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Are you counting sheep? Lincoln sleep scientist and author of new book reveals ultimate Top 10 tips

A new book just released titled Sleep Better: The science and the myths by Professor Graham Law and Dr Shane Pascoe examines in detail 40 common misconceptions about sleeping such as ‘The older I get, the more sleep I need’ and ‘Cheese gives you nightmares’.

Professor Graham Law is a sleep scientist with more than 25 years’ research experience, and is based in the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Lincoln. He is also an Honorary Secretary of the British Sleep Society and specialist in health and epidemiology.

To celebrate the release of his book, we asked the professor to provide his ultimate Top 10 tips for getting a great night’s sleep:

  1. Eight hours is not the answer – you need what you need, work it out for yourself.
  2. Carry on using the alarm, but avoid the snooze button, that extra sleep may lead to a feeling of grogginess.
  3. Do things the same each day, every day, including weekends.
  4. Relaxation, yoga, mindfulness are all good ways to sleep better.
  5. You don’t need your laptop or smartphone in bed, and preferably not in the later hours of the evening.
  6. Daylight sets your body clock, take a walk in the sunshine each day.
  7. Do you wake in the middle of the night and struggle to return to sleep? Try not to worry about this, let your mind accept this as normal for you.
  8. Everything in moderation, food, caffeine, alcohol, exercise. Don’t over-do anything.
  9. But, think about your coffee consumption. Cut it down, think about stopping in the afternoon.
  10. Clutter in your life may interfere with relaxing and sleeping. This may be stuff on the floor, it may be activities in your life, it may be over-thinking.

Now off to bed, and off to sleep zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz