Sleep is one of the most important factors that contribute to our health, yet it’s so easily neglected. I used to be a big culprit! Countless late nights where I’ve told myself, “Another few hours of work is okay.” And work wasn’t the only excuse. Sometimes it was a basketball game, a movie, or doom scrolling on Twitter.

I’d average 6 hours of sleep, 7 if I was lucky. I did have a couple of good habits in the mix: no devices in the bedroom, and no snoozing. Without distractions in bed, falling asleep was fairly quick. To avoid snoozing, I placed an analog alarm clock in the bathroom so when it went off, I had to get out of bed to turn it off. Since I was functioning fine during the day, I never thought much about getting more sleep. I’d just tell myself, “I’ll make it up on the weekend.”

When we took our sabbatical, I made it a goal to prioritize sleep and aim for the recommended 8 hours. For a couple of months, I didn’t use an alarm, just to see how my body would react. How much sleep did I really need?

Turns out it depended on a variety of factors such as the activity levels for that day, what I ate, when I slept, screen time and much more. Some days I woke up naturally after 7 hours. Other days, I was out cold for 9. It made me realize there isn’t a magic number.

Now that I’m back in a startup environment, the priorities are piling up but sleep has not taken a toll. I’ve kept it a priority. Sticking to a nightly routine of stretching, reflecting on the day, and winding down has helped. I’m by no means perfect. There are bad days. But being more intentional about what I do before bed has made a difference.

Do you have a nighttime routine? How much sleep do you get?