There are no two ways about it, not being able to sleep on a regular basis really sucks. Whether you’re kept up at night by a big project for work, a snoring partner, or a child waking from a nightmare, everything becomes a little trickier when you are feeling exhausted.

But why is that?

Why does not getting enough sleep make everything more difficult?

Sleep deprivation has negative effects on every aspect of your physical, psychological, and emotional functioning. When your body and brain haven’t had adequate amounts of rest, they’re unable to function at full capacity. This means your judgement becomes clouded, your thought processes disrupted, your mood damaged, and your temper shortened. And when you’re raising an energetic child, things only become more difficult! What’s more, if our bodies aren’t able to rest for long enough, they’re much more susceptible to illness.

So, what can be done to ensure more and better sleep?

How can I improve my sleep and get more of it?

Make sleep a priority. At the beginning of each day, tell yourself that sleep is your number one priority. If you keep checklists, put sleep right at the top. If you’re invited out to plans, decide that this time sleep is more important. You won’t suddenly get a ton more sleep, but it will at least be on your radar.

Establish and stick to a schedule as much as possible. Try to always go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends. This will prove particularly important if you’re trying to get back on track with sleep.

Get ready for bed before you’re too tired. When we’re feeling overly exhausted, it can be a struggle to achieve even the simplest of tasks – brushing teeth, getting changed into pyjamas. So, try to get ready before the full-on yawns and heavy eyes set in. That way you’re in bed and ready for sleep when it arrives.

Avoid screens. Exposure to bright light, especially the blue-tinged light of a phone, or laptop, will really mess with your circadian rhythms, making it harder to sleep well. So, dim lights as bedtime approaches and try to keep from looking at your phone. If you feel that you can’t go without watching a movie before bed, turn the screen brightness as low as possible. An alternative, if you like to fall asleep to noise and something other than your own thoughts, is to listen to an audiobook or turn some soothing music on. It doesn’t work for everyone, but some swear by it.

Only use your bed for sleep. Besides reading a book and being intimate with a partner, your bed should be reserved for sleep. It’s important for our brains and bodies to associate bed with sleep and little else.

Consider your caffeine and alcohol consumption. For the vast majority of us, caffeine after 2 pm is a no-go. If you find that you struggle to drift off for no discernable reason, but you love a coffee in the late afternoon, try cutting back and see if this has any effect. Similarly, while we know that a glass of wine can often be just the ticket for relaxing the brain and inducing sleep, once the alcohol’s effects wear off, your brain essentially turns right back on. So, even if you feel as though you’ve slept through, you’ll likely wake up exhausted. Now, we’re by no means saying you need to give up alcohol, just be mindful of its effects if sleep is an issue.

Get some support. If your infant or child is keeping you up, take it in turns to do feedings at night or calm them down after a nightmare. Or ask a close family member to take them off your hands for a night. These aren’t long-term solutions, but every little helps.

4 last-minute tips for dealing with exhaustion:

Try to lower your expectations. Be kind to yourself and take a few nonessentials off your list where possible.

Keep from multitasking, and instead, think of taking things one at a time.

Be transparent about how tired you are. Explaining exhaustion to your kids lets them know that any crankiness on your end isn’t intended.

Remember that it’s hard to function properly when you’re exhausted, so don’t blame yourself for any outbursts or whacky decisions.

What can I do if I’m struggling with sleep?