Sometimes I sleep for 7 hrs, sometimes 4 or 5. Any ideas what’s a good number to shoot for?
According to the Mayo Clinic, 7-9 hours per night is the average range of sleep required for most adults.
The middle of the 7-9 range is clearly 8. Sleeping 8 hours per night works out to be 56 hours per week, 265 hours per month and 2,912 hours sleep per year. A lot!
I’m not that keen on sleeping more than I need. I’ve got stuff I want to do!
By cutting back from 8 hours to 6 hours per night, the total hours slept per year becomes 2,184. A ‘saving’ of 728 hours. That’s 4.33 weeks saved per year. Now we’re talking!
Like most things, we can train our bodies to do quite amazing things. If I happen to live until I’m 101 (not out of the question), I have another 70 years ahead of me. By sleeping 6 hours per night from now on, I can be awake for 5.8 more years than if I slept for 8 hours every night!
Margaret Thatcher famously slept for only 5 hours per night during her reign as British PM. Five hours per night sounds great, but I think it might be too much to shoot for just yet. I’ll start with six and keep five up my sleeve just in case I become PM ;)
Six hours it is!