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Resilience beats optimisation

The endgame is performing well after a bad night — not a perfect sleep score.

"I don't want you optimising your sleep, because optimisation turns into a giant routine before bed." The target instead is sleep resilience: you had a bad night, your flight got delayed, and you still executed.

The science of chronic restriction is sobering: two weeks at six hours a night produced impairment equal to two full nights without sleep — while people rated themselves only slightly sleepy. Resilience means protecting the average, not any single night.

Sources · 3

The cumulative cost of additional wakefulnessVan Dongen HP, Maislin G, Mullington JM, Dinges DF · 2003Two weeks at 6 h/night produced deficits equal to two nights of total deprivation — while subjects felt only mildly sleepy. You adapt to feeling tired, not to being impaired.The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball…Mah CD, Mah KE, Kezirian EJ, Dement WC · 2011Extending sleep to ~10 h improved sprint time, shooting accuracy, reaction time and mood.Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adultWatson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G, et al. · 2015Adults should sleep ≥7 h per night on a regular basis; <7 h is associated with weight gain, diabetes, hypertension, depression and mortality.

Related topics

Sleep duration & health

Frequently asked questions

Resilience beats optimisation?

The endgame is performing well after a bad night — not a perfect sleep score.

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SleepShred turns this research into a 20-second daily habit: log your night, see which of your own behaviours move your sleep, and screen for the disorders nobody diagnoses.

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Educational summary of published research, not medical advice. Screening scores are not diagnoses. If a score is elevated or you feel unwell, talk to a clinician.