How to sleep

We've all heard about sleep hygiene and how we must turn off screens early and not eat too late, go to bed early and not drink too late. When did sleeping become so rule-based?

Am I showing my age or did we used to just get into bed, read for a bit, turn the light off and go to sleep? Somehow sleep has become a science and there are whole books and diet regimes, apps and tech dedicated to helping us do it better? Or have they, in fact, created a vicious circle that is preventing us from doing it right unless we follow their rules? Has sleep, like everything else, been commodified? Are we in thrall to the sleep dictators? I spoke to a sleep expert to help us unravel this knotty issue and improve our own REMS on the way.