Everything That Keeps You From Falling Asleep, Even When You're Exhuasted

We've all been there.

After hitting the snooze button for the fifth time, you groggily open your eyes and realize you have only 10 minutes to get ready for work and hit the road. Or worse, you're already 20 minutes late.

Jolting yourself awake with the fear your boss is going to lecture you as you walk in the door isn't the best way to start your day.

And honestly, for most of us, it comes down to our sleep habits.

If you want to hit the ground running, you have to wake up refreshed and ready to carpe diem.

Here's how you can give yourself the best night's sleep:

The blue screen of death

Nerds refer to the blue screen of death whenever a computer crashes or locks up and displays a blue screen with a bunch of error codes.

But, your sleep cycle can be jacked up by a blue screen, too. The blue light emitted by our smartphones, tablets and computers has a major impact on our sleep cycle.

At night, staring at your iPhone can trick your brain into thinking it's time to be awake and alert.

If you want a deep, restful sleep, turn off your screens.

I have trouble sleeping, so instead of staring at my phone, I listen to the radio or a podcast. Having something to focus on as I rest my eyes allows me to drift off to sleep without going crazy with boredom.

A quality mattress makes a huge difference.

Every day on TV, we're inundated with ads from mattress stores offering half off their already low prices. Don't let price be the only factor you consider when you purchase your next mattress.

A quality mattress may help you fall asleep up to 15 minutes sooner than the old, lumpy mattress you're punishing your body with each night.

Don't miss out on beauty sleep by pinching pennies on your mattress.

You should be spending around eight out of every 24 hours on your mattress, so shouldn't it be a comfortable, inviting place of solitude?

Caffeine can destroy your sleep.

The wonderful productivity drug caffeine is used and abused by millions of people around the world daily.

But, if you consume caffeine after 12 pm, you're going to have a harder time falling asleep, and your sleep will be less restful, according to the American Sleep Association.

Caffeine takes several hours to fully leave your system. Give your brain a break by keeping caffeine consumption to a minimum, especially during late afternoon and evening.

Habits are great for quality sleep.

Your body is designed to operate based on habits. Habits allowed our ancestors to devote their brainpower to more important things, like escaping hungry dinosaurs and finding food.

Habits are easily picked up, and one of our most important habits is the timing of our sleep.

Commit to going to bed, shutting off all your electronics and laying your head on your pillow around the same time every night. You'll want to set an alarm (and commit to waking up) around the same time every day as well.

After a few weeks, you'll notice the quality and regularity of your sleep will vastly improve as your body embraces a normal, reliable sleep cycle.

Quality sleep is critical to your daily life. Operating on less sleep than you need is equivalent to being drunk.

So seriously, invest in your rest time and enjoy an energetic, more productive day.