Five things that can influence your sleep

Its 02.00 am, your mind is racing and you’re staring at the blackness wondering: ‘Why can’t I get to sleep?’

You must stop your bad habits is, you can fill your time to increase the time to exercise your body tired and ready to perfect night sleep.

Although you may think you can assault exercise as energetic, hard graft and some relaxing drinks should be enough to get you ready for a full night's sleep, the activity is probably what keeps you awake until dawn. They are "invisible sleep thieves" that crawl and take those 40 winks away.

Here are five of the key culprits:

1.    1. A hot toddy (and a milky drink)

Everyone knows drinking coffee is a no-no, but so is that old fail-safe, the hot toddy. Any alcohol before bed is a surefire route to a dodgy night’s sleep. While booze may make help you nod off, it's been shown to interrupt your natural sleep cycle and will wake you up later.

2.    2. A pre-bed workout

Tiring yourself out with a nighttime gym visit might seem a good idea – but it’s counterproductive. While you should get at least 30 minutes’ exercise daily, give it a miss in the four hours before you plan to go to bed. Dr Sunil Mathews, medical director at the Sleep Center in Texas notes: “While regular exercise relieves stress, it also raises core body temperature, which can make falling asleep more difficult.”

3.    3. Getting warm and cosy

Bundling yourself in blankets, donning bed socks and thermal pajamas may make you feel like a enjoy slumber – but you won’t get it. To drop off, we have to cool off: body temperature and the brain’s sleep-wake cycle are closely connected. That’s why a sweltering summer’s night often means a restless sleep. So the advice is “keep your bedroom dark, cool, quiet and comfortable”.

4.    4. Staying in bed

It sounds counter-intuitive, but staying in bed when you can’t sleep can have the opposite desired effect. New York sleep expert Wilfred Pigeon said: “When people stay in bed, trying to force themselves to sleep, they begin to associate bed with growing frustration. Eventually this can lead to the curious phenomenon of being sleepy downstairs, but having the brain and body wide awake as the head hits the pillow.” So, if you find yourself lying in bed for more than 15 minutes unable to sleep, get up and do something relaxing, like listen to classical music.

5.    5. Going to bed early – and having a lie-in

Surprisingly, for chronic insomniacs going to bed later and getting up earlier can do the trick. If you’re lying in bed for eight hours but only sleeping for five, try going to bed at 1am and getting up at 6am. It’s tough, says the experts, but after a week or two you should find yourself nodding off in a trice. After that, go to bed 15 minutes’ earlier each week, slowly building up to the length of sleep your body actually needs.