All you want is a good night's sleep. Eight hours of kip, uninterrupted and peaceful. But it's 3am and you're awake.
It happens to pretty much all of us. Whether it's a delivery truck, loud sex noises, or a rampant fox knocking over your rubbish bins, you probably wake up in the night. And chances are, you struggle to switch off again.
There are a couple of simple things you can do to help your body drift back off. Or, actually, two things you should very much avoid.
Dr. Michael Breus, sleep specialist and author of 'The Power of When', told Business Insider about two simple things you should prevent yourself from doing if you want to reduce the amount of time you're awake after rousing.
The first is simple: don't look at the time
Dr Breus explains that most people have an irrational fear of not getting enough sleep in order to function. So, when people wake up in the early hours, often their first instinct is to check the time to see how long they've got until their alarm sounds.
Basically, just avoid doing this. It's only going to stress you out – and the key is to relax. Once you get agitated and anxious, you're not going to do any favours. Try to clear your mind of thoughts of time, and sleep will come.
Don't go to the bathroom unless you really need to
Obviously, if you really need to go, you're not going to get back to sleep if you ignore it. But if you can avoid getting up, it's best to do so, Dr Breus says.
Breus says that you raise your heart rate even by simply sitting up, and that's bad for rest. You've got to be calm, with a low heartbeat, you sleep well. By getting out of bed and tip-toeing along the floor, you're messing with the relaxed state.