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Many of us suffer from insomnia or disturbed sleep thanks to our mobile phones.

Given that the last thing many of us do before we try to sleep is check our phones, or collapse into bed directly from a computer screen, it’s not surprising insomnia is an increasing problem.

At night, the light from our devices throws our circadian rhythm completely out of whack, and science has proven that blue light – the light emitted from our devices – actually suppresses melatonin (a hormone that influences our circadian rhythm and supports sleep).

A few tips for getting a better night’s sleep

Try to reduce your exposure to blue light at least an hour before bed (mobile phone, computer and tablet screens). If your work requires you to be near screens at night, you can try out blue-light blocker glasses.

If you are prone to thinking and planning while trying to go to sleep, take five minutes to ‘brain-dump’ in the evening. Write down all of the things that are on your mind and the things you need to do the next day. This won’t get rid of all your to-dos, as the mind is a brilliant thought generator, but at least it will give you a finite time and space to create some lists for yourself and get your thoughts out of your head and down on paper.