“Having a late sleep pattern puts you at odds with the standard societal days, which can lead to a range of adverse outcomes – from daytime sleepiness to poorer mental wellbeing,” said Dr Andrew Bagshaw from the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain Health.

“We wanted to see if there were simple things people could do at home to solve the issue. This was successful, on average allowing people to get to sleep and wake up around two hours earlier than they were before.

“Most interestingly, this was also associated with improvements in mental wellbeing and perceived sleepiness, meaning that it was a very positive outcome for the participants. We now need to understand how habitual sleep patterns are related to the brain, how this links with mental wellbeing and whether the interventions lead to long-term changes.”

Images: Getty

Night owls: this three-week plan could improve your mornings forever