Back to Basics: Essential Sleep Stats

Don’t sleep on how much sleep you actually need to get a day. The general guideline is that adults ages 26-64 should get, on average, 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Now, for some of you reading this, it may seem like a lot—daunting even (me!); for others, this may not feel like enough. 

It’s also not just a matter of quantity; it’s also a matter of quality. Deep, uninterrupted sleep is greatly beneficial for overall body and brain health. I will also say, across the board, it’s ideal for sleep to occur without the help of any sleep aid.

You must always take your personal needs into account with any of these recommendations. Great questions to ask yourself to assess your personal sleep needs are:

-Are you productive, healthy, and happy on seven hours of sleep? Or have you noticed that you require more hours of sleep to get into high gear?

-Do you have coexisting health issues? Are you at higher risk for any disease?

-Do you have a high level of daily energy expenditure? Do you frequently play sports or work in a labor-intensive job?

-Do your daily activities require alertness to do them safely? Do you drive every day and/or operate
heavy machinery? Do you ever feel sleepy when doing these activities?

-Are you experiencing or do you have a history of sleeping problems?

-Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day?

-When you have an open schedule, do you sleep more than you do on a typical workday?

[SOURCE: Sleep Foundation; Mayo Clinic]