How often do you wake up in the morning with the feeling that you’re more tired than when you went to sleep? Probably more often than you’d like. This is a feeling shared by many people, in fact, more than you’d probably think, and it’s caused by a lack of sufficient sleep. In the frenzy of our everyday life, we often think of sleeping as though it were a waste of time. We think that we could be dedicating the hours we spend sleeping to a whole range of other activities that we were forced to put aside during the day. Activities such as working out, going to the movies, or having fun with friends. That could indeed be true, but the price to be paid is that the next morning, we’re likely to feel devastated by the sound of our alarm clock going off too soon and to wake up unbearably tired. That’s precisely when a thought begins to haunt us and won’t seem to subside, namely, 'I didn’t get enough sleep last night'. Which begs the question – how many hours of sleep does a person need exactly to keep healthy? The answer varies depending on our age. Quite naturally, a newborn baby needs to sleep more hours than a young adult, who in turn needs less sleep than an elderly person. It’s difficult to determine how many hours of sleep are necessary to wake up feeling rested, given that quite often, the fact that we don’t manage to get enough isn’t something we can entirely control. It also depends on several factors like external disturbances, noise, the use of electronic devices, etc. One certain thing is that getting enough sleep doesn’t just (positively) affect our mood and health, but it also helps to improve our performance when it comes to studying, working a job, and relationships. There is no universal solution to the problem, as some people can stay fit by sleeping only 6 hours a night while others, instead, continue to feel tired even after 9 hours of sleep. However, for those of us who have a goodhearted purpose to get the right amount of sleep, the best place to look for an answer is probably science.