Many of us wake up during the night, no matter how tired we seem as we head to bed.
Waking up at around 3am can be a frequent occurrence for a number of us. But TV doctor Michael Mosley has a tip that could let us know what to do if we wake up and struggle to get back to sleep.
The award-winning doctor has had the science of sleep as his latest project, inspired by his ability to sleep anywhere, anytime when he was a medical student - including in a telephone box and, surprisingly, in a graveyard. But now, at 65, he says he struggles to drop off, My London reports.
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Dr Mosley sat down for a chat with Strictly star and ex-BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker and political reporter Adam Fleming on the 'Newscast' podcast. After Dan shared his chaotic sleep routine, Dr Mosley called him "deluded" into thinking this was a good idea.
Dan Walker said: "I've managed to operate for the last seven years [at the BBC] on four hours sleep. I know that wasn't enough but I knew I just had to get on with it. During my time on Strictly Come Dancing, I was still doing my breakfast shifts, I was still doing the NFL show on a Friday, I was trying to learn a dance.
"There were two weeks on Strictly where I slept no more than 24 hours over the course of the week. Now I know that is not ideal but what I discovered about myself is that the human brain is capable of doing amazing thing when you put it in a corner. I was high functioning during those weeks on strictly."
Dr Mosley replied: "I would say you're massively deluded. People think they're' fine, but they're not. I'd have to talk to your partner to find out if you were as bright and as sharp as you think." Dan admitted that he does often wake up at 3am. What is the best thing to do in this instance? Is it to toss and turn and hope for the best? Well, according to Dr Mosley, you should just get up.
He said: "The advice is broadly the 15 minute rule. If you are still awake after 15 minutes, get up and do something boring until you feel sleepy and then go back to bed. The rule is to associate bed with sleep and sex and nothing else. No Twitter, no TV, nothing else."
Another tip from Dr Mosley included getting an eye mask to block out the light. During the summer months, people get 25 minutes less sleep on average due to the brighter mornings. Dr Mosley said: "I'd advise getting a pair of eye shades, not very sexy in bed. The early morning light is what wakes you up. Unless you have fantastic curtains, its likely that the light will come in and wake you up"
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