Sunday is the worst time to get a good night's sleep Keeping you up? Sunday night is the worst night of the week for sleep. Picture: ThiinkStock Source: Supplied ENJOYED your lie in today, feeling refreshed? Well make the most of it because chances are you probably won't be sleeping well tonight. But it's not just lying awake worrying about the working week that is stopping you from heading into the land of nod, but your messed up sleeping patterns over the weekend. It seems many sleepy heads tend to lie in much later than they would during the week, messing with body clocks, at least that's what studies show anyway. Online panel and survey provider Toluna Omnibus conducted research into the sleeping patterns of 3000 people and found 39 per cent had the most trouble sleeping on a Sunday night. Almost half of the remaining 61 per cent worried about not being able to nod off. Interestingly, Saturday was the next most difficult night with 19 per cent of people revealing they found it hard to go to sleep. According to the findings, Thursday is your best chance of getting the most rest with only three per cent of people having trouble nodding off at this time of the week. And while there may be several other reasons why you're feeling tired, chances are it has a lot to do with not having a good sleeping pattern in the first place. Australian Sleep Health Foundation chair Professor David Hillman said a change in sleep patterns on the weekend, as well as winding up for the working week, would contribute to a more restless night. Prof Hillman said it was important people settled and sorted any worries or concerns they had before their heads hit the pillow as stress and anxiety were shown to interfere with sleep. He also said people should try to establish better sleeping patterns to avoid the need to catch up over the weekend as rest often took a back seat during the week. "Sleeping in at the weekends is not necessarily a bad thing as some people work to pay back a sleep debt," he said. But trying to tackle the reasons why we need to catch up in the first place is probably better. Prof Hillman added work stress definitely affected sleep patterns as did distractions in the bedroom such as TVs, mobile phones and tablets. "The bedroom should really only be for two things - sleep and sexual activities," he said. Otherwise what we tend to see is the brain associate other distractions with sleep. Prof Hillman said roughly a quarter of Australians suffered with sleep issues. Of these, half were related to sleep disorders and the other half to bad sleep patterns. He also said lack of sleep could lead to a range of health issues and affected people's decision making, moods, reactions, vigilance and co-ordination. Those with chronic sleep issues were also at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and depression, he said. Prof Hillman's tips for getting a good night's sleep: Debrief. Write your thoughts and worries down before you go to sleep Establish a better sleep pattern by going to bed earlier and waking up around the same time most days Try and have a sleep routine Get eight hours a night where possible Keep mobile phones and tablets in another room Avoid watching television in the bedroom before going to sleep Avoid caffiene and alcohol Have a good bedroom environment: Exclude lights and noise Have comfortable bedding