Dragon’s Den and Radio 4 Presenter Evan Davis and his secrets of sleep with hypnosis

A few years ago I used to present an early morning radio show for the BBC and I had to get up at about 3.30am. It took a while to learn how to sleep well in those circumstances and so hearing about the experiences of Evan Davis when he was presenting the Today programme makes interesting reading. Now that he is ensconced in Newsnight he no longer needs to worry about those early nights, but how did  he get through them when he was an early riser? 

Evan Davis needed to get up at 3.15am as the presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme.

As well as listening to hypnosis tapes he deals with the issue of light too.

We can all be kept awake by light, either that from the sun and moon, or artificial lights such as street lighting. Evan explained to The Telegraph that he has a great way of dealing with that concern..

 “The blackout blind comes down,I’ll shut the curtains, go to bed and put on the tape. It’s a nice little tape that tells me to go to sleep. It’s hypnosis. It’s a bloke going, 'Go to sleep’. It really works. It fills your brain with soft fluff that slowly eases out all the stimulating things that you’re thinking,”  

“There are one or two — I won’t name them because it is probably against BBC policy to do so — but I very rarely get 15 minutes into it without it knocking me to sleep. I’ve never enjoyed sleep as much until I got the Today job. There is something about early sleep that’s much better than late sleep.

“I feel myself going to sleep; I don’t just plonk my head on the pillow. It’s a sort of winding-down thing. We’ve got a nice little routine, really.”

Davis does not say whether he has shared his soporific tips with his Today colleagues, John Humphrys, James Naughtie and Sarah Montague.

Humphrys, 67, has said: “If I am presenting Today, then I am in bed by 9pm. My body has got so used to this that 11pm feels very late. I’m very good at cat-napping. Half an hour after lunch is very restorative and good for the brain, too.”

We all sometimes need a little help with letting go at bedtime and falling asleep. You can read more about this here: How to Sleep Better

So many of my clients tell me that they listen to the recordings that we make for them during sessions and fall asleep, and in fact I can still do the same myself. Taking that time out for yourself can be so beneficial to your health and well being.

In fact you can listen to a FREE MP3 here for yourself and learn about letting go in just ten minutes.