Suppose you go to bed at 10:30 and get up at seven. Eight and a half hours time in bed. Exactly what you need according to all the advice. But once on your feet, it feels like that night didn’t really matter. Waking up tired, weary, faint, and that first cup of coffee can’t come soon enough.
How can that be, when you’ve slept just long enough anyway? And, perhaps more interestingly, what does this say about how we actually view sleep?
Spending hours in bed is not the same as sleeping well
From one of the largest sleep studies ever, a meta-study published in the scientific journal Nature Human Behaviour, revealed something surprising. Gross of the people studied achieved the recommended sleep duration of 7 to 9 hours per night. And yet a significant proportion of those same people have problems falling asleep, wake up frequently, or feel unrested in the morning. Sleep researcher Henning Tiemeier of Erasmus MC put it this way, “Sleeping long enough is certainly not the same as having a good night’s sleep.”
The distinction sounds logical as soon as you hear it. But in practice, we almost automatically direct ourselves on the number of hours. Attention to quality, to what actually happens during that sleep, is rarely there.
What really matters during your sleep
Sleep is not a continuous state of unconsciousness. It is an active, cyclical process in which the body and brain continuously switch between different phases. Light sleep, deep sleep and the so-called REM sleep alternate throughout the night. It is precisely in these deep and REM sleep phases that the powerful recovery takes place that you notice the next day: muscles recover, memories are processed, stress hormones subside.
Those who sleep long enough yet spend too little time in those phases are missing exactly what matters. And that can have numerous causes. Stress, physical discomfort, a bedroom that is too warm or too noisy, or a mattress and pillow that don’t match the sleeping position properly. All these factors affect the sleep cycle and sleep quality, without you consciously noticing it during the night itself.
That is precisely why sleep experts from Erasmus MC and the Netherlands Brain Institute are pleading for a different approach. No longer purely monitoring the clock, but understanding what those hours mean. Anyone who wants to wake up rested starts with an honest look at the circumstances. What is really going on varies from person to person. But understanding that difference is step one.
Waking up tired: sleep quality over sleep quantity?
According to Merijn van de Laar, the quality of your sleep is very important. Focusing on the number of hours is not the right measure. As if everyone has shoe size 42 as it were. Of course there are limits, he also mentions that.
I agree with him. Conversations about sleep are often about the number of hours. People have little or no awareness of how they sleep. The different sleep stages are mixed up and the impact underestimated. Very often you also hear how careless people are about sleep. People underestimate naps or falling asleep in front of TV and like to wave away the effects of eating late, alcohol and caffeine as if it means nothing. All seemingly insignificant elements that can add up and thoroughly disrupt your sleep.
Because the focus is on the number of hours, sometimes unrealistic expectations about sleep arise and they seem to sleep poorly. And if you think you sleep poorly, you often experience it that way. That is why it is so important to stay well informed.
The conditions in which you sleep are very important I think. True sleep scientists are aware but also do not always know what is on offer in the market and, rightly so, tread carefully with (commercial) advice on a new bed, duvet or pillow.
The sleeping environment is underestimated by a lot of people. Window open or closed, it does not have to be a discussion if you know what is happening. Buying a pillow without considering your sleep system. It probably happens thousands of times every day. However, for me it is basic knowledge: a pillow is the final piece. You don’t just buy it online or at the store, at least not without taking your sleeping system into account. No wonder that so many people have more than one pillow lying around that they don’t use (anymore). And so we could go on and on.
What can you do to wake up less tired?
Get to know yourself. Do you know your chronotype? Do you know approximately how much sleep you need? Do you know what makes you sleep restlessly or what keeps you awake? No. Then take some time to get to know yourself. And most of all, then allow yourself the approach that suits you. Then let nature do the work. Make time for your sleep and be a little more mindful of it, even during the day.
Small adjustments: winding down a little longer in the evening, handling light appropriately, going to sleep sufficiently tired, regularity…. It really does work! And if you need help … seek it. There are really many sleep coaches in your area who can sincerely advise and assist you.
