I have been reading a brilliant new book rounding up all of the research into sleep right up to this year: it has told me that we all need 8 hours sleep every night, that sleep I “lose” can only be partially recovered, that learning is adversely affected by sleep loss
(both before and after the learning), and conversely is greatly enhanced by sleep, that concentration (cf driving) is adversely affected by any sleep loss, that caffeine and alcohol both adversely affect sleep, that sleep hygiene is really useful in getting a good night’s sleep…
…all sorts of things, really!
The link below gives Matthew Walker’s conclusion, along with one or two graphs etc from the science that has been done.
I have changed my sleep habits, and tried to improve my sleep hygiene – and it has made a big difference to the way I feel, day to day.
Yes, it talks about biphasic sleep: apparently, there is a postprandial attention dip in the early afternoon, and he says humans used to sleep then (like the siesta cultures, who are often very long-lived…and sleep deprivation does also shorten life…). I think the sleep hygiene is the best stuff – I’ll put that up next…
I have been hearing a lot about this recently, and trying to get the 8hrs necessary, not always easy! Does it count if you sleep in the day for a while, I heard 20mins max was best?
Would like to borrow this book if possible.