Life can feel pretty overwhelming. Even good things like hobbies, friends, and family take time. You may feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, so there isn’t enough time to get a good night’s sleep.

Sleep is one of the most fundamental functions we do each day though. Without good sleep, you will not only feel terrible, but you will begin to damage your body.

Everyone thrives on a different amount of sleep, so how can you tell if you are getting enough? What are your body's unique sleep needs?

Let’s dive into that question and figure out what your body needs to function at its best.

 

Sleep Research

Researchers took a group of people, put them in a stimulus-free room for 14-24 hours daily, and monitored their sleep. There were no clocks, so the subjects didn’t know when they went to bed or when they woke up. 

The first couple of days, sleep times averaged 12-20 hours per night. This seems to indicate that many subjects were in a “sleep deficit” going into the study, meaning their bodies were trying to catch up from chronic undersleeping. 

Over a few days, the participants' sleep began to average approximately 8 hours a night (with some sleeping more and some sleeping less).

How many hours would you sleep in a study like that? Do you think you are running on a sleep deficit? Is your body "charging you interest" on the sleep you are missing?

 

How Much Sleep is Enough?

Sleep researchers have noted that decreasing sleep time strongly impacts reaction time and other mental functions. You can use “reaction time” to determine if the number of hours you sleep is ideal for your body.

Here’s how...

• Write down when you typically go to sleep and wake up.
• Do a little experiment for 3 days. Each morning at the same time after waking up, take the reaction time test from the following website https://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime 
• Make a note of your score each day.
• On day 4, try moving your bedtime up by 30 minutes. Continue with that amount of sleep for 3 days, checking your reaction time each morning.
• Notice if your score is significantly different with more sleep. Pay attention to how you feel throughout the day. How is your energy level? Is your mental functioning better?
• After a few days, try moving your bedtime up another 30 minutes. Pay attention to your reaction times and how you feel.
• Repeat the steps in this experiment again until you find a bedtime that seems ideal for you based on your reaction times and how you feel.  
• Ideally, you will wake up ready for the day without an alarm clock.

 

Ditch the Alarm Clock

We want our bodies to wake up naturally when we are well-rested. You can use your alarm clock to ensure you are up on time, but the goal is to wake up before it goes off. If you are chronically fatigued when your alarm goes off, it is a sign that your body needs more sleep!

It is also important to mention that many factors impact how much sleep we need. Extreme physical activity, fighting an illness, or times of extreme stress can temporarily make your body need more sleep. If we honor our bodies' needs for sleep, we can feel and function at our best.

 

Let me know if you have specific questions about sleep. If you try this experiment, I’d love to hear how it goes!

Dr. Jamie

P.S. For more information about sleep research and this experiment, check out this article by Dan Pardi.

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