You need to sleep - how to beat insomnia

It especially affects creative people with busy lives and busier minds, but not sleeping really does make you sick, grouchy and you also look terrible.

These tips can help you beat it and get a good nights sleep :

1. Make sure you have some quiet moments during the day. Busy lives allow no down­time to process thoughts and anxieties, with the result that we only deal with these thoughts in bed, and they keep us awake.

2. Make sure the bedroom is only used for sleep, and keep bedtimes consistent.

3. Avoid stimulants such as big meals, coffee, chocolate and alcohol late at night.

4. Don't focus on going to sleep; instead, let go of wakefulness. Use the 20-minute rule: if you aren't asleep in 20 minutes get up again until you are sleepy.

5. Don't worry about getting eight hours. Experts now say five hours' good sleep a night is sufficient-the rest may be a bonus.

6. Rather than an alarm clock, use a Lumie clock and wake slowly to brightening light (www.lumie.com).

7. Contact a cognitive behavioural therapist (www.londonsleepcentre.com; www. edinburghsleepcentre.com). Research has found that CBT helps 75% of insomniacs.

SOURCE: THE DAILY TELEGRAPH