While your rhythm may be disrupted when you push your sleep back a few hours thanks to working late or socialising with friends, trying to make up for lost time with an early night or late lie-in adds another night of disruption.

So what should you do when you’re short on sleep but want to maintain your regular sleep cycle? “Following one short night, it’s OK to go to bed 30 minutes earlier and get up 30 minutes later. You might do that for two nights so you slowly catch up on the lost sleep, as a slow repayment will avoid further disruption to your circadian system,” says Dr Lederle.

“You could also take a 15-20 minute nap during the day to add sleep minutes to your day. But catching up on sleep is the exception not the rule and regular sleep times are the most important sleep habit to implement.”

Do you need to catch up after a bad night’s sleep? Why an extra 30-minute snooze might be enough