Curfew is being relaxed, and life is just returning to normal (Almost) following the Panic of Covid-19. Most people you ask today, (at least the ones we asked) seem to have one thing they’ll all be struggling with, once life returns to normal. SLEEP. Which for many of us, have been flipped over from what it used to be. Either due to increased procrastination at home leading to starting work late, or all your schoolwork being moved to an assignment base, all these stresses might be messing with our sleep, so it’s worth a look into.
It’s possible that the situation now is that a lot of us don’t really stick to a set time as such to sleep but rather sleep and work whenever we need to and can. Sometimes starting our assignments at around 1, and then we’re done when the birds are chirping. Even if that’s not you, stick around, you might find out something new about sleep.
The topic is actually pretty widely discussed (surprise surprise) and some very comprehensive studies have been done on it. Such as the study done by the University of Pennsylvania and Washington State University on sleep. The results of which we’re giving in a simpler form below
How much sleep do we actually need?
The straight answer is 7 to 9 hours. But you’re thinking “ No but I don’t need that much” because of that time you only slept for 4 hours but functioned normally the next day. So we have to understand sleep debt first, and how it works (and later, how we can pay our debts)
Sleep debt is a cumulative issue.
In the words of the researchers, sleep debt “has a neurobiological cost which accumulates over time.”
The researchers split their sample up into 4 groups, having different amounts of sleep. 8 hours per night, 6 hours per night, 4 hours per night and the final group just didn’t sleep for 3 days. This is what they found out about sleep debt:
After one week, 25% of the group tested, who were sleeping six-hours a day were falling asleep at random times throughout the day. After two weeks, they had performance deficits that were the same as if they had stayed up for two days straight. (The 4-hour group did worse, but not by a lot!) In other words, if you get 6 hours of sleep per night for two weeks straight, your mental and physical performance declines to the same level as if you had stayed awake for 48 hours straight. So chances are whenever you’ve slept for less and soldiered on to work, your body compensated with less performance.
Also, you are a terrible judge of when you need more sleep
A lot of us have those times we’ve broken sleep for around 3 days (getting 4 -6 hours of sleep) and we think nothing’s wrong so far, we don’t need so much sleep. Well according to the study, the participants felt the same. When participants of the ‘6 hours a night’ group graded themselves, they believed that their performance declined for a few days and then tapered off. (Sound Familiar?) In reality, they were continuing to get worse with each day. (and terrible after two weeks) In other words, we are poor judges of our own decreases in performance, even as we are going through them.
So according to the study, you will be incurring a sleep debt if you sleep any less than 7 hours a night.
Okay, But Can You Catch Up on Sleep?
Sort of. Extra sleep can remedy SOME of the negative effects of several bad nights of sleep. New research found that catching up on sleep on the weekends brought daytime sleepiness and inflammation levels back to baseline; however, cognitive performance did NOT rebound.
What exactly does that mean? If you’re not getting enough sleep during the week, you can’t depend on catch-up sleep on the weekends to restore your focus and attention. The only way to keep levels of those performance measures high is to make sure you’re getting adequate sleep every night. But you still might feel better after sleeping extra, so if you’re already sleep-deprived, you should definitely try to get some extra sleep. But the best thing to do, both for immediate performance and for your long-term health, is to prioritize sleep every night, not just on the weekends.
What about timing? is it okay if you just get 7–9 total hours of sleep at any time of the day?
Not exactly. Firstly, getting used to a sleep cycle of productive waking hours = 1 am to 5 am and sleeping hours = 5 am to 12 pm with a couple of naps in between has its own practical problems. you can’t match with other people’s times to make calls or meetings and it’ll be incredibly difficult when we start going outside again to get used to a “normal” sleep schedule. It seemingly has its benefits since you won’t be disturbed during those times, but the same effect could be achieved another way.
The other issue is something called our circadian rhythm. this is a biological cycle of different processes that happen over a period of about 24 hours. (basically, your body clock)
2 things that affect this are:
Light. Probably the most significant pace-setter of the circadian rhythm. where light triggers the start of a new day and the hormones related to it. this usually happens with the rising of the sun and its light hitting your eyes but can also be artificially triggered by staring into a screen for even 30 minutes, resetting your internal clock regardless of what time it is.
Time. The time of day, your daily schedule, and the order in which you perform tasks can all impact your sleep-wake cycle.
So not having a consistent schedule, and the constant resets of your body’s natural rhythm are usually what gives us negative side effects like insomnia and daytime drowsiness
That being said, here are a couple of tips to help to fall asleep faster!
Develop a “power down” ritual before bed.
The light from computer screens, televisions, and phones can hinder the production of melatonin, which means your body isn’t preparing the hormones it needs to enter the sleep phase. Specifically, it is the blue wavelength of light that seems to decrease melatonin production. Developing a “power down” routine where you shut off all electronics an hour or two before sleep can be a big help. Additionally, working late at night can keep your mind racing and your stress levels high, which also prevents the body from calming down for sleep. Turn off the screens and read a book instead. It’s the perfect way to learn something useful and power down before bed. (Another option is to download an app which reduces the brightness of your screen closer to bedtime.)
Use relaxation techniques.
Researchers believe that at least 50% of insomnia cases are emotion or stress-related. Find outlets to reduce your stress and you’ll often find that better sleep comes as a result. Proven methods include daily journaling, deep breathing exercises, meditation, exercise, and keeping a gratitude journal (write down something you are thankful for each day).
Cumulative sleep debt is a barrier between you and optimal performance. So, lockdown or not, sleeping better boosts your performance, and this is remarkably underrated in our productivity-obsessed culture: Get more sleep!
