The eight-hour sleep myth and why you’re getting bedtime all wrong

It was a curious sight: five or six glassy-eyed people staring back from the laptop screen, yawning in tandem and on a Zoom call to learn how to sleep each week. “And to really understand something as ancient as sleep, you have to go back to the roots of it all.” open image in gallery ‘Respecting your natural biorhythm’ is the way to go, says Van De Laar The book, which has now been released in 20 countries simultaneously to wide acclaim, came about via Van De Laar’s long career and extensive research into how we sleep. On average, they lie awake more than two hours per night.” The key difference, he says, is “they don’t stress about it.” “Waking during the night really has a function in the tribe – it’s important for survival … population data also tells us that seven hours’ sleep is the average, but that’s including being awake for up to 20 per cent of each night. A lot of people don’t know that, and are then faced with this perfect picture of sleeping eight hours without interruptions, which poses a lot of tension for people with insomnia.” open image in gallery One-third of adults worldwide struggle with insomnia, experts say Even those who have never suffered long-term insomnia will be haunted by the infuriating cycle of clock watching and internal panic during restless nights – and subsequently all the conflicting advice about what to do about it. So adjusting your expectations of how much sleep you might get – rather than becoming more frustrated that you failed to get this perfect eight hours – is very important.” This idea – that we must put in more effort to perfect a good night’s sleep – is a myth that Van De Laar is keen to dispel.