Human beings are creatures of habit. Our bodies like routine and respond well to established rituals. Athletes and sportsmen often refer to 'muscle memory': the phenomena of the body remembering often repeated movements. As a frequent sufferer of insomnia, I have often thought that our minds and bodies could be similarly trained to fall asleep by way of repeating rituals. In other words, could curing insomnia be as simple as following an established routine?

When I find it hard to fall asleep, it's usually because my mind has not sufficiently 'closed down'. I lay there with my mind racing and sleep seems impossible. After repeating bouts of insomnia, I began to realise that my pre-sleep routine was to blame for a lot of my problems. As a bit of a computer geek, I would often stay up late on-line or coding websites, sometimes mere minutes before going to bed. I now recognize the folly of this. Following such sessions of burning the midnight oil, my brain would still be churning with the details of my time on the computer when it should instead be cooling down.

Another thing I noticed was that my pre-bedtime activities were highly varied, with no real pattern to speak of. The problem, I realised, was that my mind/body never got sent a repeating 'time to sleep' signal, or at least if it did it was only right when my head first touched the pillow. It seems that the mind/body shuts down much more smoothly when it has advance warning.

I have taken certain steps to solve the problems I have identified. I have developed a regular pre-sleep routine designed to slow my system down before trying to sleep.

1. I now stop working a good hour before bedtime.

2. Instead of working or browsing, I now spend the last hour of the day in 'wind down' mode: listening to relaxing music, taking a long hot bath, enjoying a soothing hot chocolate drink.

3. The last thing I do before washing and brushing my teeth is to check the house is all locked up and secure, visiting the rooms and doors in the same order. This not only gives me peace of mind but is a strong repeating ritual designed to signal my system that sleep is required soon.

That's my routine, yours will no doubt be different but that doesn't matter. What's important is that you get into a regular pattern of pre-bedtime behaviour . The more you stick to your routine, the more your mind/body will recognise the 'shut down' signals and the easier you will find it to fall asleep. On its own, routine may not be a complete cure for your insomnia but you should see it as a vital part of your overall strategy.­