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So, how much sleep should I get?
It’s recommended by the National Institute of Health, The Sleep Foundation, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. If you’re unsure of how much sleep you need to feel rested and alert, start with eight hours and see how you feel. You may need to adjust your sleep to meet what your body needs.
Going to sleep and waking up at the same time each day keeps your sleep routine consistent and therefore makes it easier to fall asleep and wake up each day. Try to avoid staying up and sleeping in more than one hour later than you would typically fall asleep or wake up.
But what about naps? Some people find napping restorative and others find napping unhelpful. If you enjoy naps, it is recommended to nap at the rate of the stages of sleep. This means that to get the most out of your nap and wake up feeling refreshed and alert, aim for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or a full 90 minutes (one sleep cycle). Napping for other lengths of time will still help you feel more awake after napping, however you may feel groggy upon waking.