Get up early for a less stressful life

Exercise, for instance, is a potent stress reliever, as are relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing, and even having a really good laugh.

But not many experts saw the latest stress-reducing tip coming. According to Roehampton University researchers, if you're the type of person who leaps out of bed before your alarm goes off, you're more likely to be happier and less stressed than those who like nothing better than a lie-in.

Talking at a British Psychological Society conference, Dr Joerg Huber claims morning people are the least susceptible to symptoms of stress such as depression and anxiety. Not just that, but larks tend to be slimmer than night owls too.

Dr Huber's research team carried out an online study that quizzed almost 1,100 men and women about their sleeping habits. Around 13 percent got up before 7am – including at weekends – whereas around six percent said they get out of bed just before 9am during the week, and laid in for at least another hour at weekends. Everyone else, the researchers explain, falls somewhere in between the two.

But why the less stress if you're an early rise? Dr Huber is quoted as saying morning people have lifestyles that are better suited to modern life. Perhaps early risers are less stressed in the mornings, with late risers having to rush around to get to work on time.

Early risers are also more likely to eat breakfast than late risers, the research also claims. And that could explain why those who leap out of bed in the morning are more likely to be slim than those who can't drag themselves from under the duvet, as eating breakfast has been linked with healthy weight in many other studies.

Meanwhile a further study, recently published in the journal Health Psychology, suggests volunteering or doing good deeds and helping others may also help reduce stress levels.

So if you want to cut down on the stress in your life, here's how: get up early, do lots of exercise, volunteer to help people who are less fortunate than you are (or bake cakes for the church bazaar, if that's more your kind of thing), meditate at least twice a day and go to comedy clubs. Or is just the thought of fitting all that in making you feel thoroughly exhausted?

What do you do to keep your stress levels down? Have you found something that works?