A good winding down routine at the end of each day is the best way to ensure a good night’s sleep. According to The Sleep Council’s Jessica Alexander, many people have a tendency to get overwhelmed by the stresses and dramas of daily living which continues when they go to bed.

Jessica Alexander, of The Sleep Council advises that people tend to get quite overwhelmed by the stresses that each day brings, and these stresses stay with them through the night unless they find a way to fully unwind.

Alexander suggests that there are a variety of ways people can wind down and free their minds in the evenings. She suggests that there is a whole host of ways that people can actively wind down in the evenings. “It might be reading a book, listening to music, jigsaw puzzles, painting, meditation, learning visualisation techniques – the list is endless.”

However, Alexander is keen to point out that watching television is actually counterproductive to winding down. Television is more likely to stimulate the mind rather than encourage relaxation, leading to poor sleep.

It has also been suggested that poor sleep can affect the likelihood of work disabilities and slow people’s return to work after illness or injury, according to The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Universities of Turku and London. Lack of sleep has also been blamed for a proportion of work place injuries. And people who sleep less take longer to return to work after an injury than those who get a full quota of sleep. This research was carried out by The Finnish Institute of occupational health and Universities in Turku and London.