Choose a mattress that offers the most comfortable night’s sleep you can afford. Research has shown that a top quality, memory foam mattress can reduce tossing and turning from 70 or more times a night to 35 or less.

Uninterrupted sleep

If your sleep is interrupted by outside sounds, try masking them with the sound of an air fan or a radio tuned to static.

• Keep a moderate ambient temperature. If it is too hot your body will not want to relax. If you cannot afford air conditioning, at least make sure you have a seasonal duvet with a low TOG value.
• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine. It is best to abstain from these altogether, but if you cannot then try to avoid them in the late afternoon or early evening.
• Do not watch TV just before bed, especially adrenaline viewing such as sport or war films.
• Do not exercise too close to bedtime (at least three hours) as your body needs time to wind down and will keep your mind awake.
• Adopt a “going to bed” routine, a ritual that signals to your brain that the day is ending and it is time to shut down. Do not do any work or any puzzle-solving during this ritual.
• Only use your bed for sleep. Do not fill your bedroom with computers, televisions or anything not to do with restful activities.
• If you have not dropped-off to sleep within half an hour, do not stress over it. Get up and do something relaxing until you do feel sleepy.