Sleep: it’s not about how much, but when
If you are someone who did not sleep as well last night for whatever reason, you may be feeling a bit tired reading this. This is understandable. You may be thinking that just getting the so-called “eight hours” of sleep over the next few nights can rectify the balance.
This is true up to a point. You will learn more about why I say “up to a point” in a moment.
However, it can also be someone who made Get your eight hours out last night, and the night before, and the night before, but for some reason you feel like you’re not going full blast. This is understandable too, and you’re about to find out why.
Not all dreams are the same
We can think that all dreams are the same. But is not. The quality of our sleep varies from one part of the night to another. Our bodies have a natural rhythm, and that rhythm is thousands of years old. It is called a circadian rhythm.
It is the rhythm of nature, and one that animals instinctively live by. We are essentially animal human beings, and we are designed to live according to this natural rhythmic cycle.
That cycle can be seen in the passing of the day and in the passing of the seasons. We have the dawn of the day (Spring) where we wake up. Then we move on to the main part of our day (summer) when we are most adapted to work. This is followed by relaxation towards the end of the day (fall) and finally sleeping at night (winter).
Therefore, we are naturally designed to wake up at sunrise and sleep when the sun goes down. When we adjust our lifestyle to accommodate this natural rhythm, we have a better quality of sleep.
Our natural sleep cycles
Similar to this natural rhythmic cycle, our sleep pattern also has a natural cycle. When we sleep, we oscillate between deep and regenerative sleep (where the body repairs itself) to the slightly lighter state of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep in which we dream.
These sleep cycles last about 90 minutes each. So if you find that you are sleeping eight hours and still feel tired when you wake up, you are probably setting your alarm clock to wake you up in the middle of a sleep cycle rather than at the end.
For example, if you went to bed at 11 p.m. and woke up at 8 a.m., you would have slept nine hours and gone through six full sleep cycles. These would be:
Cycle 1.11.00 pm-12.30 am
Cycle 2.12.30 am-2.00 am
Cycle 3. 2.00 am-3.30 am
Cycle 4.30 am-5.00 am
Cycle 5. 5.00 am-6.30 am
Cycle 6.30 am-8.00 am
After sleeping from 11 pm to 8 am, you will probably feel quite refreshed when you wake up.
However, if you set your alarm to wake you up at 7 a.m., you would have slept for eight hours, but would have woken up during a 90-minute sleep cycle (between 6.30 and 8 a.m.). So you may not feel as refreshed upon waking up as you would if you had woken up at 8:00 a.m.
Repair and rejuvenation
In addition to these shorter cycles, of 90 minutes, in accordance with our circadian rhythm, the body regenerates and rejuvenates itself more significantly between 10 pm and 2 am
So you may go to bed at 1 a.m. and sleep until 9 a.m. to have your eight hours, but you’re wasting a vital three hours of body repair time each night. And if you work shift patterns, especially the night shift, you may be throwing out your circadian rhythm entirely, denying yourself the ability to properly repair your body during sleep.
Top 3 tips for sleeping
So, to have a better chance of improving your performance, productivity, and results later in life, consider the following three tips:
1. Adapt your lifestyle to your natural circadian rhythm and go to bed at 10 pm
2. Make sure you get eight or more hours of sleep a night.
3. Try not to wake up to an alarm clock. If necessary, set it so that you wake up at the end of a 90-minute sleep cycle rather than in the middle.