THE clocks spring forward on Sunday at 1am. Although we welcome the longer, brighter days, the lost hour can hit hard in an already sleep deprived 24/7 lifestyle. And not quite adjusted to the new earlier bedtime, many of us turn up to work on Monday feeling tired and groggy.

In fact, the adjustment forward is always more difficult than in the autumn when we gain an extra hour. This is because it is hard to make yourself tired earlier.

The key is to ease yourself through using this simple three-step time increment routine so you wake up, fully adjusted, in the new time zone on Sunday morning.

1 Thursday – stop all caffeine Thursday afternoon, this restriction will allow you to sleep better that evening and set up a more relaxed start to Friday.

2 Friday – go without caffeine all day. This will make it easier to get to sleep half an hour earlier on Friday evening. Valerian, a herb which is proved to help make you feel tired in either teabag, tincture, or capsule form, will also help. Take it about 30 to 45 minutes before your planned bedtime. Or take camomile tea as a substitute.

3 Saturday – you have now adjusted to a time zone that is half an hour earlier than your norm. Adjust all your meals half an hour earlier, too. Shift your bedtime another half an hour earlier on Saturday evening so you are now one whole hour forward. Again take Valerian to make yourself sleepier or if you can’t because of medical reasons then try taking a warm bath with lavender or use drops on your pillow. Also, try a short meditation before bed.

On Sunday morning you can wake up refreshed, as you will be in the new time zone without losing any sleep. All your mealtimes will also naturally fall into place, and you have no need to worry about whether you can manage to get to bed on time Sunday night as you will already be in sync with British Summer Time.

Use this period and technique to adopt a new sleep regime, moving your bedtime to one where you can wake up refreshed every day without the use of an alarm. Ultimately, ditching the alarm clock is the fail-safe way of making sure you are getting enough sleep so you can be alert and focused throughout the day.

David Gibson of Sleep Expert: http://thesleepsite.co.uk/