Health | Sleep | Science

To Sleep Better You Don’t Need 8 Hours, You Need Cycles

How to wake up easily in the morning and get enough sleep

Getting up in the morning is not an easy task for most people.

Why?

Because most people count their sleep time in hours, not in cycles.

We all know that a person needs 8 hours of sleep every day. If you want to sleep better, rest for a couple more hours. This is common knowledge.

Sometimes after 8 or even 10 hours of sleep, I did not feel rested. I was still tired. Like many other people around the world…

How does sleep work?

Sleep is a complex topic. I read hundreds of articles in addition to research papers and books to understand its nature.

It’s is impossible to write one comprehensive article about sleep. It’s a too complex topic to cover in one article. That’s why I summed up the main points from my research into a set of short articles. Like the following:

The most important things you need to know about sleep.

In this one, I want to talk about sleeping time and cycles.

Phases of sleep

There are 2 phases of sleep:

• Deep sleep
• REM sleep (stand for Rapid Eyes Movement)

These two phases together create one cycle of sleep that lasts for 1.5 hours.

Deep sleep phase

In the phase of deep sleep brain repairs itself and the body. This phase is important for recovering mental functions and maintaining homeostasis. If you awaken a person in this phase, he will be inhibited.

REM sleep phase

There is a phase of REM sleep: in it, the brain experiences different impressions, sees dreams, structures, and remembers information. If you awaken a person in this phase, he will remember his dream.

REM phase + Deep phase = Sleep cycle

Together, these two phases last about 1.5 hours. Therefore, healthy sleep is a multiple of one and a half hours: 6, 7.5, or 9 hours. Plus or minus half an hour. In other words — 4, 5, or 6 full cycles of sleep.

Healthy sleep

Some important processes inside our bodies can happen only while we sleep. For example, the body cleans up itself, restores blood pressure, checks and repairs internal organs. Without this support time, the body can die.

In other words, these processes are called — maintaining homeostasis.

Most of these processes happen during the deep sleep phase. The brain changes its modus operandi from “awake and active” to “maintain homeostasis”. This change is not an easy task.

When you get up in the morning brain has to change the mode to “awake and active”. Even if it was the middle of the deep sleep phase. That’s the reason why most people have problems with getting up in the morning.

The best time to wake up in the morning is between sleep cycles. REM phase is good too. It’s close to the state of awakening, so the brain doesn’t suffer from changing modes.

How much sleep do you need to get enough sleep?

The norm is individual.

For an adult, the norm of sleep is within 6–7–8 hours. One needs 6 hours, and the other needs 8 to feel good. Napoleon slept only 4 hours per day and had enough energy to conquer Europe.

There is more sense to calculate your sleep not in hours but in cycles (1.5 hours). This way norm turns into 4, 5, or 6 cycles. Therefore, healthy sleep is a multiple of one and a half hours: 6, 7.5, or 9 hours.

The key to healthy sleep is to have a round number of cycles. When you go to bed, set your morning alarm for 6, 7.5, or 9 hours from that moment. Adjust 10–15 minutes for falling asleep.

This way, you will get a round number of sleep cycles. You won’t break the deep phase. Your wake-up time would be between cycles or at least during the REM phase. The body will be ready to awake on the alarm.

Final Thoughts

You can dramatically improve the quality of your sleep following the simple tips above. Rest is one of the most crucial things in life. Quality of sleep affects your health, stress level, and life duration.

Also, you may be interested in my other articles related to health and sleep. For example, One thing you can do now to sleep better or How did I improve my sleep during the senior year of university.

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