I watch the clock every night, knowing that if I don't crawl into bed by my own personal witching hour, I'll never fall asleep. I'm like a kid -- if I get overtired, I just can't seem to doze off.

Being chronically overtired may be one of the reasons that Americans are in dire need of more sleep, though other factors may contribute as well. If you're finding yourself falling well short of the seven hour minimum recommendation most health experts agree on, try one of these 10 strategies for better sleep and see if you can't get more rest:

• reduce anxiety by putting your problems to bed before you go to bed
  
• get more exercise during the day
• reduce light pollution before bed and in the bedroom
• cut the caffiene
• avoid alcohol
• reset your body's clock
• consider taking melatonin
• talk to your doctor about medication
• try cognitive behavioral therapy
• create a sleep debt

It's not easy to beat insomnia. In fact, sometimes it can be terribly frustrating, but if you can do it, your body and your health will thank you.

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Stress can significantly impact sleep habits, leaving you staring wide-eyed at the ceiling when you should be getting your zzzs. It's a widely held belief that watching fish swim in a fish tank has a relaxing effect, and at least two hotels in Britain are counting on it.

Travelodge has started a "goldfish therapy" program where guests can choose their fish before heading up to their rooms for the night (goldfish are a favorite fish of the British, apparently). Customers are instructed to watch the fish for 15 minutes to destress and get ready for sleep. There's no word on whether the program is working or not, but rest assured that no goldfish are being hurt during this experiment. Travelodge has hired a leading animal psychologist as a consultant.

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Having trouble sleeping? You aren't alone. Recent surveys show that nearly 70% of women are having trouble sleeping on a regular basis and that over 1/3 of Americans struggle with insomnia every night. That's a lot of sheep being counted.

Maybe you've considered sleep medication, and are wondering what's out there for you. What your doctor might prescribe depends on what your problem is. For instance, if you can fall asleep but can't stay asleep, you'd likely need a different drug than someone who can't fall asleep at all. WebMD recently reported on the most popular sleep medications along with a short explanation of their use, so if you're considering asking your doctor for a prescription, then it might be worth taking a look.

Sleep medications certainly have their place in the treatment of insomnia, but if you want to stick to all-natural methods, there are plenty of things to try. Check out the gallery below for some simple tips on getting a good night's sleep.

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I don't know about you, but my September calendar looks drastically different from August's. Instead of haphazard scribblings that included plenty of leisure activities, we've got school and extra-curricular activities that promise to keep us busier than we were all summer. Although we don't do hectic around our house and try to keep schedules to a minimum, I feel like the transition from summer to school year is still going to take some time and patience.

Experts from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine say that if you've got a lot on your mind, try to make the next day's to-do list early on in the evening. Then put it in your desk drawer (or your purse or your briefcase) and close the it up tight. This will help you mentally feel like you've put your obligations to bed and you can turn off the list maker in your head and get a good night's sleep. I just may have to try this tonight...

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Did you know that studies have shown that you eat less in a brightly lit kitchen? That's just one of the useful tips I found reading this article about creating a healthier home. Going through each of the major rooms in your home -- the living room, the bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen -- the article helps you target problem areas all over your house.

For instance, those of you who have trouble sleeping (and I know there's a lot of you), try to keep your bedroom as quiet as peaceful as possible. That may mean leaving your laptop in the living room and removing the TV, but once you teach your body that the bedroom is for sleeping, it will help you relax and get in those zzzzzs. Other tips include putting in quality, but indirect light, in your living room and (if you can do so without flashing the neighbors) leaving the blinds up in your bathroom so that the bright, natural light will reset your body's clock each morning.

So if you're getting ready to spring clean, take a look at these tips and see if you can improve the "health" of your home!

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Do you suffer from sleep apnea or know someone who does? Here are four ways to treat the condition from four different experts -- a sleep specialist, an acupuncturist, a respiratory expert, and a surgeon. Though each professional has a different perspective, they seem to agree that losing weight, exercising, and quitting smoking are first steps to treating the condition. CPAP -- a machine that creates positive airway pressure -- is another form of treatment, as is surgery when other treatment fails.

Most forms of the disease are called obstructive apnea. Something -- usually your tongue, tonsils, uvula, or fatty tissue -- blocks the airway during sleep. That's why losing weight is the first step in treatment. If your neck size is over 17 inches (16 for women), you may be at risk. A second, less common, form of the disease is central apnea. In this version, signals from the brain that operate the breathing mechanism don't seem to work properly during sleep.

Sleep apnea is common and can lead to heart disease and stroke, as well as day time fatigue. Read more about this condition here, and contact your doctor if you think this sounds like you.

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Suffer from insomnia? Popping prescription sleep aids, or maybe Tylenol PM's, on a regular basis? The answer may not be in medication, but therapy instead.

Researchers in Canada spent some time compiling and comparing the results of 37 different sleep studies. Of the thousands of adult insomniacs studied, their conditions varied from legitimate diagnosed causes to sleeplessness for unknown reasons. The good news is that all groups appeared to benefit, at least a little, from sleep therapies -- some of which are as simple as keeping a sleep diary and getting up at the same time every morning. Even the majority of people who had been relying heavily on prescribed medications were able to cut back.

Obviously there is no known "across the board" cure for insomnia, but it's encouraging that a particular strategy can have such widespread success. Especially when the list of sleep strategies looks so easy to try.

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