What is the best time to set your alarm for an energised and productive morning? The night before.

We have all done it. It gets towards bedtime and you slip in one more episode of that series… which rolls straight into the next episode and the next. Or you decide to just check one more email… which leads to fixing up that document… and before you know it, it is hours past bedtime.

You go to bed late, wired and wake up tired and grumpy.

Sleep experts recommend setting a pre-bedtime reminder alarm. You set it up to an hour before the time you need to go to bed, to give you screen-free time to wind-down and relax.

Psychologist, sleep expert and author of The Women’s Guide to Overcoming Insomnia, Shelby Harris, says, “when we turn off screens and switch to more relaxing non-screen or non-electronic activities for the hour before bed, it helps the brain quiet down and fall asleep faster”. It also helps your body and brain get into the habit of being calm and ready for sleep.

You can also set a reverse “snooze alarm”. Just like you might set a second alarm in the morning in case you fall back asleep, you can set an alarm 15 minutes before bed as an extra reminder to stop what you are doing.