WEEK ONE

SET A WAKING TIME...

ONE of the most challenging things I want you to do is set a time that you are going to get up for the next four weeks.

I’m afraid this is going to be the same time whether it is the weekend or a weekday, whether you have been out socialising or decided to have an early night.

The reason for doing this is that it anchors your day in a way that, say, trying to go to bed at the same time each night will not.

If you are to conquer insomnia, you have to get your body and brain into a regular sleep routine. We all have an internal body clock which tells us when we are tired, as well as helping co-ordinate and synchronise the release of hundreds of different hormones. When we travel abroad, we often get our body clock out of sync with the local time. This is known as jet-lag. Although we are well aware of how bad jet-lag feels, few of us realise that we often experience what is called ‘social

jet-lag’. We use stimulants, such as coffee, to wake up in the morning, when our internal clock is screaming ‘Stay in bed!’ Then, at the weekend we have a long lie-in, which may feel good but which contributes to an even more confused internal body clock. So, at least for the next four weeks, no more lie-ins.

... USE THE BEDROOM FOR SLEEP (AND SEX) ONLY...

IT MAY seem blindingly obvious, but even as we slowly sink deeper into sleep, our brains remain active and alert, so any unexpected noises will bring us back to full wakefulness. Bright lights, social media and TV will also stimulate our brains – in a bad way. To ensure a good night’s sleep, your bedroom needs to be somewhere you associate with sleep and sex, nothing more. That means no TV or computers in the bedroom. Mobile phones need to be turned off or placed in airplane mode. I have a personal rule that I avoid social media in any form for at least an hour before I plan to go to sleep.

Your bedroom should be cool and quiet, ideally about 16C. Some people find, particularly in summer, it is useful having a fan. This not only cools you down but produces a form of white noise that will drown out other background sounds.

There is decent evidence that doing these things will help. There are lots of other things you can do, such as change your mattress, ban clocks or limit liquids before bedtime, but there is little evidence that they are effective.

... DO THIS SIMPLE BEDTIME EXERCISE

AS PART of that ritual, I also want you to write down, every evening before bed, Three Good Things that happened to you that day. It can be anything from a colleague making you a coffee to getting a promotion.

Expressing gratitude has been shown to reduce stress, one of the main causes of insomnia. A study done by Professor Martin Seligman, known as the father of positive psychology, found that writing about Three Good Things on a regular basis made people happier immediately, and the effect was still there six months later. Thinking of and then (importantly) writing down Three Good Things shifts your thoughts and attentions towards the pleasant things that happened to you during the day and away from the bad things. This helps counter our natural tendency at night to ruminate and worry – and it is these ruminations that frequently keep us awake.

... AND RESET YOUR BODY CLOCK

YOUR internal body clock is responsible for controlling a whole host of hormones and a lot of health problems occur when it is out of sync with the time of day. One of the best ways to reset your internal body clock is to get more exposure to early-morning light.

We spend a lot of our lives indoors, where we get a fraction of the light our ancestors would have experienced. I recommend that you aim to get in a brisk ten- minute walk first thing in the morning on most days.

In fact, exercise in almost any form is likely to improve sleep quality. Studies suggest, however, that improvements will be gradual and it may not be until the end of the four weeks that the benefits really start to show. The time of day you exercise seems to be important – exercising closer to bedtime is more likely to disrupt sleep than improve it.