Know How Much Sleep You Need

Do you feel drowsy? Can't stop yawning? Maybe you're not getting as much sleep as you should. Or perhaps you overslept--there is such a thing, and it's not good for you, either! How much sleep you actually need depends on your age, activity level, and even genetics. This article will help you figure it out with a test.

Steps

 * 1) Develop good sleep hygiene. If you're getting "bad sleep" (a mixture of lying in bed and actual sleep) then you have no way of knowing how much sleep you're actually getting, so you can't figure out how much sleep you need. To carry out this test, you're going to need at least decent quality sleep (falling asleep soon after you go to bed, and not waking up a lot through the night). Read How to Fall Asleep and How to Sleep Better. Here are the basics:
 * 2) *Don't eat or exercise in the last few hours before you go to bed.
 * 3) *Don't drink much in the hour before you sleep, and use the bathroom right before you go to bed. This reduces the likelihood of waking up to use the toilet.
 * 4) *Don't get in the habit of reading, watching TV, listening to music, or doing anything that engages your mind when you're in bed.
 * 5) *Learn how to clear your mind. See How to Meditate.
 * 6) *Abstain from alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, and medicines that can affect your sleep. Continue abstaining from the use of these products for the duration of the test. (Consult your doctor before abstaining from prescribed medicines.)
 * 7) *Avoid taking naps.
 * 8) Stick to a consistent bed time or wake-up time, but not both. Which one you choose will depend on your individual circumstances and schedule. Follow one of these tests for 2 weeks:
 * 9) *Test 1: Wake up at the same time in the morning, every day of the week. The time you choose doesn't really matter, as long as it's not likely you'll get woken up earlier. For example, if you choose 8am, but you know that on Fridays your roommate makes a lot of noise at 7am and it tends to wake you up, set the time at 7 instead. It's just for the length of this experiment, not for the rest of your life. Set your alarm clock and force yourself to get out of bed as soon as the alarm clock goes off (read the tips in How to Stop Hitting the Snooze Button). Go to bed each night whenever you feel tired. Don't stay up if you feel sleepy. Don't go to bed if you're not sleepy.   After two weeks your body will know that it has to get up at a specific time (say, 6am) so you will begin to consistently start feeling tired at midnight, which will tell you that your body needs 6 hours of sleep.
 * 10) *Test 2: Choose a time to go to bed that will allow you up to 9 hours (or 10, if you can manage it!) of uninterrupted sleep before you need to wake up. It also needs to be a time when you will easily fall asleep; if you're not tired or sleepy and you end up laying in bed without sleeping, this test won't work. For this test, do not use an alarm clock. If you need to wake up at 9am so you can make it to work, go to bed every night at 11pm (which gives you 10 hours to sleep) to ensure that you wake up naturally by 9am. If you're worried you might sleep more than 10 hours, set an "emergency" alarm at 9:15, or do the other test instead.  As the test goes on, you'll notice that you start waking up on your own at the same time every day. Let's say you go to sleep every night at 12am, and you find yourself waking up feeling rested every morning at 8am. That means you need 8 hours of sleep.
 * 11) Listen to your body. You may discover you need anywhere between 3 and 12 hours of sleep. If you sleep that much (or little) and you feel fine, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There's no evidence for the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night. Some people who need less sleep feel pressured to sleep for longer, because everyone tells them they should be getting more sleep in order to be healthy, and their worrying leads to insomnia!

Tips

 * For most people with jobs or other time commitments, it's easier to have a set wake-up time and vary the time at which they go to bed, rather than the other way around.
 * Consistency is key. Whichever test you do, follow the steps strictly for best results.
 * The reason you need to run either test for two weeks is because at first, there may be a "sleep deficit" that your body insists on catching up on. That being said, if you can carry the test on for 3 weeks, you can have more confidence in the results.
 * Increased activity levels (like exercise) will throw off your sleep times during the tests. Try to keep your activity levels consistent every day throughout the test.
 * Children need more sleep for their growing bodies. Put them to bed at 8:00 or 9:00 o'clock and time when they fall asleep and then let them sleep until they wake up on their own in the morning.  Count the number of hours they slept and that is the number of hours they NEED to sleep.  Adjust bedtime for school nights accordingly.
 * Your age has a lot to do with your sleeping habits.

Warnings

 * If you need more than 12 hours of sleep and you are not a teenager, or if your sleep needs have changed suddenly, you should consult your doctor.

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Sleep Better
 * How to Fall Asleep
 * How to Stop Hitting the Snooze Button
 * How to Wake Up Without an Alarm Clock