Ronald L. Kotler, M.D.: 11 Steps for Getting A Good Night's Sleep

Ronald L. Kotler, M.D.: 11 Steps for Getting A Good Night's Sleep: "The following sleep hygiene tips are tried and true. Check them off your list and you'll raise the odds considerably of getting a good night's sleep. Believe me; you're going to find that they work a whole lot better than counting sheep."

The best way to make certain that you get seven to nine hours of sleep each night is to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day -- or close to it. Even if you pride yourself on being a free-spirited, spontaneous kind of person, your body yearns for a regular schedule.

A bedtime that zigzags from 11:00 p.m. one night to 3:00 a.m. the next, and then back to 11:00 p.m. -- with a corresponding crisscross of wake-up times -- throws your system off and can lead to sleep disruption. Diverting too far from a regular pattern sets you up for a vicious cycle of insomnia and disturbed sleep.

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