Am I getting enough sleep?

How much sleep do we really need? This is one of the questions I get asked the most once people know I specialise in sleep.

This chart from the National Sleep Foundation, gives the perfect answer to the question. The guidelines were updated a few years ago, with the addition of a new range – “may be appropriate” – to acknowledge the individual variability when it comes to the exact amount of sleep that’s optimal for each one of us.

While most adults fall within the 7-9 hour range, the truth is, there is no magic number of hours of sleep that guarantees you will wake up feeling well-rested and refreshed. Quality is one important aspect that must be taken into consideration, and there are indeed some people who need a little more or a little less for their optimal daytime functioning.

It is still great to aim for the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep a night. However in my practice, I find that when one gets too fixated on “I must get x amount of sleep per night”, it can often worsen sleep rather than help in the longer run.

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Hi I’m Lydia, certified sleep therapist and trained specialist in CBT for insomnia. Follow me on IG @thesleepcode.hk or visit the-sleep-code.com for more sleep resources.

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