How Much Sleep Is Enough?

Sleep keeps both the body and the mind in working order, which is why it matters for everyone. For most adults, the target is 7 to 8 hours of regularly scheduled sleep a night. When your days feel too full to make room for that, the honest fix is to rework your routine until the hours are there.

Total hours are only part of the picture. Going to bed at roughly the same time each night helps, and the sleep itself has to be good quality, or you'll wake up feeling like you never really rested. If you keep struggling to fall asleep, or you wake up tired no matter what, that's a reason to bring it up with a doctor.

Children and teenagers need considerably more than adults. Teens should aim for at least 9 hours a night. School-aged kids need around 10 or more. Preschoolers do best with roughly 11 to 12 hours, and newborns sleep somewhere between 16 and 18 hours a day.

The payoff for getting enough is broad. People who sleep well tend to get sick less often and find it easier to hold a healthy weight. Adequate sleep lowers your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure. It steadies your mood, takes the edge off stress, and sharpens your thinking so you perform better at school or on the job. You get along with people more easily, too. And there's a safety angle: drowsy drivers cause a lot of crashes, so rest also helps you avoid injuries and make sounder decisions.

Timing matters as much as duration. Your body runs on an internal clock tied to the daylight cycle, which nudges you toward sleepiness after dark and alertness in the morning. That's why people who work nights and sleep during the day often have a rough time of it, and why crossing into a new time zone can throw your sleep off for a while.

Plenty of things can interfere with how well you sleep. Stress is a common one. So is physical pain, an existing health condition, or the side effects of a medication. Too much caffeine from coffee, tea, or soda will do it, and so will heavy drinking or the use of illegal or unneeded drugs. An untreated sleep disorder, insomnia or apnea for instance, can be the hidden cause.

Often a few adjustments to your routine are all it takes. Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Skip caffeine in the afternoon. A warm bath before bed can help you wind down.

Some signs point to an actual sleep disorder rather than a rough patch. Watch for trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, daytime sleepiness that gets in the way of your tasks, and loud, frequent snoring. Gasping or pauses in your breathing during sleep are worth noting, as are itchy or painful sensations in your arms or legs at night that ease when you move or massage them. If any of these describe you, mention it to a nurse or doctor.

There's a lot you can change on your own. Move your exercise to earlier in the day instead of right before bed. Cut off caffeine later on. If nighttime sleep is hard to come by, keep daytime naps to 20 minutes or less. Go easy on alcohol, since it disrupts rest: no more than one drink a day for women and two for men. Avoid a big meal close to bedtime. Nicotine makes falling asleep harder, which is one more reason to quit smoking.

Your surroundings count as well. Keep the bedroom dark. Try to log about the same amount of sleep every night. Don't watch TV, take phone calls, or eat in bed, and do your best to leave worries at the bedroom door. If you've been lying there awake for more than 20 minutes, get up and do something calming until you feel sleepy again.

Sleep touches almost everything else in your life, from how you handle daily tasks and work to your long-term health. Shortchange it and you're more likely to get sick and to face higher odds of diabetes and heart trouble. Reworking your routine to get more sleep, and better sleep, is worth the effort. If your sleep still worries you, see your doctor. - Erin