How to sleep well, even in a hotel.

The work dinner finishes at midnight and the alarm goes off at six, in an unfamiliar room. The people I coach often tell me this: they sleep fine at home, but on business trips they spend half the night staring at the ceiling.

Away from home you can't control everything, but you can control enough: light, temperature, timing, dinner, screens and your bedtime routine. Those are the things to pack, along with a spare shirt.

On the first night, your brain keeps watch

If you sleep worse on your first night in a hotel, it isn't weakness. Somewhere new, part of your brain stays on alert, like a night watchman, and any door slamming in the corridor can wake you. Your sleep stays lighter, then usually improves from the second night.

Knowing this spares you the most common mistake: getting worked up and checking the time every twenty minutes. And when you book, ask for a room away from the lift and the street.

Dark and cool, even away from home

Light is the strongest signal your body clock gets. At night you need proper darkness: curtains fully drawn and, if light still creeps in, an eye mask. Watch out for the little standby lights on the TV and air conditioning too: even a tiny glow can disrupt melatonin, the hormone that tells your body it's night.

Next, temperature. To fall asleep your body needs to cool down a little, and hotel rooms are often kept warm. When you arrive, set the thermostat to between 18 and 20°C. Before bed, a warm shower, not a scalding one: as you step out, your body sheds heat, and that drop is what brings on sleep.

With jet lag, light calls the shots

When you cross several time zones, your body clock stays on home time. It catches up, but in its own time: allow almost a day for every hour of difference. And for the same number of hours, flying east is harder, because your body would rather stretch its day than shorten it.

• If you're flying east, get sunlight in the morning. If you're flying west, get it late in the day.
• From day one, eat at local mealtimes, and keep coffee to the first part of the day, local time.
• If you can, don't put the big meeting on the day you land.

Late dinners and one glass too many

Work dinners start late and finish even later. You can't always move them, but you choose what's on your plate: grilled fish or meat with vegetables, easy on the bread basket, no fried food or mature cheeses. In the evening your liver and gut struggle more with fats and sugars, and a heavy dinner keeps your heart rate up just when it should slow down.

Alcohol fools you: it knocks you out sooner, then breaks up the second half of the night. One glass, not three. And the 5pm coffee that gets you through the last meeting is still half in your system at 11pm.

Pack your bedtime routine

If you have a bedtime routine at home, take it with you: your herbal tea, the book you're reading. If you sleep badly without your own pillow, pack that too. Your body gets ready for sleep through the same familiar habits, even in a room it doesn't know.

In the last hour, no emails and no box sets: set your alarm before dinner and leave your phone on the desk, away from the bed. Screen light tells your brain it's still daytime.

And if you're still awake after twenty minutes, don't fight the pillow. Get up, low light, a few pages in the armchair, and back to bed when sleep comes.

On your next trip, start with two or three of these. Repeat them until they're automatic, like packing your toothbrush. That's when sleeping away from home stops being a lottery.