It’s World Sleep Day – a day on which the World Sleep Society promotes the importance of having enough nigh-nighs.

Sleep has such a positive effect on your overall health. For instance, did you know that, by ensuring that you get eight hours’ sleep a night, your risk of heart disease drops by 12–16 per cent? It also helps to prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses.

Also, if you suffer from insomnia, you’ll most likely experience more symptoms of anxiety and depression than people who get enough shut eye. There’s a lot of research underway to better understand the link between sleep quality and mental health.

Other effects of reduces sleep include:

• reduced alertness

• shortened attention span

• slower than normal reaction time

• poorer judgement

• reduced awareness of the environment and situation

• reduced decision-making skills

• poorer memory

• reduced concentration

• increased likelihood of mentally ‘stalling’ or fixating on one thought

• increased likelihood of moodiness and bad temper

• reduced work efficiency

• loss of motivation

• errors of omission – making a mistake by forgetting to do something

• errors of commission – making a mistake by doing something, but choosing the wrong option

• microsleep – brief periods of involuntary sleeping that range from a few seconds to a few minutes in duration.

Sleep is one of the most important core pillars of good health. If you don’t sleep enough, your health fails and your quality of life decreases. So, it goes without saying that getting a good nights’ sleep should be a high priority for everyone.

So, how do you get enough sleep? Well, here are five tips to help you fall asleep, and here are 10 more ways to make sure you’re getting enough sleep. We’ve also got some great sleep tips for women, and a list of gadgets that will help you get a better nights’ sleep.

Do you get enough sleep? Do you have any sleep tips you’d like to share with our members?