We pack a lot into 16 hours a day: work, studies, eating and generally running here and there. When you hit the bed at night, your body needs a good sleep, so you’re recovered and ready to do it all again the next day. And a decent slumber has been proven to help reduce stress, lose weight and significantly improve concentration.

So repeat after us: rest and repeat.

1 Sleep Schedule

Having flexibility in your life is great, but when it comes to sleep, you need a consistent routine. It helps set your internal body clock, meaning every night you’re getting a quality rest. So going to bed and getting up at the same time every day is really important.

Sounds well and good Monday to Friday, doesn’t it? However, this also applies to weekends, which may mean waving goodbye to your little lie in.

Stepping out of your routine on Saturday and Sunday can throw you off on Monday night, meaning you’re out of sync three nights out of seven. And late nights and weekend sleep-ins can lead to effects that are equivalent to jet lag.

2 Wind down

We want to get our body from “fight and flight” mode to “rest and digest”. Being in “fight and flight” mode for long periods of time can lead to hormones, such as adrenalin and cortisol, being too high, which over time can lead to easier weight gain, harder weight loss, poor focus and even some longer-term health risks.

So, ideally, take an hour or so in the evening to chill out in a quiet, dimly-lit room, which will relax the body and send it into a blissful and serene sleep.

Meditating, listening to some soothing music or even reading a good book will help. Avoid those suspense thrillers, though, or anything too action packed.

3 Step Away from the Light

This form of relaxation does not mean spending an hour on Facebook, or being glued to Netflix in bed. Studies show that this artificial light affects the melatonin in our body, the hormone that helps us to doze off.

This can be found in mobile phones, laptops and plasma screens. Apple is hoping to release the next iPhone with a function called “NightShift”, which will note your local time and tone down the colour spectrum in the evenings, so it is more conducive with the creation of melatonin.

While this may help, we feel it’s best to switch off from the world and concentrate on you, your health and wellbeing for an hour a day.

4 Cut the Caffeine

We all know that caffeine shouldn’t be consumed in the evenings, but other food and drink can also impact your sleep schedule.

Cheese, chocolate, alcohol and even spicy food can all play their part. So, if you’re finding it really difficult to get your sleep schedule sorted, start writing down your diet patterns. What are you eating and at what time? How does this affect what time you nod off and if you wake in the middle of the night?

It will only take a few minutes, and you may see a pattern emerge very quickly. This will allow you to adjust your diet and get a better night’s sleep.

5 Write a To-Do List

Are you waking at 5am, thinking about all the things that need to be done in the day ahead? Not only is this worrying stealing precious time when you should be snoozing, it can also result in you being less effective to get all those jobs done the next day.

So if you know you have a jam-packed schedule ahead of you, write down your to-do list before putting your head on your pillow. You are physically recognising your task, but letting your brain know that you are parking them until they can be dealt with.

Also try to do little jobs that will ease the burden in the morning. Even laying out your clothes, making your packed lunch or having the house organised before bed are things you can tick off your to-do list before you even start writing.

6 Exercise – but not too late

Getting a good workout will exert your muscles and push you physically, so by the time your bedtime comes, your body is properly tired and looking forward to a good sleep. Try and avoid doing this exercise too close to bedtime, though (at least three hours). Your body needs time to cool down and transition from this “fight and flight” mode that we mentioned earlier.

When you get up in the morning, though, exercise can be a good thing. It will wake your body and help you establish a rhythm for the day.

7 Turn down the heat

Simple external issues could be affecting the quality of your sleep. A room that is too warm can really interrupt your slumber, so turn down that thermostat to about 18 degrees.

Also look at your surroundings objectively. Are your curtains letting light in too early, making you wake with the birds? If so, investing in black-out blinds can mean an extra hour or two of sleep. If you have a snoring partner, ear plugs could make the world of difference. Do you toss and turn uncomfortably each night? It could be time for a new mattress.

Simple changes and investments that you might have been putting on the long finger can lead to big improvements. In fact, add them to your to-do list tonight.