It is also confusing. The tireder I get, the harder it is to decipher between the worries – and the thoughts – and the random stuff that’s weaving its way in between. And so, I find myself tangled up in half-finished sentences and ideas. Jumping frustratingly from one theme to the next, and just making the situation worse because there’s no resolution anywhere.

Sometimes I try going through the alphabet with different topics. A is for Austen; B is for Bronte; C is for Camus; D for Dickinson. Other times, I repeat the names of the people that are important in my life. When I am calmer, I let my imagination roam and find myself writing myself to sleep. More often, I resort to counting the calories that I have eaten that day. Counting seems to help, though the object is clearly unhelpful.

My GP has given me a list of 13 tips for sleeping. They don’t include anything that has succeeded in switching off my head although some hardcore sleeping drugs we tried for a while seemed to work. I’m not sure that hardcore sleeping drugs is the solution that I am looking for though, and they don’t really address the over-thinking, nor the intense loneliness that kicks in when darkness falls and the rest of the world goes to sleep. This is the other part that I find excruciating. I feel less alone in the daytime then I have for years; at night though, it’s just me again, and I am scared.

The Times Killer Su Du Ku is far easier to master than the ‘simple things’ like a good night’s sleep.

It is not, unfortunately, quite so important in the grand scale of things (a sleepless night is never a great start to the day); but, it does, at least, divert your attention from the swirling whirling thoughts…

Which is one of my main sleep blockers.

My sleepless nights fall into three categories: the ones when my head is talking too much; the ones when I am waiting to not fall asleep; and, the random unexpected nights, where I’m tired and relatively relaxed – and yet still can’t quite drift off.

This last category is the rarest; and, whilst highly irritating, is least problematic. I’m guessing its normal; and, if I’m feeling really positive, I’ll go as far to add that it’s a great reminder of how lovely sleep is -

Which is horribly easy to forget when you’re stuck in either of the other scenarios.

So, after spending more time then I’d like in both of these, and because they always coincide with those pivotal and life changing periods when you need all the help you can get (like stopping smoking – or starting eating – or breaking the binging cycle), here’s a few tricks I have stumbled over along the way…

• Switching your head off (pre bed)

• The Nightly Routine

• When you’re lying there

• Things that don’t help

These are my top tricks and, whilst I imagine that what works (and what definitely doesn’t) is totally unique; they show that you can be creative with strategies – and there’s an answer out there somewhere!

1. Variations on counting sheep: counting in French (works for me); alphabet lists (eg girls names beginning with A, then B, then etc.); counting your breathing.

2. Deep breathing: get a breathing book. It’s another basic that I seem to grapple with – but there’s a proper way of doing it that (when I remember) can sometimes lull me into sleep.

3. Nice thoughts lists: thinking of all the good things that have happened that day and all the important people helps me if I’m feeling a little down when I’ve gone to bed.

4. Imagining tomorrow: the therapeutic exercise didn’t stick that well with me, but imagining how you’d like the next day to be can sometimes be a nice way to get to sleep.

5. Talking tapes. For when your head won’t be quiet, at a low level, and preferably with no exciting sound effects.

6. Hypnotherapy tapes. As above. And particularly if you end up listening to the talking tape’s story rather than falling asleep.

7. Talking to yourself. Not a sign of madness (I hope); but, sometimes, telling myself that it will be okay and giving myself a little personal pep talk when I’m lying there waiting for sleep to make an appearance, can be just what I’m looking for.

2. TV programmes (sorry sleep professionals) that make you laugh or smile – but don’t make you think too much; and definitely don’t make you angry. Ideally, a repeat (and DVD boxsets are great for this), so that when the sleepiness finally descends, you don’t have to drag yourself away from the screen.

3. Su Du Ku. It’s been proven (I think) that numerical workings out can divert your thinking; so, as bizarre as it may sound, the back of the newspaper half an hour before bed gives me something – other than my thoughts – to concentrate on.

4. Problem solving. I can’t sleep if I don’t have a strategy for dealing with whatever I’m worrying. It’s not necessarily about solving the problem: it’s just about knowing how you’re going to solve it – or realising that you can’t possibly solve it until you’ve woken up with a fresh head, or the rest of the world is awake to help it happen.

5. A good book. I can’t go to sleep without a good book, but there are certain criteria to be met; and, there’s always a slight risk that turning the page becomes more important than turning the light off. Something not too dramatic or electrifying is therefore preferable, and if you find a ‘soothing’ author with a strong voice (Jane Austen or Alexander McCall Smith do it for me); a few chapters tend to overspeak my own thoughts.

Next step is getting some good associations going on – and sorting out ‘The Nightly Routine….’