If you’re waking up at 3am there’s a simple trick to get back to sleep

There's not much better than a proper good night's kip.

With these chilly mornings, darker evenings and shorter days, it's clear we're all probably feeling the winter blues a little bit at the moment.

And as if battling a severe vitamin D deficiency, coming down with something seemingly every other week and paying an extortionate amount of money on heating bills wasn't enough, many people are also struggling with their sleep and find themselves constantly waking up hours before their alarm is even set to go off.

But not to fear, if you're part of this 3am club as there’s a very simple trick to get back to sleep, according to experts.

Dr Allie Hare, consultant in sleep medicine and co-founder of Grace Sleep, explained that her first point of call when it comes to awaking from her slumber in the early hours is 'cognitive distraction strategies'.

A sleep expert has shared her hacks if you find yourself constantly waking up at 3am (Tfilm / Getty Images)

Speaking to the Huffington Post, Dr Hare suggested something called 'cognitive shuffling' - AKA associating words which share a letter - which is a great little hack to slow down your mind and stop yourself from overthinking.

Dr Hare takes it one step further and 'counts backwards from 1,000 in sevens'.

Whatever you decide to do, the point is basically to distract your mind from worry or obsessing over returning to your much-needed rest.

If distractions like that don't work, don't fret, as those are just the first techniques the sleep expert tries out.

"If that doesn’t work, I will always get out of bed, as trying to get back to sleep never works and can condition your body and brain to associate the bed with tossing, turning and frustration," Dr Hare explained, adding that she'll simply 'do something else' like reading or listening to music for 20 to 30 minutes before going back to bed.

Give 'cognitive shuffling' a go (Maria Korneeva / Getty Images)

The main thing is, though, is not letting one bad night's sleep disrupt your usual cycle.

She shared: "If I’ve had a bad night, I will still focus on getting up at the same time I usually would in the morning and focus on getting early bright, outside light to minimise fatigue.

"I will then go to bed at my usual time the following night, and this usually resets things!"

Of course, you're also more than welcome to try out the famous 'military sleep method' too which is a combination of deep breathing, mindfulness and visualisation.

It works by slowing down your breathing and keeping the rate consistent.

You then begin to gradually relax the body by focusing your attention on each individual part, working your way down from head to toe - kind of like a mental body scan.

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