It’s easy to think that good sleep is all about what you do in the hour before bedtime, but sleepmaxxers say that your behaviour throughout the day has a big impact. Knowing that any afternoon coffee might derail my efforts, I switch to herbal tea and even squeeze in a 30-minute pilates session between Zoom calls to help me sleep soundly later at night.

These might seem like painfully obvious changes to most people, but it’s amazing how little most of us think about our sleep habits day-to-day. Following the advice of sleepmaxxers who also struggle with racing thoughts, I also apply a spoonful of magnesium lotion to my legs an hour before bed, convinced by a TikToker who says it’s better absorbed through hair follicles (the scientific jury’s still out on that one). Alongside this, I swap my evening glass of wine for a ‘sleepy girl mocktail’, mixing together tart cherry juice, ashwagandha powder and a squeeze of lime into a bitter-tasting drink. There’s evidence to suggest that tart cherry juice boosts melatonin production, helping you sleep longer and deeper.

By 10pm, my phone is safely tucked away, and without the opportunity for endless scrolling, I end up reading in bed. Before long, I find that the combination of functional supplements and screen-free relaxation hits me hard – I feel a wave of sleepiness creep over me earlier and earlier each evening.

“I tried ‘sleepmaxxing’ for 2 weeks to cure my insomnia – and the results were seriously impressive”