How Much Sleep Is Recommended?

Sleep requirements will vary from person to person. Some require 3 to 4 hours while others can never be productive without 8 or more. Deep sleep will usually occur in the first 3 to 4 hours although it may vary from person to person.

There is no hard answer to this. You must find your own balance. I normally feel antsy throughout the day when I’ve slept more than 8 or 9 hours and feel at my best when I’ve had between 4 to 6.

Personally, I believe good sleep to be a function of quality rather than quantity. Sufficient time in the deep sleep stages should be fine while overdoing the REM stage is generally a bad idea.

It’s been shown that deep sleep deprivation causes experiences of drowsiness, nausea, headaches, muscle aches, and trouble concentrating. Deep sleep also helps fight diseases as the body’s immune system turns on fully during this stage.

For children ages 3 to 5, 11-13 hours of sleep a night is recommended for optimal development while for children ages 8 to 12, 8 to 10 hours is advised. For adolescents and adults, the amount of sleep is mostly a function of the person's preferences and many have reported good health with as little as 2 to 3 hours, such as the polyphasic sleepers.

While common advise tells of 8 hours as a recommended number for everyone, I've met many people who would have considerably more or less sleep with no consequences whatsoever.