Are you struggling with your sleep?

Want to know what you can do to make it better?

We've got an easy tip for you.

In fact, it's so easy, you might even call it a cheat sheet.

Ready? 

Here goes:

Keeping a consistent sleep schedule - with a regular bedtime and wakeup call - will give you more energy during the day help and fall asleep more easily at night.

Yes, it is that simple.  Here's why.

You Could Be Losing Out on More Than Sleep

If you're tempted to catch up on some Zzzzs by sleeping late this Sunday, think again.

Sleep experts tell us we should do our best to maintain regular sleep and wake times, even on the weekends.  Especially if you have trouble falling or staying asleep during the week.

This is because your bedtime and risetime send clear signals to your body about what it should be doing - and how alert it should be - at that moment in time.  If you're getting up at 6:30am during the week but then 8am (or later) on the weekend, your body won't know when it should be alert and functioning.

And so, yet again, you'll find yourself lagging and hitting up the coffee pot multiple times during the morning.  Not exactly a place you want to be in, that's for sure.

But I can't get up early or go to bed early on the weekends, you protest.  My body just won't let me.

Or - I don't want to force myself to do something I hate.

I've got another easy, cheat sheet tip for you:

You won't be forcing your body to do anything.  In fact, you'll be giving in to what it needs.

Work with your body, not against it

The sleep-wake cycle is controlled by two systems: sleep drive and circadian rhythms

From the moment we wake up, our desire for sleep (sleep drive) accumulates until we actually fall asleep again at night. Conversely, as we sleep during the night, our sleep drive decreases. If this were the only process regulating our sleep-wake cycle, everyone would feel most alert first thing in the morning and then predictably lose momentum as the day progresses.

Our bodies are not that simple, though.

Circadian rhythms (our biological 24-hour clocks) play a big role, too. These internal clocks regulate periods of sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day.

On top of that, circadian rhythms are not the same from person to person, so each of us has our most alert and productive time of day or night. Sleep experts divide us into larks and owls, depending on whether we're a "morning person" or a "night person."

The circadian system, explains the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) report, is extremely sensitive to major changes in our sleep schedules, as anyone who has flown across time zones or worked the night shift will confirm.

But -

Regular wake and sleep times strengthen the circadian function, reinforce the sleep-wake cycle and help us fall asleep at night. By maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, you can train your body to sleep and wake on the schedule that works best for you.

So it only makes sense to try to stick to a sleep schedule - yes, even on Sunday morning.