Vitalistics Score – What is it?

Not satisfied with your sleep? If you aren’t satisfied with your sleep, you have come to the right place. There are a few basic things everyone needs to consider when it comes to their sleep. First, off they should know the recommended amount of sleep for their age. Then they should strive to match that recommendation and begin to search for the amount of sleep that is perfect for them. Finally, if you continually can’t achieve your recommended amount of sleep or find your sleep sweet spot, then you may need to adjust your sleeping routine to establish better sleep hygiene.

How Much Sleep Do I Need?

The recommended amount of sleep for adults is generally the same, but three distinct classifications have been made, and they all have slight variations from each other due to different factors in growth and development as you age. Here are our recommendations for young adults, adults, and older adults:

Younger adults (18-25 years old)

We recommend young adults get around 7-9 hours of sleep a night. At his age, the brain is still developing, and some may function the best sleeping closer to nine hours a night than seven, but you should be able to get by without needing a nap during the day. If you find that you need a daily nap, then you may want to experiment with either shorter or longer nights of sleep until you find your sweet spot.

Adults (26-64 years old)

We recommend that adults fall in the same range of sleep as young adults getting around 7-9 hours of sleep a night. It is good to note that most people do function better on less and less sleep as they age so you may find that you function better on sleep closer to seven hours a night than nine as you age.

Older adults (65+ years old)

We recommend that older adults get slightly less sleep, around 7-8 hours a night.

Sleep Sweet Spot

Recommended hours of sleep are just that, a recommendation. Everyone has a specific amount of sleep that is perfect for them. We call this your sleep sweet spot. As you are trying to match the suggested amount of sleep most people need in your age group, you also can try and find the amount of sleep that is optimal and most beneficial for you.

Finding your sleep sweet spot might be challenging at first, but you’ll know when you hit the right number of hours. If you’re getting too little sleep you will know because you’ll find that you just can’t focus the next day, are feeling fatigued, constantly fighting off drowsiness and may even need a nap to get through the day, have difficulty remembering little things here and there, and your quality of work will become sloppy and disjointed.  If you are getting too much sleep, then you may be tired, feeling sluggish throughout the day, sapped of your usual energy, and find yourself just going through the motions throughout your workday.

But once you find your sweet spot, you will feel energized all day, be extremely focused, and be your most productive. To help find your sweet spot we recommend you keep a sleep journal, logging the time you went to sleep and the time you woke up and some general notes about your day: how you felt, how productive you were, and how satisfied you were with the day. Once you determine your sleep sweet spot, establish a time to go to sleep and wake up that fits your schedule and allows you to stay in your sleep zone. Then stay consistent. Continue to go to sleep and wake up at these same times every day, even on weekends. You’ll love the way you feel and never want to over or under sleep again. But don’t worry, if you do, your body will promptly remind you why you need to get back to your sleep sweet spot and get the needed amount of sleep every night that you specifically need to be at your best the next day.

Your Sleep Checklist

If you are continually having difficulty hitting your sweet spot or coming close to the recommended amount of sleep at night these proven tips should do the trick!

Sleep When You’re Tired

This may sound simple and unnecessary, but don’t go to bed until you are truly tired. Tired enough to quickly fall asleep. If you are concerned about getting to sleep at the same time every night, but still aren’t tried, read another chapter of your book or write down your to do or grocery list for tomorrow. It is better to stay up a little longer until you feel tired enough to fall asleep than to go to bed and lie there unable to fall asleep in bed. If you go to bed when you aren’t’ tired, then you are likely to lay there longer unable to sleep, while your mind races.

Comfortable Bed and Pillow

Make sure your bed and pillows are comfortable. You want to fall into comfort and serenity to help you drift into sleep. Not fall on a hard, lumpy, uncomfortable mattress that keeps you awake from the pain it inflicts on your body.

Cool Dark Room

Is your room prepped for sleep like you are? Make sure your room is nice and cool. Turn on a fan and close the door a half hour before you are ready to go in and fall asleep. Also make sure you don’t have too much light leaking into your room, keeping you awake.

Quiet, Fan, or White Noise Machine?

Don’t underestimate noise. Noises can keep you up all night, from street traffic to the neighbor’s dog that won’t stop barking. Lack of noise can have the same effect, causing you to focus on the eerie silence instead of falling asleep. We suggest a fan or white noise machine. A fan both cools and gives a little undisruptive sound to help fall asleep and you can download a variety of white noise apps on your phone.

One Hour Blue Light Free

Try to shut down electronic use an hour before you go to sleep. If you can’t handle an hour, then start with fifteen minutes and work your way up. Turn off the TV, put away your phone, and pick up a book. Finish that quick chore around the house you’ve been putting off all day, or write down your plan for tomorrow. This is more constructive for your sleep than you may realize, helping put your mind at rest instead of racing thinking about what you didn’t get done today and have to do tomorrow.

Turn Off or Silence Your Phone

It seems everyone has a smartphone today and they can be a huge distraction and disturbance while you sleep. Turn them off to make sure you aren’t awakened during the night or tempted to stay up scrolling through social media, sending one last email, or prolonging a text conversation when you should be sleeping.

Final Thoughts

Talk with a Board Certified Sleep Physician about your results to get additional insights into your sleeping problems and treatment options so you can get back to sleep and start enjoying life again!