Eight hours. No interruptions. Waking up feeling refreshed. We’ve all heard what a good night’s sleep is supposed to look like. But what if everything we thought we knew about sleep wasn’t quite right?
We often put enormous pressure on ourselves to get the perfect night’s sleep. We watch the clock, count the hours and worry when we wake during the night. But the reality is that good sleep doesn’t have to mean eight uninterrupted hours, and striving for perfection can sometimes make sleep feel even more difficult.
That’s the topic of a new episode of Getting on Your Nerves?, where Dr Anna Persaud is joined by Lisa Artis, Deputy CEO of The Sleep Charity, to explore some of our biggest sleep misconceptions and why it’s time to take a different approach.
Is eight hours really the magic number?
We’re often told that we need eight hours of sleep every night, but sleep isn’t quite that straightforward. While adults are generally recommended to aim for around seven to nine hours, individual sleep needs vary.
Quality matters too. How you feel during the day, your energy levels and your ability to concentrate can all help you understand whether you’re getting the sleep you need.
Waking during the night is also much more common than many people realise. Sleep naturally moves through different stages and cycles, and brief periods of waking can be a normal part of this process.
The important thing is not to panic if you find yourself awake. Constantly checking the time or worrying about how much sleep you’re losing can create additional pressure, making it harder to relax and drift off again.
When trying too hard to sleep becomes the problem
One of the biggest challenges with sleep is that the harder we try to force it, the more elusive it can become.
If you’ve ever found yourself lying awake thinking about how tired you’ll be tomorrow, you’ll know how quickly frustration can build. This anxiety can create a cycle where worrying about sleep makes it even harder to fall asleep.
Rather than chasing a perfect night’s sleep, it’s helpful to focus on creating the right conditions for rest and developing habits that support your body’s natural sleep rhythms.
This might include:
- Establishing a regular routine: Going to bed and getting up at broadly consistent times can help regulate your body clock.
- Getting natural daylight: Exposure to daylight, particularly in the morning, helps regulate your circadian rhythm and supports your natural sleep-wake cycle.
- Making time to wind down: Finding a relaxing activity before bed can help signal to your body that it’s time to slow down.
- Being mindful of everyday habits: Caffeine, alcohol, stress, exercise and your sleep environment can all influence how well you sleep.
- Letting go of unrealistic expectations: Try not to judge your sleep by a single night. Everyone has occasional disrupted sleep, and that’s normal.
Small, sustainable changes are often more helpful than trying to overhaul everything at once.
Understanding your own sleep patterns
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to sleep. Our routines, lifestyles, environments and circumstances all play a part, which is why understanding your own sleep habits can be a useful first step.
Keeping a sleep diary or journal can help you spot patterns and identify factors that might be affecting your rest. You could record when you go to bed, when you wake up, how you feel the following day and anything that might have influenced your sleep.
As part of This Works’ partnership with The Sleep Charity, we’re highlighting the Better Sleep Journal – a practical tool designed to encourage greater awareness of sleep habits and help people build positive, sustainable routines.
Rather than focusing on achieving a perfect score, the aim is to help you understand what works for you and where small changes might make a difference.
Why sleep education matters
Sleep affects almost every aspect of our health and wellbeing, yet there are still many misconceptions about what is normal and when we should seek support.
For people experiencing ongoing sleep difficulties, particularly insomnia, knowing where to turn for help can be challenging. Better sleep education can help people understand their sleep, recognise when they might need additional support and access appropriate advice.
At The Sleep Charity, we’re working to put sleep higher on the UK’s public health agenda, helping more people access the information, education and support they need to improve their sleep.
Listen to the podcast: Stop chasing perfect sleep
In this episode of Getting on Your Nerves?, Dr Anna Persaud and Lisa Artis explore why eight hours of uninterrupted sleep isn’t necessarily the gold standard, why waking during the night is more normal than we think, and how putting too much pressure on ourselves can make switching off harder.
They also discuss bedtime routines, daylight, seasonal changes, the importance of sleep education and how practical tools can help us better understand our sleep.
The takeaway? Better sleep isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s about understanding your body, finding what works for you and building habits that support your wellbeing.
🎧 Listen to Stop Chasing Perfect Sleep, available from Monday 9 November.
