Sure, eight hours of sleep is a wonderful goal, but one that is not always attainable. The good news is that eight hours may not be that important, or at least not as important as going to bed and waking up at the same time most nights. “Regularity” is the new mantra in sleep science.
The Wall Street Journal reports on a new study, recently published in the journal Sleep, that found sleep regularity “reduced the risk of premature death from any cause by 20% to 48% compared with those with the most irregular sleep.” The study found that people whose sleep was both long and regular had the lowest mortality, but shorter, regular sleep was better than longer, inconsistent sleep.  Another benefit of the study: reading it in its entirety may put you to sleep.