The Science behind a Perfect Night’s Sleep [Infographic]

While often ignored, sleep quality has a huge impact on our overall well-being. It only takes one or two nights of disrupted sleep before it becomes very apparent just how important sleeping well is.

And that is so often the case, it’s only when we aren’t sleeping well that we realise the importance of sleep and seek to improve it.

Daytime tiredness, lack of focus and concentration all quickly emerge even after just a single night’s bad sleep. But getting a consistent amount of sleep every night is a challenge at the best of times. Thankfully scientists have been concerned with sleep research for many years and the tips offered in the infographic below, are based on years of research aimed at improving sleep quality.

But before we even consider how to get a good night’s sleep, it’s important to understand what a good night's sleep is. The National Sleep Foundation recently explained exactly what a good night's sleep is with these four factors:

1. You take half an hour or less to fall asleep

2. You wake up no more than once per night

3. If you do wake up in the middle of the night, you fall back to sleep within 20 minutes

4. You’re asleep for at least 85% of the time you spend in bed

Regularly meeting all four of these factors generally means you don’t have any problems with sleep. But if you are regularly failing to meet one of the factors then it’s likely your sleep pattern has room for improvement.

For more information about the science behind a perfect night’s sleep check out the following infographic created by De Vere Hotels who know a thing of two about creating a great sleeping environment.