From Lie-Ins To 3AM Wakeups: The Best Sleep Advice We Got In 2025

Maybe it’s because I have insomnia, or perhaps it’s down to my interest in sleep tracking – I’ve spoken to a lot of sleep experts this year. 

And with that comes a trove of great sleep advice we usually deliver one-by-one. 

But with 2025 about to end (and seeing as the festive season is often linked to worse slumber), we thought we’d round up our favourite pearls of expert wisdom we heard, read, or shared in the past 12 months. 

1) Try “clock blocking” 

Some studies suggest there could be some serious benefits to “clock blocking”, or avoiding looking at screens when you wake up in the middle of the night. 

Dr Lindsay Browning, a sleep expert at TroubleSleeping.co.uk, said: “If I wake during the night, the first thing I avoid doing is checking the time, since this is only likely to increase anxiety and frustration and lead to mental calculations of how long I have slept for, or how much time is left until morning.” 

She added, “Instead, I give myself some time to calmly try to go back to sleep again, in the knowledge that waking up in the night is perfectly normal”.

2) Try to fall asleep before 1am, even if you’re a night owl

It is true that people have a later chronotype, or more night-oriented body clock, than others. 

But a study by Stanford found that even though there are some merits to sticking to your “sleep type”, “To age healthily, individuals should start sleeping before 1am, despite chronobiological preferences”. 

3) Really and truly try to drop the screens

Dr Browning said that if you experience maintenance insomnia, or waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep, the last thing you should do is open your favourite app. 

When she wakes up at 3am, she said, “The important thing is not to reach for my phone whilst in bed because scrolling through my phone in the middle of the night is likely to make it less likely that I will fall back to sleep again”.

And multiple experts have told us not to use screens two hours or so before bed.

4) Get some morning light to regulate your body clock 

Some research suggests that our body clock might have a greater effect on our feelings of restfulness than we might think, even if we get “enough” hours in.

But experts like Dr Chelsea Perry, owner of Sleep Solutions and a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, told HuffPost UK that morning light can help to keep your Circadian rhythm in check, even in winter. 

“One of the first things I try to do is to get outside into direct sunlight. This helps regulate my circadian rhythm, letting my body know it’s morning,” she said, adding she uses a SAD lamp “in the dead of winter or just [on] a gloomy day.”

5) Don’t lie in bed for more than 20 minutes if you can’t sleep 

Tossing and turning at 3am could make your mind associate your bed with stress, experts like Dr Browning said.

“If I find that I have been lying in bed awake for what feels like around 20 minutes, then I will get up out of bed and go downstairs to do something else for a little while,” she said.

“Even in the winter, when it’s cold downstairs, and the thought of getting up out of a warm bed is not appealing, I still recommend getting out of bed for a little while to help reset rather than staying in bed getting increasingly frustrated about not falling asleep.”

6) Stick to a regular sleep schedule, even on weekends

Look, I’m as disappointed by the news as you might be. But Dr Hana Patel, an NHS GP and resident sleep expert at Time4Sleep, told us, “there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that keeping a regular sleeping pattern has positive impacts on our mental and physical health.

“This is because it allows us to harmonise with our body’s natural rhythm, which is key for maximising energy, mood and immune system support.” 

This counts for weekend lie-ins too.

If it helps, though, Hannah Shore, a sleep scientist at Mattress Online, added that waking up does not necessarily have to mean getting out of bed.

7) Try not to obsess over your sleep

Paradoxical as it might sound, “orthosomnia,” or an obsession with sleep, could be keeping us up at night.

So no wonder sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan from Oak Tree Mobility told us, “I think people are obsessed with getting the perfect night’s sleep... This can often affect highly driven, perfectionist or A-type personalities. All of a sudden, sleep can become competitive.” 

She advised looking at sleep as a broader trend rather than stressing about a single night.