Does it ever happen to you? You're sleeping perfectly fine and then the next thing you know you're awake. It happened to me twice last night when my dog decided he needed two overnight potty breaks. So when you find yourself up in the middle of the night, what can you do to get back to sleep?

According to KMBC, "The Sleep Doctor", Dr. Michael Breus has some tips that'll help you fall asleep should you wake up before your alarm:

  •  Stay laying flat in bed. Sitting up makes your heart beat increase, and this disrupts the rate at which your heart should beat when you sleep.
  • Skip that bathroom break unless you really, really, really, really, really, need to go. Like right now go.
  • Think about nothing. Don't check your phone. Don't check the time. Don't panic about how much sleep you're getting. Turn your brain off and just be.

These are great tips for trying to get back to sleep if you wake up in the middle of the night for no reason. However, when the dog is barking at the foot of your bed at 2:00 AM, not so much. Luckily for me, snuggling back into a warm bed after being out in the cold night is all the incentive I need to go back to dreamland. It's also a pretty good excuse to turn that 6:00AM alarm off and show up at work a little late. Luckily I can get away with that.

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