We’ve all heard “get your 8 hours.”
But data says 7 hours is actually the sweet spot.
A 2002 study of 1M Americans found people sleeping 6.5–7 hours lived longer than those sleeping 8+.
Even pre-industrial tribes without screens or stressors average 5.7–7.1 hours of sleep.
The lowest risk of all-cause mortality consistently lands around the 7-hour mark.
And yes — too much sleep may even be worse than too little.
Harvard researcher:
“(Westerners) who sleep about seven hours tend to live longer than those who sleep more or less.
In no study is eight hours optimal, and in most of the studies people who got more than seven hours had shorter life spans than those who got less than seven hours
(an unresolved issue, however, is whether it would be beneficial for long sleepers to reduce their sleep time.)”
The takeaway?
8 hours isn't a magic number.
Your sleep needs are personal — what matters is quality, consistency, and how you feel when you wake up.
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