insomnia

The healthiest way to improve your sleep: exercise

"There has been more and more research in the last decade showing exercise can reduce insomnia," Rush University clinical psychologist Kelly Glazer Baron said.

Busy brain not letting you sleep? 8 experts offer tips

You're mentally reviewing the day you just completed while also previewing the day ahead; sometimes, your mind may even reach way back into the archives and pull up something embarrassing you did back in high school. So fun!

Racing thoughts can be a sign of a serious mental health condition like anxiety. But these nights also happen to everyone from time to time -- and once we're too old for bedtime stories, it's not always clear what to do.

Top tips on how to get a better night's sleep

Dr W Chris Winter told ABC Radio Adelaide's Mornings program one of the first things people needed to do if they felt like death warmed up was to figure out whether they were sleepy or fatigued.

Sleepy was simply defined as having trouble staying awake.

Fatigue, according the Dr Winter, was more a physical feeling of tiredness.

Sleep tips: Avoid afternoon coffee, over-50s advised

A report for the charity Age UK says sleeping soundly gets harder as we age but getting enough rest is important to keep mentally sharp.

It recommends older people get seven to eight hours of sleep a night and gives tips on how to achieve this.

As well as avoiding tea and coffee, older people should keep daytime naps to shorter than half an hour.

Other tips include:

§  Get up at the same time every day

§  Expose yourself to natural sunlight during the daytime