We’ve all heard it before: “Get eight hours of sleep.” But here’s the truth—the amount of sleep you need isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula. In my years working as a sleep expert, I’ve found that the real answer depends on several key factors: your chronotype, stress levels, and age.
Let’s break down exactly how each of these influences your ideal sleep duration—and how to find your personal sweet spot.
1. Chronotype: Your Internal Sleep Style
One of the most important—and often overlooked—factors is your chronotype, a categorisation system for your circadian rhythm. Sounds fancy and complex, but it’s really not - and you’re probably much more familiar than you realise. You’ve been asked before: ‘are you a night owl, or a morning lark?” - that’s the same concept, however, there is a third category.
First, morning larks are Lions, who like to rise and sleep early. They need 7 hours of sleep
Second, night owls are Wolves, who like to sleep and rise late. They need 8 hours, but often don’t get it, because they don’t feel tired until 12 or 1am.
Third, the final category is Bears, who don’t necessarily sleep early nor late, but need LOTS of sleep - 9 hours is the sweet spot for you.
2. Stress: The Silent Sleep Thief
In addition to your chronotype, stress is another huge factor in how much sleep you need.
When stress levels rise, your body releases more cortisol, a hormone that keeps you alert and awake. In particular, this leads to 3am wakings, as your cortisol levels naturally rise around this time to prepare your body to be awake the next day.
The thing is… when stressed, to accommodate the extra demands on our mind and body, we actually need MORE sleep. Our body churns through nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and energy… so when stressed, this is the time to amp up our bedtime routine and get extra protective about what we are doing to promote sleep - because if there’s anytime we need it, it’s then.
3. Age: Your Needs Change Over Time
The third factor to influence your sleep needs is age - The National Sleep Foundation provides a basic but helpful framework, one I support:
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18–64 years: 7–9 hours
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65+ years: 7–8 hours
As we get older, our sleep needs decrease slightly, though sleep is often fragmented, light and unrestorative, so these needs are often not met.
So… How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
It comes down to personalisation. Start by asking yourself:
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What’s my chronotype?
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How stressed am I?
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How old am I?
Tracking your sleep is helpful here too - it gives you an objective measure of how much sleep you are actually getting, granting insight into if you are hitting your goals, or if you need to focus more energy and attention on getting those extra zzz’s.
