Hey there, fellow tired human! If you’re feeling like you’re always tired, trust me, you’re definitely not alone. Surveys have shown that, on average, adults in the US feel tired for about three days every single week. And somewhere between 30% and 48% of us regularly have trouble sleeping. It’s a huge issue.
But here’s something interesting: for a lot of us, the real problem isn’t just how much sleep we’re getting (or not getting). It’s the anxiety around our sleep. This anxiety often stems from believing common myths about sleep – things we hear or read that sound right but might actually be making things worse. Believing these myths can lead to what experts call “sleep anxiety” – that feeling of being scared, worried, or concerned about your sleep. Paradoxically, this anxiety actually makes it harder to sleep, creating a vicious cycle. Not fun!
Recently, I learned a lot about this from an interview with Professor Russell Foster, a leading sleep expert who runs his own lab at the University of Oxford. He debunked several common sleep myths, and honestly, it was eye-opening. I realized I’d fallen for some of them myself!
So, let’s dive into seven sleep myths that might be messing with your rest, based on insights from Professor Foster. Hopefully, busting these myths can help you worry less and sleep better.
Myth #1: It Doesn’t Matter When You Sleep, As Long As You Sleep Enough
We often focus solely on the number of hours, but it turns out when we sleep is super important too. This all comes down to our Circadian Rhythm. Think of it as your body’s internal clock. As Professor Foster puts it, “Circadian rhythms underpin almost every aspect of our health and well-being.”
Back in the 1990s, Russell and his team discovered special cells in our eyes that aren’t for seeing images but are purely for detecting light. This light detection tells our brain what time it is and helps regulate that internal clock. Because this clock is sensitive to light, we’re generally wired to be awake when it’s bright and asleep when it’s dark.
What happens when this rhythm gets disrupted? Think jet lag or working night shifts. Research shows that messing with your circadian rhythm can lead to an increase in stress hormones, a higher risk of heart disease, getting sick more often, and even emotional and cognitive problems. Professor Foster notes, “97% of night shift workers do not adapt to the demands of working at night… they’re working against an entire biology which is saying you should be asleep.”
Now, here’s the thing: not everyone’s internal clock is set exactly the same way. You’ve heard people say, “I’m a morning person” or “I’m a night owl,” right? This relates to your chronotype – your natural inclination to sleep at a certain time. Scientists can bucket us into chronotypes. If you naturally wake up early and feel most productive then, you’re likely a morning chronotype. If you thrive later in the day, you might be an evening chronotype.
Professor Foster actually has a questionnaire on his website (linked in his book, Lifetime) that can help you figure out your own chronotype. Once you know, you can try, as best as possible, to organize your day around it. Morning person? Tackle your high-focus tasks then. Night owl? If your schedule allows, shift those demanding activities to the evening. I personally tried really hard to become a 6 AM gym person, but it felt like an “absolute nightmare.” I realized I’m more of a middle-of-the-day guy, waking around 7:00-7:30 AM, doing focused writing in the morning, and chilling more in the evening. Find what works for your biology.
Myth #2: Everyone Needs 8 Hours of Sleep
This is a big one, often fuelled by headlines and even well-meaning books. While 8 hours might be an average, it’s definitely not a universal requirement. Professor Foster expressed some frustration that “an average value is taken as the optimum value for all of us, and of course it isn’t.”
The reality? Healthy sleep duration varies hugely. It “can range from 6 hours, maybe slightly less than that, out to 10 or 11 hours.” There’s just so much individual variation.
So, instead of obsessing over hitting that magic number 8 and thinking, “Oh no, I only got 7 hours, my day is ruined!”, try focusing on other signals your body gives you:
- Did you wake up naturally? Or did you need an alarm to jolt you awake? Waking up naturally is often a good sign you got enough sleep.
- How did you feel upon waking? Did it take ages to feel alert? Did you immediately crave caffeine? That might suggest you needed more rest.
- Check your behavior: Are you finding yourself making silly mistakes, being unusually irritable or unempathetic, or just generally annoying to be around? Lack of sufficient sleep could be the culprit.
Listen to your body’s feedback more than a rigid number.
Myth #3: We Should Wake Up at the Same Time Every Single Day
Okay, this one isn’t entirely a myth, but the need for absolute rigidity is overstated. Professor Foster agrees that consistency is generally good. Waking up around the same time, eating at similar times, and getting regular light exposure “reinforces all of the sort of signals that regulate the Cadian system” and helps stabilize it.
However, life happens! “Having said that,” Professor Foster acknowledges, “you know there’s going to be an occasion where you have a party… maybe you even need to sort out details like where to print custom invitations… you’re going to get up late, you know, and sleep is very dynamic.” Don’t beat yourself up if your schedule gets thrown off occasionally. A single late night isn’t going to break your biology.
It’s also important to remember that our sleep needs and rhythms change throughout life. It’s “really common for teenagers… to have more of an evening chronotype,” which explains why dragging them out of bed for school is such a battle. Then, as we age, we tend to shift earlier again. “By the time we’re in our late 50s, early 60s, we’re getting up and going to bed at about the time we got up and went to bed when we were 10.” So, the “ideal” wake-up time isn’t fixed forever.
Myth #4: You MUST Avoid Blue Light Before Sleep
Ah, blue light. It’s become the boogeyman of sleep hygiene. The idea is that blue light (which has a short wavelength and more energy) messes with our ability to fall asleep. I even paid extra for blue light filters on my glasses because the optician suggested it!
But according to Professor Foster, the panic might be overblown. He referenced a Harvard study where people read on a Kindle at its brightest setting for four hours right before bed, for five consecutive nights. The result? It “statistically delayed sleep onset by 10 minutes.” His take? “Well, it may be statistically significant, but it’s biologically meaningless.”
Hearing that was pretty nice! It means I can probably read on my backlit Kindle before bed without worrying excessively that I’m ruining my sleep with blue light. While staring at a super bright screen intensely right before trying to sleep probably isn’t the best idea, the specific fear around blue light seems less critical than we’ve been led to believe. Dimming screens and winding down is still sensible, but obsessing over trace amounts of blue light might just add to sleep anxiety.
Myth #5: Sleep Apps Help You Sleep Better
I’ve been down the sleep tracking rabbit hole. I had the Oura ring, I use an Eight Sleep mattress (which is admittedly quite good), and I used to meticulously track my sleep data. But here’s what happened: I’d wake up, check my app, and see “Sleep Readiness Score: 54%.” Even if I felt okay, the number would make me think, “Oh, I guess I’m not feeling reasonable. I guess I should be having a bad day.” I ended up giving myself a negative placebo effect!
Professor Foster advises taking sleep app data “with a bit of a pinch of salt.” He points out that currently, “No Sleep apps are endorsed by any of the sleep federations or or FDA approved.” Furthermore, validation studies are often weak: “you’ll go into the paper and you’ll see it worked perfectly for eight undergraduates… in California, and that’s about it.”
Crucially, sleep changes with age and varies between individuals. “One algorithm is also not appropriate for telling us what good sleep is,” he concludes.
The bottom line? If you enjoy tracking data, fine. But pay more attention to the biological and psychological signals your body sends – how rested you feel, whether you needed an alarm, your energy levels during the day. Those are far more reliable indicators than an app’s score.
Myth #6: Melatonin Helps Us Sleep Better
Melatonin supplements are super popular, especially in the US, often used for jet lag but increasingly taken by people just struggling with regular sleep. But does it actually work?
Professor Foster discussed the evidence. He mentioned “the best studies ever undertaken” showed that taking melatonin before bed could reduce the time it takes to fall asleep by… 30 minutes. However, he stressed this was the best result, found in a specific 2007 study on autistic children taking it daily for months. He also noted that “many studies showed no effects whatsoever.”
A broader 2013 meta-analysis found that, on average, melatonin reduced the time to fall asleep by only about 7 minutes. Not exactly a game-changer. Professor Foster’s conclusion (detailed further in his book Lifetime) is that melatonin doesn’t make much difference for general sleep problems. It might have a slight benefit for jet lag, but it’s not a magic bullet for everyday sleep woes.
Myth #7: Polyphasic Sleep is Good for Your Productivity
Remember the buzz around polyphasic sleep schedules a while back? This is the idea of sleeping multiple times throughout the day – maybe a core 4-hour sleep at night, plus several naps – instead of one long block. It was big in biohacking circles, promising more waking hours for productivity.
Sounds efficient, right? Well, according to Professor Foster, “all of the data suggests that this is a really bad idea.” While polyphasic sleep technically gives you more hours awake, the quality of what you can do in those hours plummets. “We tend to be more exhausted and therefore less productive and less creative during those hours.”
Studies have even shown that students on polyphasic schedules perform worse on exams compared to those sleeping normally (monophasically). So, despite what some blogs might claim, splitting your sleep into tiny chunks doesn’t seem to boost meaningful productivity. It just makes you tired.
Wrapping Up: Listen to Your Body, Not Just the Myths
So, there you have it – seven common sleep myths debunked. The running theme? Our bodies are complex and individual. Rigid rules, obsessive tracking, and miracle supplements often cause more anxiety than they solve.
Instead of chasing a perfect number or fearing every flicker of blue light, try tuning into your own body’s signals. How do you feel when you wake up? How’s your energy and mood during the day? Are you generally functioning well? These are often better guides than any app or arbitrary rule.
Getting good sleep is incredibly important for our health and well-being, but stressing about sleep is counterproductive. Hopefully, understanding these myths helps you approach sleep with a little less anxiety and a bit more confidence in your body’s own wisdom.
What about you? Have you tried anything specific to improve your sleep? Did it work? Share your experiences in the comments below – let’s learn from each other!