How long you need to sleep a day if you want to live long

The quality of your sleep directly affects your mental and physical health and the quality of your waking life, including your productivity, emotional balance, brain and heart health, immune system, creativity, vitality, and even your weight. No other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort!.

How many hours of sleep do you need?

There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount you need to function optimally. According to the National Institutes of Health, the average adult sleeps less than seven hours per night. In today’s fast-paced society, six or seven hours of sleep may sound pretty good. In reality, though, it’s a recipe for chronic sleep deprivation.

Just because you’re able to operate on six or seven hours of sleep doesn’t mean you wouldn’t feel a lot better and get more done if you spent an extra hour or two in bed.

While sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person, most healthy adults need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to function at their best. Children and teens need even more. And despite the notion that our sleep needs decrease with age, most older people still need at least 7 hours of sleep. Since older adults often have trouble sleeping this long at night, daytime naps can help fill in the gap.

Average Sleep Needs by Age, Hours

3 months old: 14 – 17 hrs

appropriate 11 – 19 hrs

4 to 11 months old: 12 – 15 hrs

appropriate 10 – 18 hrs

1 to 2 years old: 11 – 14 hrs

appropriate 9 – 16 hrs

3 to 5 years old: 10 – 13 hrs

appropriate 8 – 14 hrs

6 to 13 years old: 9 – 11 hrs

appropriate 7 – 12 hrs

14 to 17 years old: 8 – 10 hrs

appropriate 7 – 11 hrs

Young adults (18 to 25 years old): 7 – 9 hrs

appropriate 6 – 11 hrs

Adults (26 to 64 years old): 7 – 9 hrs

appropriate 6 – 10 hrs

Older adults (65+): 7 – 8 hrs

appropriate 5 – 9 hrs

The best way to figure out if you’re meeting your sleep needs is to evaluate how you feel as you go about your day. If you’re logging enough sleep hours, you’ll feel energetic and alert all day long, from the moment you wake up until your regular bedtime.