People across the country are preparing to lose an hour of sleep this weekend as the clocks are set to go forward soon. While this normally means around an hour less in bed for many, you don't have to be deprived of sleep if you know how to drift back off with ease.

ITV's Doctor Amir Khan, who often shares health tips with his followers, previously revealed there's a simple way to fall back asleep with ease if you wake up. Speaking on the podcast No Appointment Necessary, he noted there's a medically approvedhack to get back to sleep if you keep waking up too early.

It's not the only time he's shared such handy advice either. Previously, he told people how to drift back off easily if they keep waking up at 3am.

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Speaking to co-host Cherry Healey, he said: "If you really want a helpful technique to get off to sleep, there's this thing we use in medicine called cognitive shuffling. Cognitive shuffling just gives your brain random things to think about that aren't stressful and can be quite calming.

"The best thing to do is go through the letters of the alphabet. Start with the letter A, think of all the names beginning with A, then move on to B and then move on to C.

"I promise you, you won't get past E or F. You'll be asleep. I recommended this to a few people and the feedback I got is incredible."

On the weekend, we will get less sleep, as the clocks officially go forward. However, if you want to try and get an extra hour or two, Dr Amir Khan's technique may be good to test out if your aim is to bag a lie in.

In the comments, many people have raved about the handy trick. One person said: "Yes. Honestly, it works! Shuts your brain off to the millions of other things we shuffle round our heads."

Another added: "We call this the alphabet game in our house. I’ve done it since I was a child, and do it with my own kids.

"We pick a category and take turns working through the alphabet together, and before long everyone is sleepy."

A third also replied: "I do this. I think of musicals, and then the next musical starts with the last letter of the previous one. I do it with animals too. Sends me right off to the land of nod"

If you've never heard of it before, cognitive shuffling is a sleep-onset technique that works to quiet a racing mind by shifting thoughts from logical, anxiety-driven thinking to random, unrelated imagery. Essentially, it helps the brain to focus on disjointed items and mimics the natural dreamlike mental states that occur just before falling asleep.

By turning to the technique, it will help to break the cycle of overthinking and triggering the parasympathetic nervous system. It's a method many people suggest to try if you struggle to get off to sleep, keep waking up or simply want to try and get a few extra hours in bed.

However, if you're someone who suffers with sleep more often, it's wise to visit your GP for further advice. Sometimes there are underlying reasons why you can't sleep peacefully.

If this is the case, you need to seek medical advice. You should always contact a doctor if you are worried about anything health-related.