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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Experts recommend doing these two simple things if you can't sleep after a workout
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. We all have a preference for when we like to exercise, and how. For some, nothing feels better than a late evening sweat session, while others might prefer a jog before the rest of the world rises. But have you ever struggled to sleep after a workout? You're not alone. Some workouts can impact your ability to fall asleep or your sleep quality, depending on the time of day, so it's good to know that the problem is common and it can be solved. Experts (and science) recommend a few ways to help you rest better, and the benefits of scheduling a smarter exercise routine. Can exercise help you get better sleep? We previously spoke to Dr. Lindsay Browning, a neuroscientist and chartered psychologist with a doctorate in insomnia from the U.K.'s University of Oxford, about the best time to exercise for sleep. The type of exercise you do and when can impact sleep hygiene, but exercise and plenty of daily activity are linked to better sleep and overall sleep quality, contributing toward higher energy levels and better exercise performance. Dr. Browning explains that exercise impacts your need for deep sleep, and the more exercise you have, the more deep sleep you get, helping you feel energized and rested when you wake up. While there's no exact template for sleep and workouts — we all have different routines and sleep requirements — being consistent and making the tweaks below could help you sleep better and stay energized and well-rested. Move your evening workout to earlier There are benefits to exercising in the morning: some people feel more awake and energized when they first wake, plus it could be easier for some to exercise early before life gets in the way. Exercising in the morning can also help reinforce better decision making around lifestyle and diet choices during the day while boosting mood — think about that potent release of dopamine, serotonin, endorphins and oxytocin. A study published in the Journal of Physiology suggests morning workouts could shift your circadian rhythm, making you sleepier at night and more alert in the morning. And it doesn't need to be a super early workout, either. It depends on when you prefer exercising — if the morning isn't for you, could you swap to early evening or afternoon? Make sure that you exercise during the daytime and not too close to bedtime. Dr. Browning explains that exercising too close to bedtime can disrupt the sleep cycle due to endorphins, cortisol and adrenaline that increase alertness. In some cases, high-intensity training at night could even delay sleep latency, which refers to how long it takes for you to fall asleep. This certainly rings true for me; whenever I schedule a CrossFit class after 7 p.m., I find it harder to drop off, and the next day, my Oura ring shows a decline in my sleep score. I'm a bit of a night owl anyway, so I can exercise later and still give myself a few hours to wind down, but if you know you like to sleep early, shifting your workout by an hour or two could do the trick. A systematic review published in 2018 in Sports Medicine agrees, and found that total sleep, latency and efficiency can all be impacted by vigorous exercise before bedtime, roughly an hour or less before sleep. That said, it doesn't say you shouldn't train in the evening at all, just that timing and intensity matter. If activities such as weight training, HIIT, CrossFit, or sprinting are your preferred workout method, try leaving at least 90 minutes between finishing a workout and going to bed. Again, Dr. Browning advises scheduling carefully for the best sleep results: 'Make sure that you exercise during the daytime and not too close to bedtime, as exercise in the evening can sometimes be disruptive to sleep due to the release of endorphins and adrenaline that make you feel more alert." 2. Low-impact activity before bedtime That's not to say all high-intensity activities must be done when you wake up; some people naturally have more energy as the day progresses (me included), and it's important to find what works best for you to stay consistent. And in some cases, it may be more beneficial for your body to train as the day goes on. For example, a study published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism suggests that weight training for muscle growth scheduled later in the day could be more effective than in the morning. Over a 24-week program, results in strength and endurance were better for evening exercisers than morning exercisers. If you still want to engage in exercise before bedtime, consider switching to low-impact. That could include a bedtime yoga routine, mat Pilates, a walk, or a gentle jog. This, coupled with a calming nighttime routine, may help bring your body down to a state of rest, repair and calm for a good night's sleep. Verdict Exercise and sleep have a close working relationship, both improve the quality of the other and help to bust stress, anxiety and low mood. If you find late workouts disrupt your sleep, consider shifting high-intensity exercise back a few hours before bedtime and swapping in low-impact and gentle forms of movement before sleep. While there are pros and cons to exercising in the morning and evening, vigorous exercise should be avoided straight before bedtime with a gap of at least 60 to 90 minutes, while low-impact movement can help the body wind down and relax. More from Tom's Guide 5 things to avoid right before bed Forget 10,000 steps — study reveals the real number of minimum daily steps you should take, according to your age Is there a best way to sleep?
The Guardian
05-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Stop counting sheep – and 13 more no-nonsense tips for getting back to sleep
Bad news for that old favourite, counting sheep. 'It has been studied and it doesn't work,' says Dr Eidn Mahmoudzadeh, a Manchester GP and co-founder of The Sleep Project, which offers support for sleeplessness at all ages. 'It is too simple and mundane; people don't carry on, they just get bored and their thoughts wander to worrying about sleep.' Counterintuitively, you should go for something more mentally challenging, he says, to distract the brain. Rachel from London counts backwards from 100: 'Do it slowly and if thoughts interrupt or you miss where you are, just start again. Sometimes the thoughts overpower, but most times I don't get much beyond 76.' Alternatively, try a 'cognitive shuffle' exercise, says Dr Lindsay Browning, a chartered psychologist and neuroscientist. 'It works by thinking of any word, such as 'cake' and trying to name as many words as possible that start with the first letter, C. When you have exhausted that list, move on to the next letter, A, and so on.' There are lots of other ways of doing this. Suz Koch from Washington state says she 'chooses a category (eg: fruits, dog breeds, colours, movies) and starts at A, naming one thing from the category for every letter of the alphabet. It's a low-stakes activity that seems to switch my mind off from worrying, and I rarely make it past J.' There is a school of thought that says having your phone by your bed is a disaster for sleep hygiene, but listening to something on it that distracts your mind can be useful. Julie Hassall from Plymouth listens to exactly the same audiobook every night: Pride and Prejudice on the BBC Sounds app. 'The point in listening to the same text,' she explains, 'is that you don't concentrate on it – you don't need to because you know the story inside out – but the rhythm of the narration stops you thinking about random stuff (what colour to paint the bathroom, cringing over that incident in a nightclub 35 years ago, worrying about an upcoming work presentation) and you will eventually fall asleep. Sometimes it's a bit weird – if I'm dreaming, the characters in my dream can start quoting the text. But as someone who has never slept well, I find it an invaluable way of getting a little more shut-eye.' Russell Foster, a professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford University and the author of Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, is a nocturnal fan of BBC Radio 4, and in particular, 'In Our Time, as it is really gentle. You are away within five minutes. The history of Chinese porcelain will do it for me every time.' White noise is another popular choice for zoning out, and can be as niche as you like. Michael Mobley from Colorado says, 'I prefer lower-frequency, almost rumbling static with very little high-end hiss, played through a nice bluetooth speaker with good bass response, on a continual one-hour loop all night.' If you don't want to reach for your phone, you can try recounting a familiar story, like Carol Kolb in Los Angeles does: 'I go through the plot of a book I know well in my head, trying to include as much detail as possible. When my mind wanders off to other things I force myself to go back to where I left off in the book. This month it is David Copperfield, but often I use my favourite book of all time, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled, a winding, dreamlike novel I have been lulling myself to sleep with for years.' When you wake up, the instinctive thing is to look at the clock, says Mahmoudzadeh. 'Then you start to worry about how much sleep you haven't had, and do some mental maths about what time you have to get up. The brain goes round and round in circles, which is really unhelpful for getting back to sleep.' He recommends 'removing all visible clock faces from the bedroom. You don't need to know whether it is 2am or 6am; your alarm will go off when you need to get up. It does not help your situation at all, and it can only do harm.' Rori Reber from California uses this tactic: 'I purposefully do not look at the clock. That is very important.' And no glancing at your phone beyond turning on a podcast. 'Every fibre of your being has got to stop you from doomscrolling,' says Foster, which he concedes can be hard to resist. 'Ideally, for most people, bedrooms shouldn't be warmer than about 18C,' says Foster. 'The logic is that as you go to sleep, core body temperature drops. If you prevent that drop in temperature, it is more difficult to get to sleep. But under certain circumstances – if you are perimenopausal, menopausal or at a certain phase of the menstrual cycle – hormonal changes can increase core body temperature, and that might make you more likely to wake up.' 'If you are waking up with a hot flush, try to cool your body down,' says Dr Zoe Schaedel, a Brighton GP who specialises in menopause and sleep. 'Stand on a cool bathroom floor or near a fan and have a drink.' She adds that it is really important to get help for menopause-related night sweats, and there are hormonal and non-hormonal treatments available. 'My trick is to get cold then get warm again,' says Caitlin from Liverpool. 'I kick off the covers and just when I'm getting uncomfortably chilly, I cover up again. As I get warm, my body and mind are then able to relax and this causes me to fall asleep. It is like a reboot. Works every time.' 'There is good evidence that meditation techniques can help people fall back to sleep quicker by down-regulating your stress response,' says Mahmoudzadeh. Breathing exercises that are recommended for insomnia, says Schaedel, include box breathing (breathe in for four, hold for four, breathe out for four, hold for four) and '4-7-8' (breathe in for four, hold for seven, breathe out for eight). 'They are really good at reducing the level of alertness,' she says. She also suggests trying a visualisation, where you think of a very detailed experience and try to focus on that, which 'shifts the focus off trying to go to sleep'. You can find inspiration on the Headspace and Calm apps, she says. Jonathan Guest from Cardiff runs through a 5K running route in his head: 'I try to remember in detail everything I could see or hear and the feelings it gave me at each step or stage around the course. I rarely get more than a couple of miles before I'm asleep.' Flora from Sweden opts for a strategy she heard was used by the military: 'Focus on your breathing, and starting at the very top of your head, imagine your body turning into lead or something very heavy. You then imagine this heaviness spreading down your neck, chest, along your arms and keep going. Any time you get distracted and start thinking about work or personal dramas, start again from the top of the head.' Chris Hales from Dorset follows advice he received from a doctor about adding a second activity to breathing exercises. 'Slowly tapping a finger works for me. Giving the brain two things to focus on at once makes it difficult for the mind to wander and perform other tasks. I found that alternately tapping two different fingers was optimal – easy to do, but complex enough to keep the brain occupied.' This is easier said than done, but worrying about being awake is the No 1 enemy of getting off to sleep, so try to suppress such thoughts. 'When you wake in the night, the key is to give yourself permission to be awake,' says Dr Guy Meadows, a sleep physiologist and founder of The Sleep School. 'The more you fight wakefulness, the more alert you become.' If being awake in the middle of the night is a recurrent issue, Meadows suggests considering acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a technique that is used in his school's apps, which he says encourages a gentler approach, where you 'notice your thoughts without judgment, breathe, and let go of the struggle. You may not fall asleep instantly, but by accepting wakefulness, you're sowing the seeds of long-term healthier sleep – building a trusting, rather than fearful, relationship with sleep. Over time, this shift in mindset helps reduce nighttime anxiety and makes it easier for sleep to return naturally.' 'When all else fails,' says Julia Hankin from Newcastle upon Tyne, 'I remind myself that even on no sleep, I will survive. Yes, the day might be tough and very long, but I'll get through it. That seems to take the pressure off, and then I fall asleep.' 'I don't do it immediately, but if I've tried the usual yoga-ish savasana position (also known as corpse pose) and focusing on breathing and it doesn't work, I go upside down, taking my pillow to the bottom of the bed and sleeping that way round,' says Sarah from Lincolnshire. 'I have no idea why it works, and sometimes I wake up feeling a bit disorientated, as windows and doors aren't where they should be, but I've generally dropped off to sleep quite quickly.' Likewise, if you are lying awake for more than 20 minutes (roughly speaking, no peeking at the clock), 'it is a good idea to get out of bed and go and do something else for a while to help your brain and body reset', says Browning. She suggests reading a book, doing some colouring or even (quietly) unloading the dishwasher before returning to bed when you feel sleepy again. By having a break from trying to force yourself to sleep, you should find it easier to sleep when you get back into bed again, as you've had some time away from lying there feeling frustrated and anxious.' Wait until you feel genuinely sleepy, says Mahmoudzadeh, when 'your eyes are getting heavy and maybe your head is starting to nod, and at that point only, go back to bed and try to sleep. If you fall asleep, great; if not, repeat.' Sheri DeWeerd from Wisconsin says she 'eats a little bit of protein, which has the magical ability to quiet my mind'. However, getting up for a snack isn't generally advised. 'The main concern with eating in the middle of the night is that your body is designed to rest during this time, not to digest food,' says Schaedel. 'Over time, it may become a habit – your body starts to expect food, which can then perpetuate the cycle of waking.' 'It's a much better idea, if you are waking in the middle of the night feeling hungry, to have a snack before going to bed.' says Browning. This way, you are less likely to wake up hungry. Ideal pre-bedtime snacks would be a bowl of porridge with milk, as whole rolled oats provide slow-release energy during the night and milk contains tryptophan, which we use to create melatonin [a sleep-inducing hormone]. A brown bread turkey, smoked salmon or peanut butter sandwich would also be a good choice.' For some, it is a snoring or bed-hogging partner that hinders efforts to sleep. 'Often, the reason I'm awake is my husband's snoring,' says Kavita from Hove in East Sussex, adding that earplugs have helped. If this doesn't do the trick, sleep separately, says Foster. 'It is no great indictment of your relationship. So many people say, 'I couldn't possibly sleep in a separate room, it would be the end of our marriage.' Of course it wouldn't. It is the beginning of a new phase of one's marriage, because you'll be happier, brighter, have a better sense of humour, be less irritable, and therefore have more fun. Just get the sleep you need.' 'Healthy daytime habits set the foundation for better sleep at night, reducing the likelihood of unwanted awakenings,' says Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams. Walker emphasises the importance of limiting caffeine and alcohol in the afternoon and evening, and finishing dinner a few hours before bed. 'Another key strategy is to support your circadian rhythm: keep a consistent sleep schedule and get some bright light in the morning. Stay physically active – regular exercise is associated with deeper, more continuous sleep (just avoid intense workouts right before bedtime). If you nap, do it early and briefly, or consider skipping it if you suspect it's interfering with your night sleep. Finally, managing stress through the day and unwinding in the evening can help. Techniques such as relaxation exercises or a soothing pre-sleep routine will make it easier for your body to stay asleep.' Aside from alcohol and caffeine, you should be careful not to drink too much in the evening, experts say, as needing to urinate can impact on wake-ups. 'It is really important to try to reduce your fluids in the evenings, if you're the kind of person who needs to get up and wee in the night,' says Schaedel. 'Don't have too much to drink for a few hours before you go to bed.' Foster adds: 'Obviously, it's a balance between being hydrated and drinking too much, which will mean needing the toilet.' 'Morning daylight and regular wake times help your body clock promote solid sleep at night,' adds Walker, which means limiting weekend lie-ins, even if you feel desperately in need of catching up. Foster rejects the 'magical eight hours' obsession and says a good night can be anything from 6-10 hours, as sleep is often biphasic: 'Waking up in the middle of the night is not necessarily the end of sleep.' 'Sometimes, insomnia is more powerful than all the tips in the world,' says Margery Diamand from East Sussex, who describes herself as a lifelong insomniac. 'Get up or stay in bed and do something nice, like watching a cheesy TV show or eating cereal. If you're going to be awake, you might as well enjoy yourself.' Some names have been changed
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Stop counting sheep – and 13 more no-nonsense tips for getting back to sleep
Bad news for that old favourite, counting sheep. 'It has been studied and it doesn't work,' says Dr Eidn Mahmoudzadeh, a Manchester GP and co-founder of The Sleep Project, which offers support for sleeplessness at all ages. 'It is too simple and mundane; people don't carry on, they just get bored and their thoughts wander to worrying about sleep.' Counterintuitively, you should go for something more mentally challenging, he says, to distract the brain. Rachel from London counts backwards from 100: 'Do it slowly and if thoughts interrupt or you miss where you are, just start again. Sometimes the thoughts overpower, but most times I don't get much beyond 76.' Alternatively, try a 'cognitive shuffle' exercise, says Dr Lindsay Browning, a chartered psychologist and neuroscientist. 'It works by thinking of any word, such as 'cake' and trying to name as many words as possible that start with the first letter, C. When you have exhausted that list, move on to the next letter, A, and so on.' There are lots of other ways of doing this. Suz Koch from Washington state says she 'chooses a category (eg: fruits, dog breeds, colours, movies) and starts at A, naming one thing from the category for every letter of the alphabet. It's a low-stakes activity that seems to switch my mind off from worrying, and I rarely make it past J.' There is a school of thought that says having your phone by your bed is a disaster for sleep hygiene, but listening to something on it that distracts your mind can be useful. Julie Hassall from Plymouth listens to exactly the same audiobook every night: Pride and Prejudice on the BBC Sounds app. 'The point in listening to the same text,' she explains, 'is that you don't concentrate on it – you don't need to because you know the story inside out – but the rhythm of the narration stops you thinking about random stuff (what colour to paint the bathroom, cringing over that incident in a nightclub 35 years ago, worrying about an upcoming work presentation) and you will eventually fall asleep. Sometimes it's a bit weird – if I'm dreaming, the characters in my dream can start quoting the text. But as someone who has never slept well, I find it an invaluable way of getting a little more shut-eye.' Russell Foster, a professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford University and the author of Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, is a nocturnal fan of BBC Radio 4, and in particular, 'In Our Time, as it is really gentle. You are away within five minutes. The history of Chinese porcelain will do it for me every time.' White noise is another popular choice for zoning out, and can be as niche as you like. Michael Mobley from Colorado says, 'I prefer lower-frequency, almost rumbling static with very little high-end hiss, played through a nice bluetooth speaker with good bass response, on a continual one-hour loop all night.' If you don't want to reach for your phone, you can try recounting a familiar story, like Carol Kolb in Los Angeles does: 'I go through the plot of a book I know well in my head, trying to include as much detail as possible. When my mind wanders off to other things I force myself to go back to where I left off in the book. This month it is David Copperfield, but often I use my favourite book of all time, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled, a winding, dreamlike novel I have been lulling myself to sleep with for years.' When you wake up, the instinctive thing is to look at the clock, says Mahmoudzadeh. 'Then you start to worry about how much sleep you haven't had, and do some mental maths about what time you have to get up. The brain goes round and round in circles, which is really unhelpful for getting back to sleep.' He recommends 'removing all visible clock faces from the bedroom. You don't need to know whether it is 2am or 6am; your alarm will go off when you need to get up. It does not help your situation at all, and it can only do harm.' Rori Reber from California uses this tactic: 'I purposefully do not look at the clock. That is very important.' And no glancing at your phone beyond turning on a podcast. 'Every fibre of your being has got to stop you from doomscrolling,' says Foster, which he concedes can be hard to resist. 'Ideally, for most people, bedrooms shouldn't be warmer than about 18C,' says Foster. 'The logic is that as you go to sleep, core body temperature drops. If you prevent that drop in temperature, it is more difficult to get to sleep. But under certain circumstances – if you are perimenopausal, menopausal or at a certain phase of the menstrual cycle – hormonal changes can increase core body temperature, and that might make you more likely to wake up.' 'If you are waking up with a hot flush, try to cool your body down,' says Dr Zoe Schaedel, a Brighton GP who specialises in menopause and sleep. 'Stand on a cool bathroom floor or near a fan and have a drink.' She adds that it is really important to get help for menopause-related night sweats, and there are hormonal and non-hormonal treatments available. 'My trick is to get cold then get warm again,' says Caitlin from Liverpool. 'I kick off the covers and just when I'm getting uncomfortably chilly, I cover up again. As I get warm, my body and mind are then able to relax and this causes me to fall asleep. It is like a reboot. Works every time.' 'There is good evidence that meditation techniques can help people fall back to sleep quicker by down-regulating your stress response,' says Mahmoudzadeh. Breathing exercises that are recommended for insomnia, says Schaedel, include box breathing (breathe in for four, hold for four, breathe out for four, hold for four) and '4-7-8' (breathe in for four, hold for seven, breathe out for eight). 'They are really good at reducing the level of alertness,' she says. She also suggests trying a visualisation, where you think of a very detailed experience and try to focus on that, which 'shifts the focus off trying to go to sleep'. You can find inspiration on the Headspace and Calm apps, she says. Jonathan Guest from Cardiff runs through a 5K running route in his head: 'I try to remember in detail everything I could see or hear and the feelings it gave me at each step or stage around the course. I rarely get more than a couple of miles before I'm asleep.' Flora from Sweden opts for a strategy she heard was used by the military: 'Focus on your breathing, and starting at the very top of your head, imagine your body turning into lead or something very heavy. You then imagine this heaviness spreading down your neck, chest, along your arms and keep going. Any time you get distracted and start thinking about work or personal dramas, start again from the top of the head.' Chris Hales from Dorset follows advice he received from a doctor about adding a second activity to breathing exercises. 'Slowly tapping a finger works for me. Giving the brain two things to focus on at once makes it difficult for the mind to wander and perform other tasks. I found that alternately tapping two different fingers was optimal – easy to do, but complex enough to keep the brain occupied.' This is easier said than done, but worrying about being awake is the No 1 enemy of getting off to sleep, so try to suppress such thoughts. 'When you wake in the night, the key is to give yourself permission to be awake,' says Dr Guy Meadows, a sleep physiologist and founder of The Sleep School. 'The more you fight wakefulness, the more alert you become.' If being awake in the middle of the night is a recurrent issue, Meadows suggests considering acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a technique that is used in his school's apps, which he says encourages a gentler approach, where you 'notice your thoughts without judgment, breathe, and let go of the struggle. You may not fall asleep instantly, but by accepting wakefulness, you're sowing the seeds of long-term healthier sleep – building a trusting, rather than fearful, relationship with sleep. Over time, this shift in mindset helps reduce nighttime anxiety and makes it easier for sleep to return naturally.' 'When all else fails,' says Julia Hankin from Newcastle upon Tyne, 'I remind myself that even on no sleep, I will survive. Yes, the day might be tough and very long, but I'll get through it. That seems to take the pressure off, and then I fall asleep.' 'I don't do it immediately, but if I've tried the usual yoga-ish savasana position (also known as corpse pose) and focusing on breathing and it doesn't work, I go upside down, taking my pillow to the bottom of the bed and sleeping that way round,' says Sarah from Lincolnshire. 'I have no idea why it works, and sometimes I wake up feeling a bit disorientated, as windows and doors aren't where they should be, but I've generally dropped off to sleep quite quickly.' Likewise, if you are lying awake for more than 20 minutes (roughly speaking, no peeking at the clock), 'it is a good idea to get out of bed and go and do something else for a while to help your brain and body reset', says Browning. She suggests reading a book, doing some colouring or even (quietly) unloading the dishwasher before returning to bed when you feel sleepy again. By having a break from trying to force yourself to sleep, you should find it easier to sleep when you get back into bed again, as you've had some time away from lying there feeling frustrated and anxious.' Wait until you feel genuinely sleepy, says Mahmoudzadeh, when 'your eyes are getting heavy and maybe your head is starting to nod, and at that point only, go back to bed and try to sleep. If you fall asleep, great; if not, repeat.' Sheri DeWeerd from Wisconsin says she 'eats a little bit of protein, which has the magical ability to quiet my mind'. However, getting up for a snack isn't generally advised. 'The main concern with eating in the middle of the night is that your body is designed to rest during this time, not to digest food,' says Schaedel. 'Over time, it may become a habit – your body starts to expect food, which can then perpetuate the cycle of waking.' 'It's a much better idea, if you are waking in the middle of the night feeling hungry, to have a snack before going to bed.' says Browning. This way, you are less likely to wake up hungry. Ideal pre-bedtime snacks would be a bowl of porridge with milk, as whole rolled oats provide slow-release energy during the night and milk contains tryptophan, which we use to create melatonin [a sleep-inducing hormone]. A brown bread turkey, smoked salmon or peanut butter sandwich would also be a good choice.' For some, it is a snoring or bed-hogging partner that hinders efforts to sleep. 'Often, the reason I'm awake is my husband's snoring,' says Kavita from Hove in East Sussex, adding that earplugs have helped. If this doesn't do the trick, sleep separately, says Foster. 'It is no great indictment of your relationship. So many people say, 'I couldn't possibly sleep in a separate room, it would be the end of our marriage.' Of course it wouldn't. It is the beginning of a new phase of one's marriage, because you'll be happier, brighter, have a better sense of humour, be less irritable, and therefore have more fun. Just get the sleep you need.' 'Healthy daytime habits set the foundation for better sleep at night, reducing the likelihood of unwanted awakenings,' says Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams. Walker emphasises the importance of limiting caffeine and alcohol in the afternoon and evening, and finishing dinner a few hours before bed. 'Another key strategy is to support your circadian rhythm: keep a consistent sleep schedule and get some bright light in the morning. Stay physically active – regular exercise is associated with deeper, more continuous sleep (just avoid intense workouts right before bedtime). If you nap, do it early and briefly, or consider skipping it if you suspect it's interfering with your night sleep. Finally, managing stress through the day and unwinding in the evening can help. Techniques such as relaxation exercises or a soothing pre-sleep routine will make it easier for your body to stay asleep.' Aside from alcohol and caffeine, you should be careful not to drink too much in the evening, experts say, as needing to urinate can impact on wake-ups. 'It is really important to try to reduce your fluids in the evenings, if you're the kind of person who needs to get up and wee in the night,' says Schaedel. 'Don't have too much to drink for a few hours before you go to bed.' Foster adds: 'Obviously, it's a balance between being hydrated and drinking too much, which will mean needing the toilet.' 'Morning daylight and regular wake times help your body clock promote solid sleep at night,' adds Walker, which means limiting weekend lie-ins, even if you feel desperately in need of catching up. Foster rejects the 'magical eight hours' obsession and says a good night can be anything from 6-10 hours, as sleep is often biphasic: 'Waking up in the middle of the night is not necessarily the end of sleep.' 'Sometimes, insomnia is more powerful than all the tips in the world,' says Margery Diamand from East Sussex, who describes herself as a lifelong insomniac. 'Get up or stay in bed and do something nice, like watching a cheesy TV show or eating cereal. If you're going to be awake, you might as well enjoy yourself.' Some names have been changed
