Top 4 science-driven tips for getting better sleep

When you’re experiencing a period of insomnia, try to wake up at the same time every morning, even at weekends and even if you’ve slept badly! This can be challenging initially, but this is hugely effective for resetting your sleep pattern. This evidence-based technique known as ‘anchoring the day’ means that you will have accumulated enough of the 'sleep fuel' that you need to fall asleep and to stay sleep through the night.

If at all possible, try to expose your eyes to natural daylight in the mornings. Getting access to daylight for even a few minutes each morning regulates the circadian clock, making it easier to sleep in a consistent way. Also, getting morning light programs the release of melatonin (the sleepy hormone) approx. 12 hours later in the evening/nighttime when we want to feel sleepy. Getting this light can mean sipping your morning tea or coffee outside in e.g. your garden or balcony, or even sitting by a window during the morning if you have difficulty getting outside.

Try to keep your sleeping space and your waking space as different as you can. This is because our minds easily form associations between e.g. the bed/bedroom and being awake and alert vs. the bed/bedroom and feeling sleepy. Either try to move all wakeful activities away from your bedroom to a different space, or if this isn’t possible, use e.g. have a different-coloured throw or blanket over your bed in the daytime so that your brain learns the difference between your bed/bedroom in sleep mode vs. in wake mode.

If you are struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep for more than 30 minutes on 3 or more nights a week, for 3 months or longer, you may be experiencing chronic insomnia. The good news is that there is hope! Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia is a highly effective evidence-based multicomponent treatment strategy that addresses behaviours and thoughts that negatively affect our sleep. It’s the number 1 treatment for insomnia recommended by the NHS and internationally that’s backed up by over 100 clinical trials and it is completely natural. It typically involves 5-6 sessions, 1 hour a week (either in person or online). You can seek out a sleep/insomnia specialist who is trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) and will work with you and your individual circumstances to resolve your sleep difficulty.