Despite the fact we spend about a third of our lives asleep, we still don't really know that much about it.

What we do know is that it's vital - if we stay awake too long we end up with reduced cognitive abilities, poor memory, mood swings and, eventually, hallucinations.

There are different theories about why we sleep, and most revolve around giving our brains a chance to replenish energy, remove toxins, and helping to strengthen synaptic connections.

Given that sleep is so important, what can I do to try and improve mine?

It might be time to look at some better sleep hygiene.

Sleep hygiene is all about your behaviours and habits around sleep.

Just as we have routines for personal hygiene - we bathe, brush our teeth and hair and so on - we can also have routines around getting good sleep.

This includes things like trying to go to bed and wake up at around the same each day, thinking about when you exercise, and considering what you eat and drink.

It's also about setting up your sleeping environment - making sure you have a comfortable bed, that the room is a good temperature, and that there isn't too much light or sound.

One thing that's becoming popular in relation to sleep is using devices and apps that have blue light filters and night mode.

The idea behind these devices or using night mode is that it switches the tone of light from blue tones to yellow tones. It's thought that blue light disrupts or prevents sleep by impacting production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and by un-balancing our circadian rhythms. But some recent research has suggested that the opposite is true, and that using dim, cooler lights in the evening might be less disturbing.

This research also suggested that it might be how bright light is, rather than the colour that is most important, with dimmer light being better for sleep.

While the jury might still be out on light filters and night modes, it's probably safe to say that thinking more about our bedtime routines could help improve our sleep.

And maybe this is one time when I'll actually take my own advice...

Dr Mary McMillan is a senior lecturer at the School of Science and Technology, University of New England.