You Really Need To Make The Most Of Your Time In Bed

Sleeping is a nightmare, if you'll excuse the pun. We've all had the feeling of having slept the whole night through, smashing the recommended eight hours to pieces, only to wake up feeling just as knackered as ever. It's infuriating, especially when there's a big meeting in the morning that requires you to be at your best.

Getting the requisite number of hours of sleep is one thing, but scientists think that the amount of shut eye might not be as important as the rhythm of our sleep, in terms of whether or not we feel refreshed at least.

It turns out that the rhythm of the night is not only a 90s Eurodance banger, but also a solid piece of knowledge for feeling great in the morning.

The nub of it is that our body sleeps in cycles, so if we want to feel at our best then we need to make sure that we go to sleep at the correct time and then wake up at the correct time in order to give ourselves the best chance possible.

via GIPHY

The Sleep Calculator is a website that seeks to guide you on your path to a perfect night's sleep. Imagine that you have to get up at 7.30am sharp. Simply plug it into the sleep calculator and it'll tell you that you need to be in your scratcher at 10.15pm, 11.45pm or even 1.15am. Obviously, the earlier you get to bed is better, but the crucial part is the timing of it.

Their explanation is simple. They say: "Using a formula based on the body's natural rhythms, the Sleep Calculator will work out the best time for you to rise or go to sleep.

"It takes the average human about 15 minutes to fall asleep. If you wake up at one of these times, you'll rise in between 90-minute sleep cycles. A good night's sleep consists of five-six complete sleep cycles."

via GIPHY

That's why you can wake up after an extended period in bed and still feel like a bag of bones, because you'll likely have broken one of the sleep cycles and thus been jerked from the optimal period of relaxation and back into the cold light of day.

Half of life is about setting yourself up to succeed and giving yourself the best chance in life, so make sure that you make that meeting go as well as it can by setting a sleep calculator.

Topics: Bed, Interesting, Sleep

Mike Wood

Mike Meehall Wood is a freelance journalist and translator. He writes for LADbible, VICE and countless sports publications, focusing on rugby league, football and boxing. He is a graduate of Leeds University and maintains a fizzy pop obsession. Contact Mike at [email protected]