It's Spring, the birds are singing and the clocks went forward an hour today. Losing an hour's sleep gives you extra time to enjoy the daffodils and crocuses, but it will probably just leave you feeling more grumpy and sleep-deprived than ever.
Waking up feeling worse than you did when you went to bed is fairly common, with a quarter of the population said to suffer some form of sleeping difficulty. But now it appears the solution isn't in your head, but in the posture you adopt when your head first hits the pillow.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is this week producing a guide to getting a good night's sleep, which it believes will be particularly relevant to parents who struggle to get back to their slumber after being woken up in the middle of the night by babies and toddlers. It outlines the different positions people adopt when they go to sleep, and how this can make the difference between waking up refreshed or exhausted.
Sammy Margo, a physiotherapist working in private practice in London who has helped to produce the guide, stresses that, apart from choosing good pillows or mattresses, looking after your back is the key factor.
If you doze off lying on your side, she advocates putting a pillow on the side of the back to ensure that your neck remains in line with your head throughout the night, rather than being pulled at an awkward angle.
'Sleep is absolutely vital, because it helps our minds and bodies function property. If you've had a bad night's sleep, you soon begin to feel your energy levels slump. Everyday tasks can become a real effort, and so does concentrating on more important things,' said Margo.
'Everyone is different, so it's important to know what your own requirements are. If you sleep on your back, try putting a pillow under your knees because that will take some pressure off the lower back and spine.
'If you sleep on your front, place a pillow under your tummy as this will help to keep your spine in line with your neck and head.'
According to the society, it is important to keep the body in the 'midline position', so there are no uneven stresses to either the head or the neck.
But what do you do if you toss and turn all night, making life unbearable for you and your partner? 'Obviously you can't possibly be aware of your position when you're actually asleep, so the only thing you can do is go to bed lying roughly in the right position,' said Margo.
'I would suggest some relaxing downtime before bed, because if you're moving about a lot it may be that you're worried about something and haven't completely unwound.'
Physiotherapists are used to seeing patients in their clinics who have injured themselves as a result of a bad night's sleep. Sometimes it is because they fall into bed drunk, end up in a contorted position and then pull a ligament when they wake up in the morning.
There is also evidence that people who sleep with their heads on too many pillows are putting their neck muscles under great strain.
The society's guide follows the publication last week of research showing that more than two-thirds of British children have a computer, games machine or TV in their bedroom and are losing out on sleep as a result.
A poll of 1,000 parents has revealed that many young children are now having between two and five hours' less sleep a night than their parents did at their age.
Dr Luci Wiggs, researcher at Oxford University, said: 'This is the first generation of children to face such a plethora of alternatives to going to sleep, and the long-term consequences in terms of physical and mental health for both the child and their family can only be guessed at.'
Adults need a good night's sleep as much as children, however, and they too can prepare for it by having a reliable daily routine. A set bedtime each night helps to establish a sleep pattern, as does creating a relaxing evening routine which includes reading or having a relaxing bath.
Nor should anyone underestimate the importance of the way they get out of bed in the morning. The discs in your back will be full of fluid so, says Margo, avoid straining them: roll onto your side, bend your knees and use your hands to push yourself up.
After that, you might even find you enjoy the longer daylight hours and the flowers of spring.
Wake up to the facts
British adults now sleep an average of seven-and-a-half hours a night, compared with nine hours when the twentieth century began.
One person in three will suffer from insomnia at some time in their lives, and it's twice as common in women as men.
Around one-fifth of all motorway accidents are put down to drowsy drivers. The crashes result in 45,000 deaths or serious injuries each year.
After 17 hours without sleep, a motorist has the same diminished reaction times as someone who has drunk two glasses of wine.
People who stay up until 3am have a third fewer cells containing TNF, or tumour necrosis factor, which is a natural anti-cancer agent.
During sleep, the pituitary glands produce growth hormones to repair damaged tissue. Less sleep means fewer repairs.
