How to ... Sleep

When you wake up and you've had 4 hours sleep because you just kept tossing and turning and getting more and more frustrated, getting up feels like the worst idea on earth. Then because you associate getting up with the day ahead, the whole day seems like the worst idea in the whole solar system. And having your day ruined with negative attitude and grumpy mumbling just because you had no sleep is the worst idea in the Universe !

So... I think I made my point. Sleep !

"But how Marianne ? I try but I just can't !!!! " I hear you cry. Well don't worry , I worked it out ;)

Sleeping is really important so that you have enough energy to make the day ahead of you feel worth doing. I really struggle getting enough sleep sometimes so I've spent quite a bit of time working out how to make sure I get enough sleep so that I can carry on bouncing around and most probably annoying the hell out of people the next day hehe :) So here are my top tips on " How to... Sleep ! "

Step One : Cleanse, tone and moisturise. It only takes a few minutes and it's so much nicer to wake up when your eyes aren't stuck together by yesterdays Mascara ! If you're feeling lazy keep a bottle of  Garnier Micellar Water next to your bed :)

Step Two : Get into a nice routine. You have to actually keep doing this one for it to work but it is worth it I promise. For me , I make sure I'm in bed with my make up off and everything sorted for the next day by ten o'clock. Then I turn my phone off and read or colour ( whatever relaxes you just try to avoid tv or using your laptop ) for half an hour . At half ten put  my book down and go to sleep ! Simple :)

But what about before the routine starts to kick in and you just can't get to sleep ? Don't worry I have steps for that too ;)

Step Three : Make your bed as comfy as possible. Have as many pillows as you like and arrange a nice hot water bottle help you feel nice and cosy ! While we're on the subject of hot water bottles, am I the only one who hugs the hot water bottle rather than just putting it at the end of my bed to warm the bed up? Let me know in the comments aha :) To make my bed comfy I actually sleep with two duvets, one underneath me and one on top. One is a thin duvet and the other is thick so if I get too cold or hot I can just switch them around :)

Step Four : Your room should feel like a safe place so that you can relax completely to sleep. I get quite nervous at night and that can make it difficult to sleep so found a few things that helped me :)

• Background noise. When you're tired and a bit anxious it's easy to think your hearing noises around the house and because you're probably not at your most rational at 1 am .. it's easy to tell yourself that it's an axe murderer who's just killed off your entire family, is holding your cat hostage and is now coming for you .... alternatively it could just be someone in the house getting up to have a wee. I'm going to take a guess here and say that the someone having a wee situation is more likely so to avoid you charging out into the landing to rescue Mr Fluffykins and avenge your families deaths , I have a solution ;) My lovely best friend bought me a box set of The Big Bang Theory DVD's about 10 months ago and I genuinely have a disc on every night while I fall asleep and it really helps ! You can also buy apps that make white noise but I don't use them so if any of you do and can recommend a good one in the comment then I'm sure some people would find that helpful :)
• Invest in some fairy lights ! If you've not scared of the dark then they're pretty and will definitely make you happy. If you are scared of the dark then they will do all that and make enough light for you to be able to see your room but it won't be so bright that they keep you awake .
• If you're a quite an anxious person generally then pop some lavender oil on your pillow and it's amazing how to it helps you relax and fall asleep. You could also use Rescue Remedy Night and that will relax you and make you a bit drowsy so every once in a while when you're stressed out and can't sleep I would definitely recommend that !

Step Five :  Make sure you take a drink to bed with you. Some people find it calming to have a hot drink with them ( I've got a really yummy hot chocolate recipe up soon ) or milk is good for helping you sleep because it has an amino acid in called Tryptophan . But I just take up a glass of water with ice in because I often wake up feeling really dehydrated in the night . On that note also make sure you have a wee before you get into bed because it's really no fun to have to get up again once you're all comfy and cosy :)

Step Six : If all else fails and it's just not working then get up, walk around the house for five minutes, send a cute text for someone to wake up to and plan out the next day in your head . Then try again ! There's no point getting yourself wound up and frustrated :)

I hope this helps some of you :) It's very hard to be positive and looking forward to the day if you're tired so give a few of these a go and let me know what works for you ! Or if you have any more tips I'd love to hear them in the comments :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx