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Navigating your Sleep Needs - the Right Amount of Sleep to Feel Refreshed

Do you sometimes wonder if your energy levels and mood are suboptimal due to insufficient sleep? The causes for waking up feeling unrefreshed are many, and you may wonder at times why you just can’t seem to get the right amount of sleep for high energy living. You may even feel disempowered, as you’re not sure about why you’re still feeling tired after a night of sleep, reaching for your stimulant of choice to help you keep alert. 

Many people are not sure about the recommended hours of sleep required, and the current consensus is that a healthy adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. The question is: did you get the right amount you need? Was your sleep duration and sleep quality adequate for your unique lifestyle and needs? 

Here are some tips to help you:

  • Everyone has unique sleep requirements; some people thrive on 7 hours and some need 8-9 hours to feel fully rested.
  • Sleep needs vary in everyone’s lives. Certain parameters increase your need for extra sleep:
    • Your health (are you unwell or recovering from an illness?)
    • Your age (typically, children and teenagers need more sleep than adults for example)
    • Your stress levels (moving house, death of a loved one, divorce/relationship breakdown, changing jobs (or being jobless) for example are all considered “high impact” on the stress scale, to name a few).
  • Sleep quality makes a huge difference. This is affected in many ways, such as:
    • Depth of sleep (this can be affected by certain medications and alcohol consumption, heavy meals before bed)
    • Time it takes to fall asleep (this can be affected by stimulant consumption, electronic use until late at night, artificial lighting, worrying, temperature regulation)
    • Duration of sleep (this can be affected by noise in the surroundings, light interference, being woken up by others, temperature regulation, worries & fears)
    • Time you go to sleep (getting sleep before midnight is higher in rejuvenating quality than getting sleep say from 2am onwards)

Often people over and underestimate how much quality sleep they got during the night, for it is highly subjective. You could try a wearable device/sleep tracker to learn more about your actual sleep quantity and quality. 

Tips for harnessing better sleep: Create a ritual* and go to bed at the same time each night. Reduce artificial light exposure 2-3 hours before bedtime. Avoid stimulants and hard to digest foods within 2-3 hours of bedtime. Wear earplugs to block out noise, wear an eye mask to reduce light disturbances. Journal about your worries and fears and note down positive actions you can take to resolve any issues. Enjoy gentle exercise during the day, ideally outdoors, enjoying some sunlight and fresh air. 

*A ritual is anything you enjoy doing nightly so it becomes a pattern, cue, and way of winding down systematically every night. More about such rituals in our next blog post. 

"Sleep helps you win at life."

– Amy Poehler 

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"I love sleep. My life has a tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?"

-Ernest Hemingway