It’s no secret that sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Extensive research over the past decade has shown time and time again that a good night’s rest is essential for everything from cognitive function to heart health to mood and more. Not getting enough sleep, or not getting enough sleep, is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure, not to mention the effects on cognitive function.
But for many of us, getting quality sleep is easier said than done. And much of the advice out there is probably familiar to you by now, even if it’s a little too general. Things like getting 8 hours of sleep and avoiding bright lights and stressful things before bed.
In reality, life is trickier. First, we don’t all need the same amount of sleep. Our age, gender, personal habits, and tolerance all influence how much sleep an individual needs. Also, since we all have different lifestyles, including work and travel, we may need to adjust our sleep schedules on a regular basis. Getting quality sleep means more than just logging the time you spend in bed. But we can’t really judge the quality of our sleep. This is a result of what happens unconsciously when you are doing the task you are trying to evaluate.
All of this means that following the prescriptive message that you should get more sleep can be frustrating. The good news, which we explore in this special issue dedicated to this topic, is that new research is revealing the benefits of a more holistic approach. Some of the most important things you can do to improve your sleep don’t happen in bed. No matter how comfortable that bed was.
Sleep is influenced by what happens during the rest of the day, including what and when you eat, your gut microbiome and hormone production. Your personal chronotype (not only when you like to sleep, but also when you’re most active during the day) also influences the quality and quantity of your sleep.
What you need is a 24-hour perspective on sleep. This doesn’t change how important our unconscious time is, but it does give us new opportunities to improve before we lay down our heads.
Explore the key questions about sleep in our latest special series.
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