For those of you who aren't aware of my personal life outside of this blog, I am an ensemble member of a group known as The Jobsite Theater. I have had the great fortune of being in the last two productions with that company, and I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. There is, however, a drawback to being involved in consecutive shows like I have been. When you combine the number of hours I put into a show with my day job I end up having precious little time to cover some of the basics in life like, oh…sleep.  I haven't been able to regularly get in more than five, maybe six, hours a night since September.

Studies have shown that proper rest is a huge factor in losing weight and being healthy, and most doctors recommend that you get around 8 hours of uinterrupted sleep every night. This is a lot harder to do than it seems on the surface, especially if you have any kind of life outside of work. In order for me to get 8 hours of sleep on a work night I have to go to bed at 9 PM, and I'm not playing MMORPG's any more (you crazy kids who raid on weeknights when you have to work the next morning must drink more coffee than I do). Like anything in your life, though, if you make sleep a priority in your life you'll find the time to work it in occsaionally. That's what I want you to do this week. At some point before next Monday I want everyone to make a conscious effort to get 8 hours of sleep one night this week.

If any of you have homeopathic tips on how to sleep better (warm milk, cinnamon before bed, sleepytime tea, etc…) fire off with those suggestions as well for the folks in the crowd who have a problem hooking up with Queen Mab.

Unsurprisingly, I've got a whole slew of tricks:

• On a daily basis, having a small, but satiety-inducing snack before bed – something with protein and a little fat, but no carbs (read: a handful of nuts, or something like that) – is very helpful.
• No caffeine after dinner. On the occasions when I screw this up, it completely ruins my sleep.

When something more potent is needed (ie: not every day):

• Melatonin just before bedtime (1-5mg); helps with regulating the circadian rhythms
• ZMA (zinc, magnesium, and amino acids); this is also a relazation aid of the "quiet the brainmeats" not "benadryl your ass into a coma" school
• Hot bath, preferably with epsom salts

Other stuff you can use, especially if there are environmental factors that screw with your ability to get to sleep:

• White noise generator / relaxing music
• Sleep mask

Shit what don't work:

• Alcohol (unless you really want to wake up in the middle of the night)