With tools like Smartwatches and FitBits, it is easier than ever for people to track not only their exercise or eating habits, but we can also track our sleeping duration and quality.
In a recent study reported in the JAMA Network Open Journal, over 9,000 Americans older than 20 were part of the first evaluation of sleep duration between days off from work and days at work. About 27% felt sleepy during the day while nearly 30% had trouble falling or staying asleep.
Interestingly, the JAMA Network study, which took place between 2017-2020, was published prior to a 2022 study that reviewed a four-day workweek study.
A Boston College professor of sociology, Juliet Schor, led a trial research group with the nonprofit organization 4 Day Week Global in a four-day workweek study. This study found that after six months, 33 companies who participated encountered lower levels of stress, less fatigue in employees, and improvements in employees’ physical and mental health. Insomnia also dropped.
Sleep deprivation also fell drastically for those in the study who made the switch. The percentage of those who had been getting less than seven hours of sleep a night decreased from 42.6% to 14.5%. One statistic found that employees who transitioned to a four-day week clocked 7 hours and 58 minutes of sleep per night, an hour more than they slept while working five days a week.
Possibly by moving to a four-day workweek, sleep duration could shorten with a more balanced work week creating a less active mind which can cause an inactive sleep pattern. According to the Sleep Foundation, “Sleep is an active period in which a lot of important processing, restoration, and strengthening occurs.” Therefore, quality is an essential component to creating healthy sleep habits.
Sleep Quality & Sleep Debt
With insomnia affecting 50-70 million Americans, even more, are undiagnosed and stemming from anxiety-ridden emotional stress. The quality of sleep is in jeopardy even if you are technically receiving a 7-hour sleep cycle.
What is the difference between the hours and quality of sleep? Quality is defined as the excellence of something or a distinctive attribute. According to the Sleep Foundation, “quality sleep helps boost energy levels and immune function, and supports cognitive processes like memory consolidation.” Without a complete, quality-filled seven or eight hours, the sleep is, unfortunately, all for nothing.
Sleep Health, the Journal of the National Sleep Foundation, indicates the following as quality restful nights:
- Sleeping more time while in bed (at least 85 percent of the total time);
- Falling asleep in 30 minutes or less;
- Waking up no more than once per night; and
- Being awake for 20 minutes or less after initially falling asleep.
When your body needs more sleep than you are actually getting, 30% of adults admitted a “sleep debt” of one hour less while 10% reported two hours or more. For example, if you have only clocked six hours of sleep though your body needs eight hours, you have two hours of sleep debt.
The quality matters so that you can live a longer life. With insomnia or other ailments like restless leg syndrome or sleep apnea to name a few, other health issues can take its toll without sleep.
- Sleep is not a state for the body to be inactive. It is a period of time the body repairs itself for the following day. And to repair itself requires quality sleep to keep the body healthy.
- One risk often ignored is falling asleep behind the wheel. Sleep deprivation brings those on the road at risk when someone is driving after only a few hours of sleep a night which 60 percent of Americans admitted to driving while sleepy and 37 percent falling asleep at the wheel. With that high percentage, accidents are more prominent.
- Increased blood pressure due to the higher production of cortisol, the body’s stress hormone, occurs with sleep deprivation. Your immune system also suffers and cannot perform efficiently when sleep is loss.
If your struggle is creating a routine, think about how you can plan the shift from collecting sleep debt to creating sleep quality. One quick way is to wake up at the same time everyday regardless of weekday, weekend, or vacation. A few morning tips for a healthy morning start include:
- Meditation, prayer or worship can kickstart your mind into a calm start.
- Making your bed may provide you the physical and visual peace for your bedroom.
- List what you are thankful for in a gratitude journal.
- Look over a list you make at bedtime so you know what needs to be accomplished
for the day.
With small steps, you can achieve successful patterns for consistent sleep quality.
If you are in a pattern of sleepless nights that are negatively affecting your health, your family, or your career, connect with the Alaska Sleep Clinic for a free consultation Our sleep medicine specialists offer the help needed to get back on track with a quality, healthy night’s sleep.
