’s hard to convince yourself to go to the gym before or after work. Warming winter food and drinks aren't necessarily the healthiest things in the world either but let's face it, who can resist a steaming cup of hot chocolate on a rainy evening?! However there are ways to keep healthy over the winter that aren't too difficult. Here are a few things to consider.

Check Out Winter Fruits And Vegetables

It’s so much easier to eat healthily during the summer. Fresh salads for dinner and fruit for dessert are just what you need when the weather is warm. During the winter it’s a lot harder. The best thing to do is try and eat foods that are as clean as possible. Pre-packaged food and premade sauces have a lot of sugar and additives in them, so cooking from scratch is always better. Keep an eye out for seasonal ingredients: you could try pomegranates, grapes and mandarin oranges for some added sweetness to your everyday diet. You can make soups that are both delicious and healthy with butternut squash, celeriac, sweet potatoes and leeks.

Keep On Top Of Your Mental Health

The cold dark winter nights can start to have a negative affect on mood. As nice as it is, staying cosy and warm at home it's easy to miss the fun and freedom of the longer and lighter summer days. If you're particularly affected by the winter blues, you may have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which is a type of depression that recurs on a seasonal basis. If you think that might be the case, talk to your doctor about the way you feel. Therapy and medication are usually advised, special equipment such as a SAD lamp for your home may help too. If you have had problems with depression in the past, monitor the way you feel carefully during the winter.

Get Active

It’s important to stay active all year round, but even more so in winter. You’re more likely to drive and take public transport than walk to places because of bad weather, so you have to make an extra effort to keep fit. Try to add some fun into your workouts. Instead of going to the gym and using the machines alone, take a Zumba class with a friend, or join a sports team. That way you get some fun and socialising in at the same time as exercise. You could even get in a bit of last minute gardening, before the winter hits, which will keep your outside space looking near while burning calories. If you don't want to brave the cold at all, consider trying out a yoga or aerobics video at home.

Quit Smoking

We all know that smoking is detrimental to health. It can lead to lung diseases such as cancer and emphysema. During the winter it’s very easy to pick up chest infections, bad colds and flu anyway, so it’s a good idea to choose now to protect your health by quitting smoking. If you’re finding it tough, something like nicolites electronic cigarettes could help. Something like this could help you lower your nicotine intake until you're ready to quit cold turkey. You could also try nicotine patches and gum, or you could even go for hypnosis if it’s still too difficult. Most GPs will offer stop smoking advice too. Either way, thinking of the money you’ll be saving will make you feel happier!

Sleep Well

The cold weather makes us all want to hibernate! Winter is a great time to make up your sleep debt, and it should be easier to sleep late in the mornings each weekend now, as dawn doesn’t break as early as it does during the summer. If you’re having problems sleeping, try taking a warm bath before you go to bed and switching off all electronics at least an hour before you get in bed. Remember to unplug your TV if you have one in your bedroom – they often have lights on even when they’re on standby that could keep you awake. Finally, make sure you invest in good quality bedding. Your body tends to be sore during winter because your muscles are more tense from the cold, so you might get back and neck pain. A good pillow will rectify that, you could look into getting one made out of memory foam if you want something extra supportive.