Sleep requirements stabilize in early adult life, around the age of 20. Individuals vary in their sleep needs but most adults require between 7 and 9 hours a night to feel properly refreshed and function at their best the next day. Many try to get away with less sleep.
Experts recommend that most adults need at least seven hours of sleep every night. We examine sleep needs for different age groups, discuss the importance of obtaining high-quality sleep, and provide tips on how to sleep better if you are struggling to meet sleep recommendations.
So why do people think they are able to function optimally on 6 hours of regular sleep? This is because of a natural human phenomenon known as 'renorming'. Renorming means that we are only able to compare how we feel today to how we felt yesterday or the day before.
There are many reasons why you might be waking up too early. They include external factors, such as environmental disturbances like temperature, light, and noise. They also include internal factors, like your circadian rhythm, sleep disorders like sleep apnea, and/or medical issues, like heartburn.
Now, he makes an effort to sleep at least six hours per night, he said in an interview with CNBC's David Faber on Tuesday. “I've tried [to sleep] less, but ... even though I'm awake more hours, I get less done,” Musk said. “And the brain pain level is bad if I get less than six hours [of sleep per night].”
The sleep recommendation for people ages 25 to 64 is seven to nine hours per night. In some cases, as few as six or as many as 10 hours may be appropriate, but the National Sleep Foundation doesn't recommend less than six.
7AM: Wake-up call
After a restful 7 hours, Bill awakes rearing to go. This was easy enough, as 7 hours is my personal ideal number of hours for sleep.
If you or a loved one feel sleepy or fatigued, despite having 7-8 hours of sleep, it could indicate poor sleep quality or be a sign of an underlying sleep disorder. If you have questions or concerns about your sleep health, please speak with your primary care provider.
While women do not innately need more sleep than men, there are some reasons why women may need a little extra sleep or may be at higher risk for not meeting some of their sleep needs. These factors include things like hormones, menstruation, pregnancy, and social factors.
Sleep requirements stabilize in early adult life, around the age of 20. Individuals vary in their sleep needs but most adults require between 7 and 9 hours a night to feel properly refreshed and function at their best the next day.
In fact, research indicates that we lose deep sleep at a rate of about 2% a decade, starting in your 30s and lasting up until about age 60. You may notice you start to experience more restlessness, waking more easily and often at night, and feeling less refreshed in the morning.
Between ages 30 and 60, people begin to wake up more during the night and spend more time awake in bed. In middle adulthood, people may start experiencing more sleep troubles due to hormonal changes. Older adulthood: Older adults sleep less at night than those in either young or middle adulthood.
However, the general advice for 20- and 30-somethings remains the same: consistent sleep-wake schedules, limiting caffeine, getting enough exercise, drinking plenty of water and eating healthy foods to promote good sleep.
A concern with both napping and sleeping in on weekends is that, when you are sleep deprived, a little extra rest can provide a false sense of recovery. You may feel better for a short time after getting extra sleep, but the accumulating effects of sleep loss is a debt that takes longer to repay.
Around 70% of those surveyed hit their happiness peak then, compared to 6% in university years and 16% in childhood. Over half of us believe life is more fun in our early 30s, it seems. It's a stage that heralds in more optimism and less stress than before (probably because we've learnt not to care so much).
Sleeping well can lower blood pressure, relax blood vessels and improve blood flow, bringing nutrients—and a healthy color—to the skin. Sleep also slows the aging of the heart and blood vessels. Poor circulation and arterial aging are major contributors to the appearance of aging on the skin and hair.
In a post on the newly launched Threads app, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims that he's mastered what we all dream of—getting about seven to eight hours of sleep per night. “Really dialed in my sleep with Eight Sleep and Oura,” he wrote, referring to a smart mattress and smart ring meant to help us catch our Zzzs.
Successful entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett, prioritise rest and swear by seven to eight hours of peaceful sleep. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, reportedly wakes up at five every morning, while Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, rises at 5:45 am.
So if you wake up at 3 AM, when Liver energy peaks, you may be suffering from Liver Qi stagnation, which could be related to an unhealthy diet, excess alcohol consumption, unresolved anger or high levels of stress.
If you only get 6 hours of sleep and still feel fine every morning, you may feel like you have a hidden superpower. But research has shown that even though some people may report feeling well-rested after sleeping for 6 hours, they're more sleep-deprived than they realize.