The mistake that most people make before bedtime is using electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones or even their computer.
The blue light that is emitted by the screens suppress the production of the sleep hormone called melatonin.
And the stimulating content that you're viewing on the screens keeps the brain alert instead of allowing the brain to wind down to allow you to get to sleep.
Other mistakes that people make before bedtime are drinking coffee and caffeine too late before bed, eating heavy meals before bed, using alcohol as a sleep aid and having inconsistent sleep schedules.
Shifting your sleep and wake times by even a few hours on the weekends also disrupts the body's internal clock, which causes jet lag like symptoms and Monday morning grogginess.
And for the alcohol, while the alcohol does act as a sedative that makes you drowsy, the alcohol also actually fragments your sleep and degrades your quality of sleep and also suppresses Rapid Eye Movement or REM sleep.
Eating calorie dense, carb rich or fatty foods and heavy meals right before you go to bed, spikes the body's metabolism and raises your core body temperature, which also disrupts your natural sleep cycle.
And the half life of caffeine is around 5 to 6 hours, which means that having a 3:00 PM cup of coffee or other caffeine based drink leaves the brain alert and disrupts the restorative sleep that your body needs.
To avoid these mistakes when going to bed and to get quality sleep.
Set a strict "screens off" time of around 30 minutes to 60 minutes before bed.
If you're still having trouble sleeping you can try taking some over the counter melatonin or other sleep aids.
But if you're still not able to sleep you should see your doctor for treatment.
Sleep is very important for health and daily functioning.