Struggling to sleep?

With more than half the UK population struggling to sleep during the recent lockdown, Dr Michel Mosley, author of The Fast 800, an intermittent fasting weight loss plan (www.thefast800.com), gives his tips on getting a healthy night’s sleep.

Don’t panic about broken sleep

If you can get a solid eight hours a night, you are either a teenager or you’re remarkable, as most people tend to sleep in broken cycles. Don’t worry if you’re having broken sleep and waking up at 3am. The key is to go back to bed and then have another long sleep. As long as you’re not feeling sleepy during the day that should be fine.

Stick to a sleep window

Sleep should be a habit and a massive part of that is your wake-up, and go-to-bed routine. That’s called your sleep window. I go to bed at 11pm and wake up at 7am and I aim to do that every day of the week. Forget the weekend lie in or staying up late on a Friday. Sticking to a sleep window keeps your body’s urge to sleep consistent and results in better sleep.

Work out early

Exercise helps with sleep quality and also improves anxiety and depression, which will in turn help you sleep better. I like to exercise first thing in the morning and it’s worth getting straight out into the early morning light. Your sleep clock is reset every day by bright morning light, which tells your body that the day has begun.

Cut the clutter

Your bedroom is for sleep and for sex – nothing else. If you have a TV in your bedroom, get rid of it. And don’t take your mobile to bed or you’ll be tempted to use it. It’s not an issue of the blue light keeping you up, it’s that you excite your brain, so avoid these activities in the hour leading up to bedtime.