How do I get a good night of sleep?

 Sleep is so important to our wellbeing, both physical and mental, and yet is often the first thing we sacrifice when we are pressed for time! It also remains an incredible unknown. I often hear complaints from fellow students that they still don’t feel rested even if they are following conventional sleep advice of sleeping for 8 hours.

 The benefits of good sleep are countless! It helps us form neural connections, consolidate new information, regulate emotions throughout the day, decreases stress and anxiety, and helps us think more creatively.

 Sleep is a topic that really fascinates me, I recently read the book “Why We Sleep” by Dr Matthew Walker, a leading scientist on the impact of sleep on human wellbeing. In this book, Walker recommends an easy acronym for good sleep: QQRT.

 Q – Quantity

7-9 hours is what most of us need. Ensuring that we are giving ourselves this much time in bed (“sleep opportunity”) is essential to getting a good night rest. Knowing how much you need may require some experimentation, seeing how you feel the next day after 7 hours sleep compared to 8 hours, for example. I have found that I need around 8 and a half hours each night to function well the next day.

 Q – Quality

The “continuity” of your sleep, how long you are staying asleep for. Generally, 85% or above efficiency is what we should be aiming for. This means that for 85% of the time you are in bed, you are asleep.

 R – Regularity

At what time you go to bed and what time you wake up. Keeping this the same everyday (including on the weekends!) is the key to good sleep, plus or minus about half an hour.

 T – Timing

This has to do with where you are a morning or evening person. I personally am a morning type, I like to go to bed around 9:30-10pm and wake up around 6-6:30am. This will differ massively, some people may not feel like sleeping until 1 or 2am and wake up later in the day.

 Following this acronym is a great first step in improving your sleep. In a future article, I will be talking more about tips for falling asleep (and staying asleep!).

 If you are interested in learning more, the University of Sheffield actually have done some research on it. I have linked below an article that discusses some of the benefits of sleep for mental health.

 By Todd Langstaff

Wellbeing Ambassador for the School of Law

 Sleep and mental health