One simple test can determine if your issues in the bedroom are truly sleep deprivation. You just need to grab two things from the kitchen first – a bowl and a spoon.

James Leinhardt, a sleep posture specialist at Levitex, shared a very basic test on TikTok that most people shouldn’t have an issue with to see if they’re having trouble sleeping. He said this “brilliant little trick” needs to be done during the day.

He explained: “Get your spoon and any bowl or dish that’s going to make a loud noise. So, doing this in the daytime, you’re going to darken the room and grab your spoon.

“When you’re lying, just hold your spoon over the bowl and note the time when you close your eyes with the intention of going to sleep. if you do fall asleep, your hand grip will loosen, the spoon will fall, and the noise should wake you up.”

James went on to explain the point of this task, claiming that if you look at the clock again, you can roughly work out how long it took you to fall asleep. He said this important bit of information will help you figure out if you’re actually suffering from sleep deprivation.

He said: “If it’s less than five minutes, then you are probably really sleep-deprived. If you fell asleep after 10 minutes, you probably still need more sleep but anything after 15 minutes and you are probably smashing it.”

Not getting enough sleep is sometimes called sleep deprivation, sleeplessness or sleep inefficiency, according to the NHS. A healthy adult usually needs around 7 to 9 hours of sleep – but this rule is not set in stone.

Factors like age, health and personal circumstances affect how much sleep we need. On top of this, some people naturally sleep more than others.