HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

to fall asleep: 20 minutes ‘A HEALTHY person should fall asleep within 20 minutes of trying,’ says sleep specialist Dr Neil Stanley. ‘ It should be an effortless process — all it should take is lying down and closing your eyes.’

You might assume that falling asleep quickly is always a good thing, but ‘dropping off in less than ten minutes is a sign you need more sleep’, he says.

It can also be a symptom of sleep apnoea — a condition where the airways closes at night causing you to wake briefly many times overnight causing sleep loss.

If you snore or snort in your sleep and can’t keep awake during the day, see your GP.

More common, though, is delayed sleep onset where we can’t drop off. It happens to everyone now and again due to stress or other factors, ‘but if you’re still awake after 30 minutes of trying, more than three times a week, this is insomnia’, says Dr Stanley.