Here’s how you CAN still feel great on no sleep after the England game: I had insomnia for eight years. These are my precise secrets to surviving the whole day – and how I FINALLY beat it for good: MIRANDA LEVY

Thanks to a delayed 2am kick-off and high drama, those who stayed up to watch England’s epic win over Mexico last night will be exhausted today. You may be reading this on the train on your way to work, or you may be watching helplessly as your little one creates carnage with Weetabix.

Because today is the day football fans nurse our tequila hangovers and a nation battles collective sleep deprivation.

This would not be a good day to perform heart surgery, have surgery, or be responsible for the Moon landing. Most of us will have to make do with four hours of sleep or less.

But as a former professional insomniac, I’m here to tell you: you can get through it. And by ‘professional’ I mean Harry-Kane’s mastery inside the box. I even wrote a book about it called Insomnia Diaries.

For several years in the 2010s, following a difficult marital separation, I experienced endless nights of not sleeping at all. I was completely incapacitated for part of this period. After the end of my first marriage, I suffered from severe insomnia, anxiety and depression: I was so bad that I eventually lost my job and moved back in with my father temporarily.

But when I finally began to recover after a terrible eight years, my sleep didn’t just come back; instead it increased gradually. I rebuilt and was able to make a living as a divorced mother of two young children, working full-time for months at a time, four or five hours a night. I’m here to tell you that with a little tweaking, it can be done.

The most encouraging thing is that there is a difference between the loneliness, the isolated insomnia I have suffered for the better part of a decade, and the social sleep debt the country will feel this morning. Like Saka, Madueke and Eze, we are all in this together and we will get through it.

It’s also fair to say that in my insomnia years, I probably ate fewer chips and drank fewer beers at 1 a.m. than I did last night, but I was no stranger to the buzz of an overstimulated mind.

So what do experts say about surviving with just three or four hours of eyes closed?

Maryanne Taylor is a certified sleep consultant and founder. thesleepworks.co.uk. ‘Even if you go to bed as soon as the match is over, your body may not be ready for the fall,’ he says. ‘After all the ups and downs, your sympathetic nervous system may still be active and adrenaline can keep your brain alert.’

Scientists call this overstimulation.

For several years now, I’ve been having endless nights with no sleep, writes Miranda Levy. When I finally started to recover, my sleep came back in stages, not all at once.

Then there’s booze. ‘Alcohol consumption can leave you feeling groggy in the morning,’ says Ms Taylor. ‘You may feel sleepy when you first go to bed. However, alcohol can disrupt sleep architecture, particularly the REM phase of the sleep cycle, causing more fragmented sleep in the second half of the night.’

Bags of Kettle Chips or packs of stress-busting Haribo won’t do the trick. ‘Salty foods leave you more dehydrated and sugary snacks make you sluggish,’ says Ms Taylor.

But once you wake up, there are ways to relieve fatigue. During my insomnia years, I would let myself out of the house at 6 a.m. in the summer so that I could get the sunlight into my eyes to start the day. It definitely prepared me for the day, even if I was left exhausted.

All sleep experts support this strategy. ‘Even ten minutes outside can do the trick,’ says Ms Taylor. ‘Morning light is one of the most powerful regulators of our circadian rhythm, or body clock. It stops the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and increases alertness. Move your body, but don’t overdo it. ‘A gentle stretch or a short walk can help you feel more alert without adding further physical stress.’

Other insomniacs may opt to reach for a double espresso or five.

‘The aim is to use caffeine to relieve fatigue, not to accidentally create a second bad night,’ says Ms Taylor. ‘Drink water before your first coffee to help with dehydration. Morning flat white may temporarily increase alertness by blocking adenosine, the chemical responsible for creating “sleep pressure” throughout the day. However, the half-life of caffeine is around six hours, so avoid caffeine in the afternoon to prevent it affecting your sleep later.’

Accordingly thesleepscientist.com Sophie Bostock, the recommended safe limit for caffeine in a day is 6 mg per kilogram of body weight; That’s around four instant coffees or two large coffees from a high street chain – and ideally no later than 2pm.

I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker: My personal strategy was to grab a croissant or scone. It’s not a good idea.

‘As your hunger and satiety hormones become disrupted and your self-control decreases, your brain will gravitate towards high-fat, high-calorie foods,’ says Ms Bostock. ‘We usually consume an extra 300 calories after a short sleep. Instead of trusting your instincts, take a moment to plan what you plan to eat during the day.’

Ms. Taylor recommends a breakfast of protein and slow-release carbohydrates; for example eggs on toast or porridge with nuts and seeds. ‘These will support your energy better than a very sugary breakfast that will get you up quickly and then crash.’

After my short nights of sleep, I often found myself grumpy, grumpy, and prematurely accusing everyone of stealing my cell phone charger, writes Miranda Levy.

Maryanne Taylor (left) and Sophie Bostock… Luckily, sleep experts say a missed night’s sleep isn’t a big deal

Be careful if you drive or do any physical work today. According to Ms. Bostock, if you’re awake for 24 hours and just planning to “move forward,” your reaction time slows down by more than 50 percent. ‘There will be some tired drivers across the country.’

It’s not just your physical performance that can suffer. After my short nights of sleep, I often found myself grumpy, grumpy, and prematurely accusing everyone of stealing my cell phone charger. But I soon developed strategies: If I felt conflicted, I would step away from the situation for a full 20 minutes until I calmed down.

That’s smart, Ms. Bostock admits. ‘Sleep deprivation puts the brain in an alert state, making you more irritable or impatient than usual,’ he says. ‘Try to create a pause before reacting. One useful strategy for calming the nervous system is physiological sighing; Take a quick breath in, add another breath to fill your lungs, then exhale slowly and steadily. This will help lower your heart rate so you can respond from a more solid place.’

So when do you hit the post-lunch slump – which is inevitable? Personally, I never took a nap: I preferred to go with the strength. However, if you are someone who can sleep during the day and work from home, you may want to wink forty winks.

“The effects of a sleepless night usually occur in the early afternoon, for example between 1pm and 3pm, a period when our alertness naturally decreases,” Ms Bostock says. ‘This is a great time to take a nap; A period of 20 minutes to 90 minutes will be beneficial. If you can’t nap, try going outside again into natural light; Sunlight is very stimulating for the brain.’

Ms Taylor warns against longer or later naps: ‘These reduce homeostatic sleep pressure, making it harder to fall asleep at your usual bedtime.’

Scientists say the most important thing is to reset your normal sleep pattern. ‘Most people can cope with one night’s nap without experiencing too many adverse effects,’ says Ms Bostock. ‘But we want to prevent sleep debt from accumulating. A tired brain has lower self-control than normal, so you need to decide your bedtime now and turn off your phone 30 minutes beforehand so you don’t lose sleep with mindless scrolling.’ Or match replays.

Ms. Taylor recommends not going to bed too early tonight to make up for last night. ‘If you go to bed awake later, you may end up with a more stressful night,’ he says. ‘Both your homeostatic sleep drive and your circadian rhythm are designed to recover naturally when you return to your usual routine, rather than trying to compensate by going to bed or with very early bedtimes.’

Because in the end, a missed night’s sleep doesn’t matter much. ‘Half the country will be in trouble, so don’t make it a disaster,’ says Ms Taylor.

In the end, what helped end my years of insomnia was learning not to ‘catastrophize’ – or imagine the world would explode if I missed a few hours of sleep.

Learning the principles of CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), a set of strategies for reprogramming the way you think and act, helped me leave in peace. It took me a few months of practice, but I told myself it didn’t really matter if I felt a little tired the next day. Releasing pressure in this way paradoxically helped me give up quicker. One minute it was 4 a.m., the next my alarm was going off at 7:30.

As it turns out, there’s always another season/World Cup/penalty shoot-out night to perfect your sleep survival technique.