How much sleep do you really need?

Sleep is not a luxury. While you rest, your body repairs itself, your brain sorts through the day, and hormones that control appetite, mood and blood sugar reset. Yet many adults regularly sleep less than they need, often without realising how much it affects them.

How much is enough?

General guidance from sleep experts suggests:

• Teenagers (13–18): 8 to 10 hours
• Adults (18–64): 7 to 9 hours
• Older adults (65+): 7 to 8 hours
• School-age children (6–12): 9 to 12 hours

These are ranges, not rules. A good sign that you are getting enough is waking up without an alarm on most days and feeling alert until the evening.

Why it matters

Regularly sleeping too little is linked with:

1. high blood pressure and heart disease
2. weight gain and type 2 diabetes
3. a weaker immune system
4. low mood, anxiety and poor concentration
5. a higher risk of accidents at work and on the road

Habits that help

Small changes add up over a few weeks:

• Keep regular hours. Go to bed and get up at about the same time every day, weekends included.
• Get daylight early. Morning light helps set your body clock.
• Mind the caffeine. Avoid coffee, tea and cola from mid-afternoon.
• Wind down. Spend the last hour before bed on something calm: reading, a warm shower, gentle stretching.
• Make the bedroom for sleeping. Cool, dark and quiet, with screens left outside if you can.
• Do not lie awake for hours. If you cannot sleep after about 20 minutes, get up, do something quiet in dim light, and return when you feel sleepy.

“We often treat sleep as the first thing to cut when life gets busy. It should be the last.” — Dr. Arjun Mehta, Consultant Neurologist

Naps, shifts and weekends

A short nap of 20 minutes in the early afternoon can boost alertness without spoiling your night. Longer or later naps make it harder to fall asleep at bedtime.

If you work shifts, try to keep the same sleep window on your working days, block out daylight with thick curtains or an eye mask, and protect at least seven hours for sleep. “Catching up” with long lie-ins at the weekend helps a little, but a steady routine helps far more.

When to see a doctor

Talk to your doctor if you:

• snore loudly and someone has noticed you stop breathing for moments at night
• feel very sleepy during the day despite a full night in bed
• struggle to fall or stay asleep most nights for more than three months
• have uncomfortable sensations in your legs that keep you awake

These can be signs of conditions such as sleep apnoea or insomnia, which are common and treatable. Our neurology and internal medicine teams can arrange sleep studies and help you find the cause.

This article is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor if poor sleep is affecting your daily life.