This year, I’ll be trying sleeping tricks to see whether they actually improve my insomnia. Check back in on this series, Rest Assured, to see how I get on.

I have been struggling with sleep maintenance insomnia for years. That means I struggle to stay asleep, though I usually nod off just fine.

But in the past week, I’ve had trouble nodding off to begin with, thanks to a cold (mild short-term insomnia is a common symptom of the virus).

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about the “military sleep method,” which promises sleep in two minutes flat.

So, I figured I’d give it a try this week.

It originally came from Relax and Win: Championship Performance, a 1981 book by coach Bud Winter. He helped to develop a relaxation technique that he said helped the US Navy airmen-to-be fall asleep in 120 seconds during WWII.

It’s a combination of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and visualisation.

Lie on your back, imagine something pleasant (I went with a treehouse in a rainy forest) and “Move from the top of your body to the bottom when relaxing your muscles, picturing yourself sinking into your bed,” the University of Minnesota Medical School said.

Speaking to Real Simple, psychologist Dr Victoria Bangieva said that “I don’t know of any study that has looked at the effectiveness or benefits of this method”.

I couldn’t find any that definitely proved its two-minute claim.

But, as Dr Bangeiva added, “the science behind it is based on proven relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualisation”.

Indeed, some studies have shown that progressive muscle relaxation can lead to lead to faster sleep onset, while slow, deep breathing and “imagery distraction” (picturing nice thoughts) can also help you fall asleep sooner.

Still, in the original book, Winter said it took six weeks of practice to achieve a reported 96% success rate. I only had one.

The first night, I found my mind wandering too much: I would relax my muscles one by one, but by the time I reached my elbows, I had forgotten what I was doing and restarted the process at least twice.

By the fourth night, though, even starting the process seemed to make it more relaxing.

And on the final night, I think I fell asleep in about 10 minutes (much better than the two or so hours at the beginning of the week).

Again, my form of insomnia doesn’t usually mean I find the first nod-off hard. But even when I woke up at 3am, I found the “military method” made it slightly easier to fall back to sleep.

So, no, in my experience, it didn’t lead me to fall asleep in an astounding two minutes, but it was still worth a go.

Sleep is one of those things, like wi-fi or anaesthesia, that gets odder the more you think about it. In fact, scientists still don’t know for sure why we spend a third of our lives unable to move or perceive the world around us.

So perhaps it’s no wonder it’s a heavily-searched topic. According to sleep expert Dr Deborah Lee from Doctor Fox, who is working with Comfybedss, millions of us turn to the web every month with questions about everything from REM to magnesium.

Here, she answered five of the most-searched-for questions:

“Sleep apnoea itself won’t exactly ‘kill’ you in a way that illnesses might, although it can lead to serious health problems further down the line,” Dr Lee explained.

“Sleep apnoea, a condition that causes repeated pauses in breathing as you’re sleeping, contributes to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even accidents that can be related to daytime fatigue.”

In very severe cases, “these risks can compound and become fatal, so you’re best getting it checked by a doctor sooner rather than later, especially if you have several of the symptoms that come alongside sleep apnoea.”

Signs include daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, and choking during sleep.

“The good news is that it is treatable, usually with some generic lifestyle changes, CPAP machines or medical interventions.”

Experts advise that deep sleep should make up about a quarter of your sleep. It is the “most physically restorative stage of the sleep cycle… During this stage, your body repairs tissues, builds muscle, strengthens the immune system, and even consolidates memories,” Dr Lee said.

But, she added, “This isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer, and the right answer is dependent on each person. Some people may feel as though they can’t function if they get under eight hours sleep a night, whereas some people may feel as though anything above five hours works perfectly well for them.”

Still, she said, we should aim for at least seven hours’ sleep a night. “The easiest way to know whether you have had enough deep sleep is by waking up refreshed, alert and ready to seize the day.”

“Sleep apnoea is a common sleep disorder where your breathing repeatedly stops and starts while you sleep. The most common type, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), happens when the muscles in the throat relax too much, temporarily blocking the airway,” Dr Lee explained.

It can lead you to wake up during the night, even if you don’t notice it.

“Symptoms typically include loud snoring, gasping for breath or choking during sleep, morning headaches, and, as it can lead to reduced time in REM sleep, it can therefore lead to increased daytime sleepiness.”

Speak to your GP if you notice signs of sleep apnoea.

Magnesium does seem to be somewhat effective in helping to regulate our body clock. But while it can “help lower [stress hormone] cortisol levels and also support the production of melatonin,” it’s not a “magic pill,” Dr Lee advised.

“The evidence is fairly mixed on magnesium, and it’ll differ on a case-by-case basis. If you’re struggling to sleep and you’ve not made any lifestyle changes before taking magnesium, i.e, reducing smoking, drinking, sugary drinks, etc., then do this before becoming reliant on magnesium.”

Speak to your GP before starting any magnesium supplements if you have chronic illnesses or take regular medication, she continued.

“REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement, and this type of sleep is the stage of the cycle that is most associated with dreaming. It typically occurs in cycles throughout the night, becoming longer in the early morning hours.

“During REM sleep, brain activity increases to levels similar to when you’re awake, while the body temporarily becomes paralysed to prevent you from acting out dreams.” Dr Lee said.

Most adults spend about 20-25% of their sleep in REM, which is key for emotional regulation, memory consolidation, and learning.

“Disruptions to REM sleep, often caused by stress, alcohol, or poor sleep routines, can leave you feeling mentally foggy and seriously fatigued throughout the day, even if you’ve had a long enough sleep overall.”

In the UK, the clocks have just sprung forward (meaning it feels like we’ve lost an hour’s sleep).

That shift has consequences. It’s been linked to higher heart attack risk, “social jet lag”, and misaligned body clocks. The British Sleep Society has previously called for clock changes to be dismissed altogether because of how much they mess up our circadian rhythms, which can take weeks to reset.

And no matter what time of year it happens, longer-lasting “chronic circadian misalignment” is linked to a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease.

But some research has found that “zeitgebers” can help to get your body clock back on track.

The term comes from two German words: “Zeit,” meaning “time,” and “geber,” meaning “giver”.

It’s any part of your environment, be it morning light or mealtimes, that acts as a way to “set” or give cues to your body clock.

These are important because our natural circadian rhythm doesn’t run on an exact 24-hour schedule. We need zeitgebers to help match our body clocks to the demands of our social and professional schedules, and to prevent “social jet lag” and other body clock misalignments.

One paper found that mealtimes, physical activity, and light exposure seemed to influence our body clocks the most.

Those who got up later (after 6:30-7:45am) and saw later light (after 11pm), as well as eating later (having their first meal after 7:45-9:45am and last meal after 8-9pm) tended to go to bed anywhere from half an hour to about an hour and 20 minutes later.

And those who didn’t get outside light until after 9:30am seemed to sleep about half an hour longer.

Meanwhile, those who did over a third of their physical activity in the morning tended to fall asleep and wake up earlier. That stood regardless of how much physical activity people did.

This might suggest that doing your workout in the mornings, getting some morning light, and having your latest meal before 8pm could make the post-clock change period (which demands earlier wake-ups) a little easier to manage.

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably drifted off to sleep as soon as you put on a movie or show at night.

It’s a common occurrence – you sit down with your partner to finally watch the season finale of the show everyone is talking about, only to fall asleep, jolt awake, pretend you didn’t fall asleep and keep on watching until you fall asleep again.

Sleep experts told HuffPost there are many reasons this happens, and some are more concerning than others. Here’s what to know:

“There’s a couple of environmental factors to the fact of watching TV, watching a movie that promotes sleepiness,” said Dr. Neal Walia, a sleep specialist at UCLA Health in California. “When you wake up in the morning, you develop something called a sleep drive, which is how much your body wants to sleep.”

As you go about your day, your sleep drive goes up before peaking at bedtime, he explained. “And that drive is what gets you into sleep and carries you to sleep,” Walia noted.

“Usually, people are watching movies and TV in the evening after a long workday. This is when their sleep drive is at the highest,” he said. So your body naturally wants to sleep at this time.

“And then sometimes it’s just a lack of stimulation,” said Dr. Molly Atwood, the director of clinical training in the behavioural sleep medicine program at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.

If you find yourself feeling tired throughout the day, you may notice that your fatigue disappears when you interact with something, whether that’s scrolling on your phone or getting up to make dinner.

Why? “Your body has a system of overcoming whatever sleepiness you have with stimuli,” according to Walia. And watching TV and or a movie is, generally, a low-stimuli activity, he noted. TikTok or even a task like folding laundry are more high-stimuli.

“If you’re lying down, it is dark – so your body’s kind of getting that signal that it’s nighttime and if the movie is not very stimulating or boring, it might be a lot easier, too, for any sleepiness that is there to take over,” Atwood added.

“Another big thing is that, especially patients with insomnia, a lot of times what they’ll say to me is ‘I just can’t turn my brain off.’ And most of our day, our attention is preoccupied by something – probably a screen, most likely – but something is taking our attention away,” Walia said.

We don’t often just sit with our thoughts. That is, until we drift off to sleep at the end of the day. And if you’re stressed about work or anxious about money, sitting with your thoughts can make it difficult to fall asleep.

“But if you’re watching something like a show, you’re not really in your own head for the most part,” Walia said. Your attention is drawn to the show or movie you’re watching, not the taxes you still need to do. This encourages your body to drift off to sleep.

Your body’s natural circadian rhythm can play a role in whether you’re prone to falling asleep on the couch or not.

“In some circumstances, if you’re more of a morning person, your body naturally makes you alert early in the morning and it shuts down alertness early at night,” Atwood said.

Folks in this group are just naturally more tired at night. For morning people, their body is giving them signals that it’s time for bed, which makes it more likely that they’ll drift off while watching TV.

Many people turn on their comfort shows after a long day. And according to Atwood, it’s more likely that you’ll fall asleep during a show you’ve seen several times.

“Our nervous systems are super calm and comforted, versus like an action movie or a horror movie,” Atwood said.

You also don’t have to pay much attention to the show to know what’s going on, which allows your body to drift off easily, too.

“A lot of our population is sleep deprived,” said Walia, who explained that most people aren’t getting the seven to nine hours of sleep they need each night.

Everyone has different individual sleep needs. But no matter how much sleep your body requires, most folks aren’t getting it.

Because of busy days, family demands and high-stress jobs, you may not even notice you’re sleepy until you’re interacting with something that’s low-stimuli, like a movie. This is when your sleep deprivation can catch up with you and cause you to fall asleep.

Even people who sleep the recommended seven to nine hours a night may not be getting good quality sleep, which can also result in sleepiness on the couch.

“There’s many people out there with untreated or under-treated sleep disorders that disrupt the quality of sleep,” Walia said, adding that sleep apnea is one example of this.

It’s understandable if you fall asleep on the couch after a busy day of travel or after a late night out, but if you’re falling asleep in front of the TV frequently, you should take notice.

“If you’re sitting upright, the lights are on, it’s an engaging movie … and you still can’t keep yourself awake, that might be more of like, ‘OK, I should reevaluate how much sleep I’m getting overall,’” Atwood said.

If you think you’re getting enough sleep but still falling asleep during engaging shows and movies, it’s worth talking to a sleep specialist, she added. A professional can help test you for underlying conditions that could disrupt your sleep.

If you can usually stay awake while watching TV or movies at night, it’s “probably a good indication that [you’re] not sleep deprived or they’re not having disruptions in their sleep,” Walia said.

This nighttime energy reflects relatively good sleep health, he added.

Some sleep disorders can keep people from napping or falling asleep during shows and movies, but, overall, if you are getting enough high-quality sleep, you likely have good sleep health, he said.

We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI – prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.

Nipper Nest Quick Overview

Pros:

• Easy to transport thanks to carry bag/lightweight frame
• Pops up easily (barely any construction required)
• Doubles up as a playpen
• Cushioned edges
• Premium feel
• Mattress slightly more padded than competitors

Cons:

• More expensive than other travel cots

I’m all for the easy life these days, so when Out’n’About’s Nipper Nest landed on my doorstep for a trial period, I was intrigued to see how the travel cot-playpen would fare.

Over the years we’ve relied on a Joie travel cot which I panic-bought from Argos about three years ago when we were going away with our little one and had nowhere for her to sleep.

I’ve spent many an hour trying to put said cot up and down since then, as you have to lock the frame in place – sometimes this happens smoothly, other times not so much. The cot frame part-collapses, resulting in numerous meltdowns on my part.

I’ve had the same experience with other travel cots, usually when we’re staying in Airbnbs or with my parents. Sometimes the frames can be quite hard too, which resulted in a split lip for my toddler when she decided to throw herself at it during a tantrum one evening. And don’t get me started on those rock solid mattresses…

Anyway, I digress. Out’n’About’s Nipper Nest is a travel cot and playpen which is built for families who are always on the move. And let me tell you now, it’s the easiest travel cot I’ve ever put together (well, I didn’t even technically put it together).

You simply pull it out of the bag, and then stretch the legs outwards, and they quietly click into place. Unroll the mattress, pop it in the bottom (it sticks with velcro securely to the base so there’s no movement), and that’s it.

I love that the cot comes in a handy bag, so you can lug it around (but also store it) easily, and it’s also super lightweight – which makes travelling with it hassle-free, whether you’re carrying it through an airport or moving it around your living room fully-assembled.

The edges are well-padded (a must with babies when they start trying to stand) and the mattress, while still pretty thin, is much comfier than other travel cot mattresses which are like sleeping on cardboard.

The Nipper Nest has plenty of space to play/sleep inside, and also comes with a handy UPF50 blackout cover so your kids can nap on holiday or sit in there to stay protected from the sun.

The base is also waterproof so you can stick it on the beach or in the garden without worrying any damp will seep up to where your child is sleeping or sitting.

With the travel cot doubling up as a playpen too, there’s a side zip so crawlers can easily get in and out (once you’ve unzipped it for them).

There’s also an optional bassinet attachment so the cot can be used from birth – accommodating newborn naps right up to toddler playtime. The recommended age is 0-24 months, but once they’ve outgrown it I reckon parents could get away with using it for older children who simply want a bit of shade, or somewhere sheltered to sit, in the garden or on the beach.

On the topic of putting the cot away – again, it’s an easy job. You simply squeeze two handle-bar-like buttons on the frame and then fold it into a Z shape. The legs can then be folded in on themselves. You wrap it in the mattress, put it in the bag, and you’re good to travel somewhere new!

At £195 it’s certainly not a budget buy (the materials and construct of this are certainly premium), but if you’re using it everyday as a playpen and then taking it travelling (or to the grandparents) for trips away, you’ll soon get your money’s worth.

• “We love our Nipper Nest! It’s compact to carry and extremely easy to put up and pack away. We can take it to the beach or use it in the garden in the summer. The girls also love it as a cosy spot to read their books.”
• “So easy to put up and fold away! Cabin approved luggage bag and takes up so little room. Great travel cot and fun for the children with the zipped side entry and ability to make into a ‘tent’ with the UV cover. The perfect safe space for little ones to play in or sleep in.”
• “Our toddler has been enjoying using it during hide and seek and as a little den, the shade is both great for UV cover and for creating a dark space for our baby/ toddler to sleep during lighter evenings, or when sharing a hotel room and we require the light left on but the children need to sleep. The mattress bottom is incredibly padded and comfy. Really love this product, highly recommend.”
• “Super impressed with this Nipper nest! I’ve tried a variety of different travel cots and this is by far my favourite, and it’s so versatile. It takes seconds to pop up and down, and comes in a perfect compact carry bag. You can also use it as a playpen or take it to the beach, thanks to the zip side entrance, and it comes with a UPF50 blackout cover, so perfect for the summer and to provide some much needed shade. The base is waterproof, so wet sand isn’t a problem.”

Look, I’ll be the first to admit that whenever there’s a clock change, it takes me an embarrassingly long time to figure out how exactly it’s going to impact my day-to-day life.

Am I waking up an hour earlier? Later? Is it pushing my kids’ bedtime back? Or technically bringing it forward? Am I losing sleep? Gaining sleep? It gets me in a muddle.

This next clock change, which happens on Sunday 29 March 2026, will see the clocks ‘spring forward’ – heralding the start of British Summer Time (BST).

In short: you will lose one hour of sleep, as 1am (which is when the clocks officially go back) becomes 2am.

This means if you naturally wake up at 7am BST, your body thinks it’s technically still 6am.

Basically, it’ll feel quite early and it may still be dark when you wake up – compared to now, when it’s typically light at 7am. (Although it won’t be too long until the new 7am wakeup time will begin in daylight.)

As for bedtime, if you hit the hay at 10pm, this is actually more like 9pm (old time).

Overall you might feel a bit more tired (because you’ve lost an hour of sleep), but over the course of the week, your body should adjust to the new schedule.

If you want to get a head start and help your body clock gradually get used to the new routine, you can shift your bedtime 10-15 minutes earlier each night for three or four nights before the clock change.

This clock change can feel particularly tricky for parents as kids typically get up earlier – so that 6am start is now more like 5am. Ouch.

That said, bedtime is earlier too, so that’s a small win. You might even feel like you’re getting more of your evenings back.

And it also means you get more light in the evenings, making that post-school park trip or dinner picnic in the garden a lot easier to say ‘yes’ to.

Due to the sleep disruption, kids might be a bit (or in some cases, a lot) crankier than usual, but within a week or so, you should find everyone settling into the new rhythm. (Here’s hoping, anyway.)

If they are struggling to drift off during the lighter evenings, blackout curtains might help to trick their brains into thinking it’s later than it is.

If you take medication at a certain time of day, experts broadly suggest sticking to the same schedule. This means if you take medication at 7pm (GMT), you should continue to take medication at 7pm (BST).

Wing Tang, head of professional standards at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, told Which? they wouldn’t typically expect the clocks going forward to have a great impact on people taking regular medicines. But if you’re worried, you can double check with your GP or pharmacist.

You’ll also need to change the clocks on some of your appliances manually – while smartphones, smart TVs, newer radios etc., can update themselves, your oven clock, car clock (if it’s an older car) and older central heating controls will need a tweak.

Medical comment provided by physician Dr Talal Khan of Khan Longevity.

As we age, our sleeping pattern tends to shift. We might get up more to pee in the middle of the night, require fewer hours of kip, and both fall asleep and wake up earlier.

And speaking to HuffPost UK, Dr Talal Khan of Khan Longevity said: “Many people notice sleep getting lighter and more fragmented in midlife, then it
becomes much more common after about age 60.

“Insomnia is the most common sleep problem in adults 60 and older,” he added.

So, we asked him why it happens and what to do about it.

“Ageing shifts the body clock earlier and reduces circadian signals like melatonin, so sleepiness may show up earlier and early-morning waking becomes more likely,” Dr Khan said.

When we get older, Dr Khan added, “Deep slow-wave sleep tends to decline, sleep becomes lighter and brief awakenings happen more often.”

Additionally, “Health factors pile on over time. Pain, mood changes, medications, nighttime urination, and untreated sleep disorders like sleep apnoea or restless legs can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.”

Yes, Dr Khan said. In fact, he places adequate sleep on a level with diet and exercise when it comes to health.

“Adequate sleep supports neurocognitive function, including memory consolidation, attention and emotional regulation, while also playing a central role in metabolic homeostasis, immune competence and cardiovascular health,” he explained.

Meanwhile, “Chronic sleep deprivation has been strongly associated with increased risks of obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, depression and impaired immune response.

“Furthermore, emerging research highlights sleep’s role in glymphatic clearance within the brain, facilitating the removal of neurotoxic metabolites that accumulate during wakefulness.”

Luckily, Dr Khan had some simple advice.

“As we age, the goal is not perfect sleep. The goal is restorative sleep that supports energy, mood and long-term health. That starts with finding the driver of the problem,” he said.

His recommendations were:

1. “Screen for sleep apnoea, restless legs, medication effects, alcohol, caffeine timing, pain, and mood changes,
2. For chronic insomnia, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line treatment. This may include limiting time in bed, controlling stimuli, establishing a consistent wake-up time, reducing caffeine and screen time, and ensuring a comfortable sleep environment,
3. Protect your circadian rhythm. Get bright outdoor light in the morning, keep a consistent wake time and limit long or late naps,
4. Make the environment do the work. You want a cool, dark, quiet bedroom. Reserve the bed for sleep and intimacy,
5. Keep screens out of the wind-down window,
6. Use data as a guide. Wearables like the Oura Ring can help spot patterns in sleep timing, recovery and nighttime awakenings. Then we tailor a plan and track progress.”