Resolve to Get Enough Sleep! Plus a Sweepstakes from Select Comfort

Just as important as a good diet and exercise, sufficient sleep is a crucial part of good health. Lots of you have made New Year's resolutions to eat better and work out, but how many of you have resolved to get more sleep? If you are considering adding this as a "belated resolution", keep reading....

Select Comfort Director of Sleep Innovation and Clinical Research and sleep expert, Pete Bils provides these simple tips about how to get that extra hour of needed sleep …and stick to that resolution.

A New Year’s Resolution You Can Keep With Your Eyes Closed!

• Make sleep a priority: Put “getting 8 hours of sleep” at the top of your to-do list. Try it for a week and see what difference it makes in how you feel and perform—that might be motivation enough to figure out how to do it full-time! Most of us are so sleep deprived, we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be fully rested and alert.

• Establish a bedtime routine: Bedtime isn’t just for kids. Adults should identify a bedtime that gives them 7.5-8 hours of sleep each night, and then stick to it — even on the weekends.

• Don’t boil the ocean: If you need to add an extra hour of sleep to get the recommended 8 hours, and can’t– split the difference. Go to bed a half hour earlier and wake a half hour later.

• Pay attention to your environment: Get into sleep mode by dimming or turning off all lights in your home one hour before bed time. Get in a dim, quiet room and turn off all screens (TV, phone, video game, etc.). This will help you unwind from the day and make falling asleep easier.

• Avoid anti-sleep activities: Don’t eat, exercise or consume caffeine near bedtime.

• Check your bed and pillow: Take advantage of innovations in bedding that allow you to customize your comfort, like the Sleep Number bed that is clinically proven to decrease back pain and Sleep Number bedding accessories.

What’s your New Year’s resolution? Please share it with Select Comfort as a comment on Beds.com or on their Facebook page Must Sleep.

Sleep Number “Winter 2010” Sweepstakes: Go to www.sleepnumber.com/winter and register for a chance to win a personalized bed package worth over $3,600. Ends on Saturday, February 27, 2010