hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about ten sleep myths that finally
get debunked now let's begin number one the golden rule if sleep had a golden rule it would be this
always get your full eight hours people act like anything more or less it just guarantees
that you'll be tired the next day but is that golden rule actually true does everyone need
exactly eight hours of sleep for most of us the ideal amount falls somewhere between 7 & 9 your
exact number depends on all kinds of factors like what time you go to bed how tired you are and how
quickly you fall asleep but a small percentage of people get significantly less sleep every
night not because they have insomnia but because they need much less sleep to function according
to the National Institute of Health some people have a rare gene that cuts their sleep demands in
half if you have this gene you only need to sleep around 4 to 5 hours every single night now most of
us would feel drained trying to keep this schedule but for these short sleepers 5 hours is more than
enough get your 8 hours might seem like the golden rule for sleep but the truth is everyone's sleep
cycle is a little different number 2 cheating your cycle even though your brain needs those
7 to 9 hours you might still try to cheat the system people like to cut their sleep short by
an hour or even 30 minutes just to save some time but they're hurting themselves much more than they
realize the sleep that you lose every night it does add up let's say you're continuously skipping
an hour asleep by the end of the week you'll be an entire night short and you'll feel less energetic
and motivated because of it so don't cheat your sleep cycle number three sleeping at your desk
in the middle of a meeting have you ever felt your eyelids get really heavy yeah yeah you try
everything not to fall asleep you pinched your leg you yell at yourself in your head but no matter
what you do you fall asleep anyway teachers bosses and parents assume that you're falling
asleep because you're lazy or because you're just really really bored but that's not actually what's
happening feeling bored and feeling sleepy are two very different processes in your brain you could
be sitting through the most excruciating meeting and feel wide awake now on the flip side you could
fall asleep despite being completely engaged with what you're doing because the real problem isn't
your level of interest you're just not getting enough sleep you're staying up too late or you're
waking up too many times during the night either way your brain isn't getting enough rest and
that's why you can't keep your eyes open number four the sleeping brain many people think sleeping
gives their brain a break after a long exhausting day you want to give your brain a chance to slack
off for a while but going to bed doesn't actually put your brain to sleep in fact your brain is
active the entire time that you're unconscious your body might be out of commission but your
brain still has lots of work to do according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and strokes it has to log new memories process your emotions and detox your system in other words
a good night's sleep might relax your body but your brain is always on the clock number five the
mono phasic sleep cycle chances are you've been sleeping the same way for your entire life you
pick a time to go to bed and you pick a time to wake up and then you sleep for the entire period
in between this kind of sleep cycle is called mono phasic sleep in other words you're tackling your
entire cycle in just one sitting for many people monophasic sleep makes a whole lot of sense it's
convenient for people who work full time during the day and it may also lower your risk of sleep
deprivation but monoface ik doesn't work for everyone according to a 2013 study from the
Medical Journal of Australia about one-third of the population has trouble sleeping luckily mono
phasic sleep isn't the only kind of sleep cycle out there the first popular alternative is called
biphasic sleep instead of packing all your sleep into one night you're splitting your cycle up into
smaller parts most of the time that means five to six hours per night with a nap in the middle
of the day but what are the advantages of using biphasic sleep over mono phasic sleep according
to a 1992 study from the Journal of sleep research human sleep patterns may be naturally biphasic in
other words centuries ago humans most likely slept in two parts every day but the real
question is does biphasic sleep actually work by dividing up your sleep cycle you can sleep deeper
during those two individual periods that's one reason why biphasic sleep specifically napping
can improve your cognitive functions this comes from a 2010 study from the Journal of progress
in brain research they found that napping boosts memory alertness and focus for one to three hours
after you wake up so how do you know if biphasic sleep is right for you this sleep cycle is great
for people who have trouble sleeping work odd hours or get on planes multiple times a week you
may also just get tired quickly during the day by the afternoon you may have trouble keeping
your eyes open now if that sounds like you don't worry a biphasic sleep cycle can give you the
boost of energy you need to keep going so that's it right and your cycle only be mono phasic or
biphasic hmm turns out there are tons of diverse sleep cycles that work for all kinds of different
people the everyman cycle for example consists of three 20-minute power naps followed by three to
four hours of core sleep another one is called the uberman cycle which splits your sleep into
eight short naps spread evenly throughout the day my point here is sleep isn't always simple some
cycles have incredibly rigid schedules and others are more loose and free-flowing even though mono
phasic seems like the best way to go it isn't the only option out there hmm not by a long shot
number six one type of insomnia few people understand when insomnia actually means most
think that insomniacs just have trouble falling asleep that they lie awake staring at the ceiling
for hours on end and some do but according to a 2015 study in the Singapore medical journal
insomnia is a lot more complicated than that for example some insomniacs can fall asleep in minutes
but they wake up dozens of times throughout the night others will wake up way too early in the
morning and can't fall back asleep no matter how hard they try while all insomniacs do struggle
with their sleep that doesn't mean that every insomniac is the same number 7 falling asleep
anywhere some people brag about how they're able to fall asleep in the weirdest places
they've knocked out in their office chair at the dinner table or even on the floor but falling
asleep anywhere isn't always a good thing your body isn't designed to fall asleep at the drop
of a hat if you're randomly falling asleep in strange places that may mean you're not getting
enough sleep according to a 2007 study from the journal neuropsychiatric disease and treatment
sleep deprivation leaves your brain feeling slow and drowsy throughout the day while falling asleep
anywhere may give you some funny stories losing sleep can hurt you in the long run number 8
aging sleep cycles another popular myth is that older people need less sleep it's pretty common
knowledge that they tend to wake up earlier but there's no definitive evidence that older people
don't sleep as much while children and teenagers do require extra sleep the length of your sleep
cycle stays pretty consistent once you reach adulthood from your 20s all the way to your 80s
your brain requires about the same amount of time each night so even if your sleep schedule moves
around a bit the length of your cycle should stay the same throughout your life number 9 warm and
cozy everyone wants to feel warm and cozy when they climb into bed right but too much warmth
can actually interfere with your sleep cycle a 2012 study from the journal Sleep explains that
hotter temperatures lower the efficiency of your sleep in other words the average person sleeps
better in colder environments colder temperatures leave you more alert in the morning and relax the
muscles related to snoring and sleep apnea yeah I know it's nice to feel warm and cozy at night but
a colder room may give you the quality of sleep that you're looking for number 10 never too much
sleep this myth gets thrown around all the time but it couldn't be more untrue many people spend
their weekends sleeping for 10 or 12 hours at a time but there is such a thing as too much
sleep and getting too much of it can be just as bad as getting too little this was discovered
by a huge study from 2018 which was published in the journal sleep researchers looked at the
sleep cycles of over 10,000 people and what did they find getting too much sleep impacts several
cognitive functions like memory attention and reasoning skills so the next time you get the
chance to sleep in just think about how you're actually affecting your brain hey thank you for
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