How Much Sleep Do I Need?

The amount of sleep required for each individual varies from person to person. Teenagers and young adults require more sleep than older people. Average adults need about eight hours of sleep. Maybe you can get away with seven hours or slumber for a full nine, but again, the required sleep scale is highly subjective.

The simple thing to do is to assess how you feel during the day and adjust your sleeping habits accordingly. Are you feeling tired and sluggish during the day? Then you most certainly need more night time rest. Do you feel constantly refreshed after only six hours of sleep each night? If it works for you, stick with it. Just realize that there are no substitutions for quality sleep.

When you sleep for odd intervals at irregular times, your body will accumulate a rest debt that will eventually have to be paid off. This rest-debt can carry over for days or weeks or longer. The longer you carry this sleepy baggage, the harder it'll be to live a normal, productive life. If you do have to dislocate your sleeping pattern for any reason, make sure that you take steps to regulate your habits again. Use over-the-counter sleep aids like Good Night's Sleep to normalize your slumber. Good Night's Sleep is a spray that can provide instant relief for occasional sleeplessness. Try to sleep at the same time every night for a fixed period of hours. Take naps if you have to in order to get fully caught up with lost rest.

Why is sleeping so important?

Sleeping recharges your body, both mentally and physically. When you sleep, your body's muscles get to rejuvenate themselves. Your immune system gets to stave off diseases. Your body uses this unconscious time to make repairs and prepare for future activity. Mentally, your mind also rehabs from the day. You get to review your experiences, imprint memory and tap into your subconscious via dreams.

Sleep deprivation can lower your body's temperature and your white blood cell count, and lack of sleep can limit the release of growth hormone. Sleep deprivation causes a reduction in overall quickness and reflexes. People who don't sleep enough feel sluggish, forgetful and moody.

There is no substitute for solid sessions of sleep. Your body needs it, and so does your mind. Sleeping cannot be avoided. If you're constantly accumulating a sleep debt, you're actually shortening your life span.

So take sleep seriously. Use a sleep aid like Good Night's Sleep for temporary relief. Find the optimal time that you need to rest each night, and be regular about your slumbering habits. If you have a crazy schedule that doesn't allow you to fully recharge at night, then start taking naps to make up for lost rest. You can't go wrong with the eight hours a day, but it's best to just listen to your body. If you need to sleep for 10 hours one day, do it. If you feel like you've been in bed too long, don't sleep in. You'll just end up feeling more sluggish throughout the day if you don't revive yourself when your rest period has run its course.