How Much Sleep Do You Actually Need?

Janice, a marketing assistant for an advertising firm, is hardly a role model for good sleep habits.

If she is not working long hours at the office, Janice takes her work home – specifically her laptop in bed.

It is not any better on the weekends, either. 

On her free time, Janice is surfing the Internet late into the night.

And when she finally decides to get some sleep, her brain goes on autopilot, thinking about all the stuff she needs to take care of on Monday.

Janice eventually realized she is not doing himself any favour with her lifestyle. 

She was nodding off a lot at her desk and at meetings - and even while driving.

That last one is a huge red flag which indicates she is not getting any enough sleep.

But like many other people with busy schedules and full calendars, Janice did not know how much sleep she actually needed to function properly throughout the day.

Is There A Golden Number? 

The truth is that no one agrees on an exact figure when it comes to getting enough sleep.

And as you learn in a bit, not everyone has the same sleep requirements, which means your own sweet spot may differ from others.

Still it helps to work from a ballpark figure and go from there.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the recommended number of hours for adults is generally between 7-9 hours.

In particular, those in the range of 18-64 years old needs around 7-9 hours, while people beyond that would require 7-8 hours.

However, that figure is still up for debate. 

Especially for those people who believe that they can work perfectly fine with just 6 hours or less of sleep for instance.

But consider this. 

A study entitled Sleep And Circadian Rhythms In Humans documented the effects that staying in a cave for a month would have on one’s sleeping patterns.

Cut off from natural light, the researchers had no way to tell what time of the day it was. 

And yet, their natural circadian rhythms had them sleeping between 8-9 hours.

Furthermore, another study in 2004 done at the University of Pennsylvania discussed the effects of sleeplessness on 4 groups of people over a couple of weeks.

One group was made to sleep 8 hours, another one was 6 hours, the next for 4 hours,and the last one had no sleep at all.

They ran a series of cognitive tests on each of these groups to measure how sharp their mental abilities were. 

To no one’s surprise, they found that all groups who slept less than 8 hours did poorly compared to the well-rested group.

Here is another discovery.  

By the end of the 2-week study, even the group sleeping 6  hours eventually did just as bad as those who were not sleeping at all.

So people who brag about getting away with just a few hours of sleep do not really realize they are shooting themselves in the foot.

You might feel well-rested with that little sleep but the results meant little.

Finding Your Perfect Number

So you might be thinking, “Ok, so six hours or less is bad for me, but where I do fall in the 7-9 hour range?”

To figure that out, assess how you are doing at the moment with your current amount of sleep. 

Here is a list of things to consider:

1. Do you generally have an easy time getting work done in a given day?

2. Do you struggle to finish your tasks due to low energy?

3. Do you immediately doze off when you lie down? Or are you wide awake in bed an hour after lying down?

4. Do you doze off in the afternoon while working?

5. Do you nod off at the wheel when driving? 

6. Do you drink a lot of coffee to stay awake throughout the day?

At the very least, going through these questions will tell you if you are sleeping enough.

The best thing to do is start off with sleeping in the 7-hour range for a week and see if your health and productivity improves as a result.

If you find that you are still sleepy after that, then it will be a good idea to increase your sleeping time to improve your daily performance.

Investing In A Better Sleep

The next step is to establish a sleep routine that will actually allow you a decent amount of sleep.

If you are a late-sleeper like Joe who has a hard time falling asleep, it might have to do with your melatonin levels.

This is essentially a hormone that helps you sleep at night by making you feel tired. 

And some people’s melatonin does not kick in right away, which makes it harder for them to knock off at night.

If you are up in bed late into the night, resist the temptation to fire up your phone, laptop or any other mobile device in bed.

You might think this will help you feel sleepy. 

But the bright blue light that screens emit will mess with your sleep rhythm. 

It simulates daylight which will make your brain think it is not time to sleep yet.

Using electronics in bed slows down melatonin production, making it even harder for you to sleep at night.

The better thing to do is have little light as possible in the bedroom. 

This signals your body that it is time for bed and trigger those sleep hormones.

While at it, make sure you have a good mattress to sleep on and your room is cool enough around 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Also, eliminate other distractions that could disrupt your sleep, like noise or bright lights.

And if you still find yourself tossing and turning, get up and leave your bedroom. 

The idea is to associate your bed with the notion of sleep as opposed to other activities.

However, a couple of things you could do in bed are either listening to music ideally at 60 beats per minute or reading. 

Take note though that most studies find that the latter is more effective in helping you sleep.

Reading helps the brain disengage from the day’s concerns and quiets down your thoughts without the sleep-wrecking blue light from your mobile devices.

And forget about having a nightcap, too.

That glass of red wine might help you relax by making you feel tired but it will compromise the quality of your sleep.

Normally, people go through REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM cycles at night.

However, booze will get in the way of your REM sleep, which is important to being well-rested.

Matter Of Priorities

So whether you need 7, 8 or 9 hours of sleep, a sensible routine is non-negotiable.

Millions of years of evolution have programmed humans to operate on a consistent sleep schedule. 

At time of me writing this, there is simply no way around this.

Sure, you can pull as many all-nighters as you want. 

But you will be going down a path of poor productivity, shallow sleep and a miserable existence.

You will not feel it but your attitude and quality will suffer. 

A regular bedtime ensures that you will be operating at peak performance on a daily basis. 

Plus, you are less likely doze off in the afternoon.

This also applies to the weekends. Most people think they can make up for lost sleep during these times. 

But research shows that it is biologically impossible for humans to store extra hours of sleep.

So starting today, figure out the time you want to wake up every morning and work your way back the night before.

For example, if you need to get out of bed by 6:00 am and you want to sleep for 7 hours, then you need to be asleep by 11:00 pm.

Switch off all electronics by 9:00 pm and get into a relaxing bedtime routine, like reading, listening to music or having a warm bath.

After establishing this kind of routine, your body will adapt to a healthier sleep pattern.

You will fall asleep and wake up at the same time like clockwork. 

If you find however, that you are still experiencing those symptoms we covered earlier, you probably need to sleep a bit more.

Remember, do not compare yourself to other people specially those who take pride in getting away little to no sleep.

Above all, listen to your body. 

When you pay attention to the signs and stick to a schedule that works for you, you will gradually find your unique rhythm.