Holiday stress was stopping me from sleeping — a neuroscientist shared one simple fix that helped me fall asleep fast

The image shows a dark-haired woman sat to a kitchen table with her laptop open, a notebook on the table in front of her and her head in her hands. Behind her, festive decorations twinkle.

'Tis the season... to feel so overwhelmed that you find yourself wide awake at 3am. As a busy working parent, that was me. A spiralling to-do list, quickly dwindling finances plus the anticipation of navigating tricky family dynamics over the holidays meant I was gripped with a feeling of impending doom when I should have been fast sleep.

I'm certainly not alone. A recent poll from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) estimates that 41% of adult Americans are stressed about the upcoming holidays, which is a 28% increase on last year. Finances and healthcare are among their biggest worries.

For help on how to ease my seasonal anxiety and get the rest I need for the upcoming holiday season, I reached out to Dr Lindsay Browning, a U.K.-based sleep expert, chartered psychologist and neuroscientist, for advice on how to sleep better this December. In the days following our conversation, Dr Browning's advice is already helping me sleep through the night — here's how.