Work-Life Balance resources » Doing » Diagnostic: What’s Your Sleep IQ?
Diagnostic: What’s Your Sleep IQ?
This simple quiz will get you thinking about how well you understand the
importance of a good night’s sleep, providing some interesting insights into the
real impact of sleep deprivation on personal performance.
Task
Answer True or False to each of the statements below by circling
the appropriate word.
Once you have finished, check your responses against the answers
provided to see how well you understand sleep and the impact of
sleep deprivation.
Statements
1. Your work won’t suffer if you lose an hour of sleep every once in a while.
True/False
2. All adults need approximately 7-8 hours sleep per night, but this decreases
as we age. True/False
3. Sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, memory
loss and impaired concentration. True/False
4. Insomnia generally affects women, the elderly and people suffering from
depression more than others. True/False
5. There is no better remedy for sleepiness than a good night’s sleep. True/False
6. It is OK to use sleeping pills to help you sleep better. True/False
7. If you have insomnia, you should take a nap during the day. True/False
8. Using an alarm clock is a good way of regulating your sleep rhythm.
True/False
9. Less than four hours sleep per day is fine. True/False
10. Going to bed at the same time every day is good for you. True/False
11. Silence and darkness are essential for ensuring a good night’s sleep.
True/False
12. People who sleep less tend to live longer. True/False
What’s Your Sleep IQ – Answers
1. False: A constant loss of sleep adds to ‘sleep debt’ (the amount of sleep you owe
your body), producing excessive daytime sleepiness, which is the main reason behind
most traffic and workplace accidents. Losing even an hour a day greatly impairs your
response time and concentration.
2. False: The US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) claims there is no
evidence to support the idea that adults need less sleep as they age. [1] However,
researchers have established that older adults usually sleep less than younger people
because they wake more easily and spend less time in deep, restorative sleep. So
although the ability to stay asleep seems to change adversely, the basic need does not
alter in any way.
3. True: Sleep studies reveal that quality sleep and good mental and physical wellbeing
go hand in hand, and that sleep deprivation can lead to a whole host of health problems.
Research has also proved that our levels of stress hormones rise when we are sleep
deprived, impeding even the best weight loss efforts. Why? Stress drains energy and
often leads to bad food choices and therefore weight gain, which in turn increases your
risk of developing health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
4. True: Women, the elderly and people with depression are all more likely to
experience insomnia or unsatisfactory sleep. Depression and anxiety disorders are the
leading causes of chronic insomnia, while women who experience sleep problems may
attribute this to fluctuations of the hormone progesterone, which is known to induce
sleep. Sleep problems in older adults are usually due to medication use, more frequent
bathroom trips or age-related health issues.
5. True: There is no substitute for a good night’s sleep. If you are getting fewer than
eight hours a night, you may not be getting the sleep you need. These basic tips should
help you get a better night’s sleep: avoid alcohol, nicotine and caffeine before bed, avoid
napping, don’t exercise late in the day, spend time relaxing before bed and create a
sleep routine which you stick to as often as possible.
6. True: Sleeping pills can help you sleep, but this sleep has less merit than naturally
induced sleep. Sleeping pills can be useful in circumstances where sleep is medically
essential and cannot be achieved by other means. Otherwise, the golden rule is to avoid
sleeping pills whenever possible.
7. False: Naps can worsen insomnia in people suffering from sleep disorders, especially
if they are taken too late in the day. However, if you don’t have insomnia, naps are
highly beneficial to intellectual performance if you take them early in the day when they
won’t affect your natural sleep rhythm.
8. False: Alarm clocks can help force your desired sleeping rhythm but will rarely help
you accomplish a healthy sleeping rhythm. The only real way to accomplish a healthy
sleep rhythm is to go to sleep only when you are really sleepy, and to wake up naturally
without external intervention. Unfortunately for most of us, we are forced into an
unnatural rhythm by our professional and family responsibilities.
9. False: While we read enviously about people who only seem to need a few hours
sleep to function each day (e.g. Margaret Thatcher, Thomas Edison) and wish we could
train ourselves to sleep this way so we could free up more time for other activities, it will
only work if you don’t care about your mental and physical wellbeing. It is possible to
sleep for three hours and survive. However, if you want to go beyond simply surviving,
you need to sleep for exactly as long as your body wants.
10. True and False! Although in general sleep experts recommend going to sleep at the
same time every day, people with severe sleeping disorders will find it impossible to go
to sleep at the same time everyday, resulting in an unhealthy vicious cycle of stress and
insomnia.
11. False: Silence and darkness may indeed make it easier to fall asleep. However, they
are not essential. The most important factor that makes us sleep well, assuming good
health, is the natural sleep rhythm. People who follow their natural rhythm can often fall
asleep quite easily in bright or noisy environments.
12. False: The best scenario for a longer life is to sleep in line with your natural body
rhythm. People who maintain their own rhythm often sleep less as their sleep is better
structured and more refreshing and so they live longer. Those who don’t follow their
natural rhythm often sleep more hours and still don’t feel refreshed.
[1] www.nhlbi.nih.gov/