You must have heard a lot many times about having 8 hours of sleep. Like every other person, you believe in it and strive hard to adjust your sleep schedule. Have you ever tried to justify its truthfulness?
Having sound or steady sleep can be difficult in different scenarios. If you have a small baby, sleepless nights are not uncommon. Your baby may cry in the middle of the night, and you have to be with them.
At times, because of the pile of pending work, you have to remain awake until late at night. Circumstances like the above do not allow you to follow this particular rule of having 8 hours of sleep. Therefore, beating this target of eight hours might not always be possible.
However, having good quality or calm sleep at night is more critical. It should not be like you are depriving yourself of sleep for trivial purposes. Unless it is super necessary, you must have a sleep schedule to pursue.
Maybe the hours of sleep you get are different every night. The disparity should not be too huge. It should not be like one night you slept for 4 hours while the other night you slept for 8 hours.
The impact of sleep on your health is paramount. Your brain and body will be in sync while working throughout the day, and good sleep can provide a boost of positive energy from the start of the day.
You must understand how sleep and your sound health are related. Take a tour of this blog for this purpose.
Separating fact from fiction about 8 hours of sleep
Do you know even anxiety can kill your sleep? Yes, no matter how much you get to bed to catch some good sleep. A simple feeling of worry can ruin everything.
For example, you have a pending bill to pay, but your cash reserve does not have adequate funds. These thoughts will not let you sleep properly. On top of this, a sudden payout might pop up as a result of a reminder set for this purpose.
If you let them go, the size of the debt accumulated so far will be huge. What should you do now? Will you be able to bear the burden of debts?
One of the safest ways to tackle this problem is to search for external funding. Now, poor scores can double your trouble. No worries, as debt consolidation loans with bad credit and no guarantor are available. You can take out the needed amount without bothering to produce a guarantor.
This simple trick can save you from the horrible experience of sleepless nights. Therefore, the things you should do to achieve the perfect sleep schedule are up to you. Before that, understand what perfect sleep is in your case.
1. How much sleep should be enough?
A clinical psychologist has claimed that the 8-hour sleep rule is a medical myth. Some experts have excerpted that it is not mandatory to have this much sleep. You may need more or less hours of sleep based on your physical condition.
An average of seven to nine hours of sleep is necessary. Different experts might have a different opinion. However, practically, you might feel healthy and alright with even six hours of solid sleep.
You can be fit and fine despite having this much amount of sleep, which is less than what the rule says. Typically, it has been observed that eight hours of sleep is ideal for most people.
The duration of sleep should be the hours when one can fall asleep naturally. It is critical that you wake up feeling rested and not exhausted. Despite lying in bed for eight to nine hours, you might have a bad sleep.
Due to some anxieties, you could not fall asleep properly. Throughout the night, you could have a disturbed sleep. You can see how the number of hours is not the only factor responsible for good sleep.
Getting proper sleep during resting hours is vital. Otherwise, you will wake up feeling no energy in your body. To be able to function perfectly the next day, the quality of the sleep is also an influential factor.
2. Do you know about deep sleep windows?
If you are brainlessly chasing this sleep myth, you might be unaware of the deep sleep window. Usually, the initial part of your sleep, just after you fall asleep, specifies this phenomenon. You get deep into your sleep mode.
This is the time when your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, muscle activity and body temperature become low. This is ideally a period when you sleep without dreaming. Your body and mind are resting purely.
Although there is no perfect limit to having perfect deep sleep, you should at least have two hours of calmness. A lot of research has been conducted and is still going on regarding this matter. Thus, you must pay attention to the quality of sleep and duration of hours.
It would be better for you if your body slips into deep sleep mode naturally. Even if you can sleep for just five hours due to various commitments or urgent preparations, make sure that these are perfect and deep sleep hours so that you can wake up feeling refreshed.
3. Do you know that sleep duration changes according to age?
This can be an interesting fact for you. Therefore, age is also a crucial determinant here apart from health condition, behaviour and environment. The sleep hours will keep changing with your life stages.
Here, you can see the breakdown of sleep duration according to age.
- 4 to 12 months of infants need 12 to 16 hours of sleep includes the nap time
- 1 year to 2 years child require 11 to 14 hours of sleep including nap time
- 3 to 5 years, child requires 10 to 13 hours of sleep
- 6 to 12 years of children require 9 to 12 hours of sleep
- 13 to 18 years of teenagers require 8 to 10 hours of sleep
- Adults should get at least 7 hours of sleep
Whether or not you are getting adequate sleep will depend on the feeling you have after waking up. If you feel a lack of energy or lethargy after sleep, it is not worth it to have 8 hours of sleep. In contrast, it is your perfect sleep schedule if you feel refreshed after waking up with just 7 hours of sleep.
3. Does pre-sleep routine play any role in getting good sleep?
Many people ignore this aspect, and maybe this is where they are making the biggest mistake. A pre-sleep routine is vital, as it will prepare you and the ambience so that you can fall asleep quickly. Without it, you might face difficulty sleeping.
You must get rid of habits like watching TV or scrolling through social media before going to sleep. If you do not control screen time, catching good sleep would be difficult. Instead, you can try reading a good book or journaling as well.
This way, your mind and body will gradually relax. Through journaling, you can pen down all the scary thoughts and your mind will be free then.
The bottom line
Limiting your caffeine intake can influence your sleep cycle. If you are struggling to get quality sleep at night, pay attention to this. If possible, work out regularly.
