We typically preach on this blog that sleep is a vital process in helping your body decompress after a long day. We’ve chronicled how sleep is a restorative process that helps flush toxins out of your mind and body, but do you really need eight hours of sleep to achieve the benefits of sleep? We examine how much sleep is sufficient on the blog today.
Sleep Through The Ages
As Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer chronicles in his book, The Slumbering Masses: Sleep, Medicine and the Modern American Life, eight continuous hours of sleep hasn’t always been the norm. In fact, that type of sleep schedule didn’t really become mainstream until the early 20th century.
Back in the old days, a lot of professions operated outside of today’s more typical 8am-5pm schedule. Before technological advancements revolutionized the American worker, many people worked in factories or on farms. Sometimes they’d work from sun up to sun down, while other days the work would be slower. Because of the ever-shifting work demands, it wasn’t always easy for a person to go to bed and wake up at a certain time on a regular basis. People often napped throughout the day when appropriate.
People still work odd hours today – just ask emergency room doctors, construction workers and 24-hour fast food employees, but it’s easier to get home and get some sleep once your work is complete. But just because society’s current demands make it easier to get longer hours of consecutive sleep doesn’t mean everyone is doing it.
Less Than Six Hours
According to national sleep data, between 10 percent and 30 percent of Americans regularly get less than six hours of sleep a night. So why aren’t one third of Americans constantly tired and dragging? Medscape says it’s because some people have an inherent ability to preform better under varying levels of sleep. In essence, one person’s 8 hours of sleep is the same as another’s person’s 6 hours of sleep.
It’s clear that sleep differences exist, but that’s not really that surprising. There’s a lot that goes into quality sleep, including diet, stress, anxiety, sleeping area and if it’s uninterrupted sleep. Personally, I find that my sleep schedule is much more similar to that of my ancestors than modern conventions.
I find that I really can’t sleep more than 6 to 7 hours a night. I wake up feeling fully re-charged, and I see no reason to lay in bed and to try to fall back asleep. Once I’m up, I’m up for the day.
I’ve found that I can be very effective on 5 to 6 hours of sleep and a short 20-30 minute nap in the afternoon. The nap allows me to clear my head and focus on any late night tasks. It also helps in the event that I need to wake up early the next day. If my work was suffering because of lack of sleep, it would clearly show.
In the end, it’s about about finding what works for you. If you can be effective on six hours of sleep, more power to you. If you know you are your sharpest after eight hours of sleep, then make sure you get your eight hours. But when you find what works for you, stick to it. Going to bed at odd hours, waking up at different times or sleeping in super late on the weekend all throw off your rhythm. It’s better to consistently sleep 7 hours than to sleep 10 hours one night and 5 hours the next.