When It Comes To Sleep, Consistency Is Key

Get Your 8 Hours: Sleep has become a health fixation over the past decade or so. Recommendations for longer durations of sleep have spurred on trends like ‘sleepmaxxing’ and popularized special apps and mattresses to help us get more Z’s, and for longer. However, new research indicates that establishing a consistent sleep routine is also crucial.

The Study: In a 2024 study published in Sleep, researchers analyzed more than 10 million hours of data from nearly 61,000 adults wearing sleep trackers. They looked beyond total hours of sleep and focused on the regularity of people’s bedtimes and wake-up times. The results were a little surprising: those with the most consistent schedules had a 20–50% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those with the least consistent patterns. Even after factoring in total sleep time, irregular sleep schedules were associated with a higher risk.

The Takeaway: It’s smart to shoot for around 8 hours of sleep when you can. But consistency also matters. So a shorter night of sleep here and there won’t undo the benefits if your bedtime and wake-up time regularly stay within the same one-hour window.

Keep In Mind: Duration still matters. Most adults need 7–9 hours, and in this study, those sleeping only 5–6 hours had a higher mortality rate.