There are just a few basic categories of sleep problems and if you find the one that defines your sleep then you have a great start in solving your problem and getting a better night’s sleep.

The first category is difficulty falling asleep. You find that it often takes you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep at night. Some nights your mind is racing and it can be hours before you get to sleep. You are getting a poor quality of sleep with too much light sleep.

The second category involves having difficulty staying asleep. You may fall asleep within 20 minutes but you wake up many times during the night and sometimes also find it difficult to get back to sleep. Your night and your sleep is fragmented.

The third category of sleep problems comprises people who can fall asleep and stay asleep during the night but they wake up often very early in the morning after only five or six hours and are unable to get back to sleep.

If you fall into one of the three categories than it is easier to find solutions to your sleep problem.

My sleep problems often bounced between all three categories. Sometimes I couldn’t fall asleep until 2 or 3 in the morning. My alarm clock going off at 6am was sucking around for a beating.

Other nights I’d drop off quickly but I’d wake up over and over. If I woke up with the cure for cancer or with underwear that wouldn’t bind up then maybe it would be worth it but mostly it was caused by worrying about something.

There were other times I’d fall asleep quickly but be wide awake and raring to go at 3am. I’d be up paying bills, washing dishes or doing a few loads of laundry. I felt I was being so productive when the other losers would still be sleeping. By 7:30am when I needed to  get ready to go to work I would feel more like going back to bed.

If you find yourself consistently in one sleep category, your behaviour my just be a bad habit that you’ve had for years. It may take a while to break the habit but you can do it.

What sleep category do you fall into? Leave a comment below.