A THREE-STEP APPROACH TO BETTER SLEEP

STEP ONE

Implement good sleep hygiene — This is a set of ‘going-to-bed habits’ designed to lay a perfect foundation for sleep.

1

Good sleep loves routine. So start getting up at the same time every day, resisting the temptation to ‘catch up’ on sleep on your days off.

2

Bizarrely, spending slightly less time in bed often has a fantastic effect on sleep quality and the time it takes to drop off. If you’re spending eight hours in bed, but only sleeping for five, cut your time in bed down by 30 minutes to an hour.

3

If you wake in the night, don’t look at the clock. Waking once or twice in the night is perfectly normal. But concrete knowledge of the exact time will often cause anxiety, making it harder to get back to sleep. This is particularly important if you have ‘sleep maintenance insomnia’ (falling asleep easily but waking early).

4

Do nothing in bed but sleep or have sex. This means no TV, no working, no late-night Facebooking, and no lying in bed in a stressed state. If you’re wide awake and sleep seems miles away, it is usually better to get up rather than stay lying around in bed. Stay up for at least 20-30 minutes. Then go back to bed and start the falling-asleep process all over again.

5

Don’t ‘try hard to sleep’. Sleep is not something you do, it is more like something you do not do. In fact, one of the very best ‘techniques’ to use in bed is to lie down and do absolutely nothing.

6

Don’t nap. Napping in the day is often at the expense of a proper full night’s sleep. So If you’re having trouble sleeping, avoid snoozing on the sofa in front of the TV.