Sleep is one of the most important functions that a human being needs on a regular basis - but you know that already of course. What you will also know is that getting to sleep can be quite a challenge at times. About 40 million Americans often have difficulties getting to sleep and I believe that number could be quite a lot higher. Since sleep is such an important part of everyday life it's essential that you get enough of it. But if you can't get to sleep... how do you manage? Here are some options.

Replace your bed or your pillow. Often a simple change of the pillow can be an easy way to improve your sleep. They often lose their 'spring' in a few years so if you've had your pillow for a while you might like to change it for something newer. As for replacing the bed... often this can be quite an expensive option but if your bed is horrible then you might need to look at this. Alternatively you could look at getting a mattress topper which is a piece of bed or foam, if you will, that goes on the top (hence: topper!) of the bed. This can be an economical way of improving your comfort.

Relax. Ideally everyone would treat sleep as the respectful time of evening where you get to completely and utterly relax. Unfortunately many people take their problems and issues to bed. The phrase - I'll sleep on it - isn't one that you should ever use. Contrary to what you might think, taking issues to bed and hoping they'll work themselves out isn't a good idea because they will work themselves out, but in quite unpredictable ways. If you can consciously relax before bed, putting your mind into a state where it doesn't need to work any longer then you will have a very restful sleep. This I believe is the long term goal, and it's something worth working towards.

Gadgets. There are some gadgets available that can help one get to sleep. Some of them play restful music which is really rather pleasant. Some of them - like the Nightwave Sleep Assistant - pulse a light on the ceiling which you are to mimic with your breath. The idea with all of these tools is that you are to take your mind off things which is to allow both body and mind to relax and drop off to sleep. They are an effective method in the short term while you work on relaxing!

Sleep is vital and there are different ways that you can get there. If you have difficulty sleeping then you should look at at least replacing your pillow, reducing stress before bed and perhaps look at a gadget to help you sleep better in the short term. It's worth the effort to get better sleep - trust me!