Random musings: Catching Up On Sleep: How to Pay Off Your ‘Sleep Debt’ (and Why It’s a Big Deal)

Today's blog post is based on a blog post by Dr. Michael Breus.

Being in debt is never a great feeling, whether it’s staring at a large credit card balance in the mail or dealing with the effects of a mounting sleep debt.

But what even is sleep debt, and what does it mean?

It’s a simple concept. Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep you get each night and the amount you should be getting. (For adults, I typically recommend getting about 7.5 hours of sleep each night.)

For most chronotypes, Dr. Breus recommends 7.5 hours of sleep; although for a Dolphin (which I am), he recommends 6 hours of sleep.

Your sleep debt increases every time you trim a few minutes off your usual sleep schedule, in the same way, your credit card debt increases each time you go on a late night Amazon shopping spree. No judgment, I’ve been there, too.

And if you’re suffering from sleep debt, you’re not alone: a 2020 study found that Americans are averaging less than 6 hours of sleep each night. And even some sleep debt can be dangerous, leading to long-term health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, increased stress levels, and a weaker immune system.

As I pointed out recently, I usually get between 6 and 6 1/2 hours of sleep a night. Although on Fridays and Saturdays it can be off a little, since I have a Gold Star meeting on Fridays at noon and I do SendOutCards training on Saturdays at 10:00 AM. I often end up taking a nap on Friday and/or Saturday.

The good news is that sleep debt isn’t permanent, and while real, there are also real solutions to get out of a sleep debt cycle. I’ll tell you why sleep debt can’t be paid off on weekends, dive into deeper details about why sleep debt is dangerous, and tell you how to avoid cumulative sleep debt.

As a bonus, I’ll also offer my top tips for avoiding sleep debt in the first place.

Unfortunately, trying to make up for your sleep debt on the weekends usually doesn't work.

Using your weekend to catch up on sleep sounds good in theory, but it rarely pans out, according to a new study out of France.

The study, looking at more than 12,500 adults between the ages of 18-75, found that nearly one-quarter of participants had severe sleep debt during the week, defined as getting at least 90 minutes less sleep than they really needed each night.

Worse, most were unable to make up for their sleep debt over the weekend. Only 18.2% of participants with severe sleep debts were able to sleep enough during the weekend to make up for their poor week. In other words, for those who went into the weekend about 5 hours behind on sleep for the week, fewer than one out of five were able to get enough sleep to offset their debt. On average, participants reported getting 7 hours and 26 minutes of sleep on the weekends — a healthy amount of sleep, but not enough to pay off the debt they’d accumulated.

So why can’t people, on average, sleep in on weekends? Researchers point to a few reasons.

For one, many of us don’t have enough time. If you add up even an hour lost per night over a 5 day week, that’s five hours of sleep debt….to cover in a single weekend. Poor sleep conditions were another roadblock. This included a number of relatable factors, including noise, stress and having children at home.

The key takeaway to remember is that assuming you can pay off your sleep debt on the weekends is anything but a guarantee.

And if you do pay off your sleep debt, there is a cost associated with it:

Let’s say you’re able to beat the odds and pay off your sleep debt on the weekends.

That’s great — but it still comes with a cost.

A study published last year in Current Biology suggests that sleeping in during the weekends doesn’t really solve the problem of sleep debt. During the week, even those who slept extra hours over the weekend experience negative drawbacks linked to sleep deprivation, including:

Reduced energy levels

Added weight due to higher calorie consumption at dinner

Low insulin sensitivity

This can result in higher blood sugar levels, which increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes

Ultimately, letting sleep debt accumulate with the intention of making up for it over the weekend, leads to poor results. Either you fail to spend enough time in bed to negate your sleep debt, or, if you are able to get plenty of sleep on the weekends, the sleep debt you’ve accumulated has still contributed to its own set of problems.

Here is why sleep debt is so dangerous:

Letting your sleep debt pile up is the last thing you want to do. Your body needs quality, restorative sleep to function at its best.

In fact, sleep deprivation is dangerous. Even just a little sleep debt can contribute to the following health conditions:

Increased risk of Type 2 diabetes

Weakened immune system (you’re 4.2 times more likely to catch a cold if you get less than 6 hours of sleep each night)

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension

Irritability and mood swings

Weight gain

Stress

Diminished sex drive

Increased risk of heart disease

These are all things that are worth avoiding!

What can we do to avoid sleep debt?

Stick to a consistent sleep schedule (this is probably the best thing you can do. I stick to a consistent schedule 5 out of 7 days)

Go to bed and get up within the same half hour window every day

Schedule it, like you would work or exercise.

Use my sleep calculator to figure out what routine works for you.

If you’re having trouble falling asleep, try a natural sleep aid like Sleep Doctor PM. Formulated with natural ingredients, it not only helps you fall asleep faster, but it’s also non habit forming

Avoid exercising late at night

Make no mistake, working out is great for you. It’s also a great natural sleep aid. One common issue I see with my clients who are not getting enough sleep, though, is that they work out too close to their bedtime.

Exercise raises your energy levels and leaves you feeling stimulated — two sensations that do not lend themselves to falling asleep quickly. Working out also raises your body temperature for about 4 hours, and as we’ve touched on in the past, you want to stay cool before bed. When your body temperature rises, it’s a natural signal to your body to wake up. So if you’re going to work out after work, go for it — but make sure you give yourself a 3-4 hour buffer between when you finish and when you plan on going to bed.

Take a warm bath

Warm baths help produce melatonin.

By signaling the pineal gland to produce melatonin, known as the sleep hormone, it takes less time to fall asleep, improves sleep quality, and even sleep duration.

Warm baths relax our muscles.

The warmth eases tension on joints and makes lying down more comfortable.

Warm baths help lower our internal temperature

Odd as it may seem, hot water actually helps cool the body down by improving blood circulation from your core to your hands and feet

The best part? It only takes a 10-minute bath an hour or two before bed to reap these sleep benefits.

If you’ve noticed your sleep window has been getting shorter and shorter lately, don’t stress. Try working these few tips into your routine and you should start to feel more energized soon– no sleep debt payment required.