I’m trying to sleep longer. That’s why I’ve decided that I’m no longer allowed to get up at five in the morning. I have to wait until six. When I looked at a full year of my Garmin data, I also saw something that made the question much bigger: over the year, I slept an average of only 6 hours and 15 minutes per night, while Garmin estimated my average sleep need at 8 hours and 31 minutes. Now I want to find out what happens if I actually give my body more time for sleep and recovery.
🇸🇪 Swedish Sova längre – vad händer när jag flyttar morgonen?
🇬🇧 English
Morning has arrived again.
As usual, my coffee is sitting beside me getting cold. But that doesn’t really matter. That’s more or less how I drink my coffee anyway.
What is not quite as usual is the time.
I normally get up at five.
Now I’m trying to learn how to sleep longer – or at least not start the day quite so early. I’ve decided that I’m not allowed to get up before six o’clock.
It may not sound like a very big change.
One hour.
But for me, it actually is.
Even though coffee would probably taste just as good at five.
Why am I trying to sleep longer?
For the simple reason that I’m not getting enough sleep.
When I wake up, the day tends to start immediately.
Coffee.
Computer.
Thoughts.
Something that needs writing.
Something that needs investigating.
Something that needs sorting out.
And suddenly I’m well into the day long before the clock has even reached seven.
Now I’m trying to do things differently.
And that made me start wondering:
Is there actually any benefit in moving my morning from five to six?
And if I eventually move it to seven – could that extra hour make a difference?
To get a better answer, I first looked at the past week.
Then I looked at a full year.
And that was when it became really interesting.
A full year shows a clear pattern
When I look at my Garmin data from October 2025 to September 2026, I see this:
Average sleep duration: 6 hours and 15 minutes.
Garmin’s estimated average sleep need:
8 hours and 31 minutes.
So the difference is roughly:
2 hours and 16 minutes per night.
My average sleep score over the year is:
57 out of 100.
My average bedtime is:
10:42 p.m.
And my average wake-up time:
5:23 a.m.
That last number may be the most telling of all.
I don’t just wake up early now and then.
5:23 a.m. is my average over an entire year.
This is my established rhythm.
And when I see it like that, my attempt not to get up before six becomes something more than a small morning experiment.
I’m actually trying to change a pattern that seems to have been very stable for a long time.
That is one of the reasons I’m now trying to sleep longer instead of automatically starting the day the moment I wake up.
This is not about a few bad nights
When I go through the weeks, I see the same thing again and again.
Most weeks, my average sleep duration is around six hours.
Sometimes less.
In July, for example, I had weeks with:
5 hours and 13 minutes
5 hours and 17 minutes
5 hours and 40 minutes
And over the whole year, it is very unusual for me to reach an average of seven hours of sleep.
One week in April, I reached 7 hours and 3 minutes.
But that is the exception.
So when I used to think:
Maybe I’m sleeping too little.
I can probably phrase it more clearly now:
For a long time, I have been sleeping considerably less than Garmin estimates my body needs.
Of course, Garmin is not a medical sleep study.
But when the same pattern appears week after week for a full year, the numbers are difficult to ignore.
Something is happening during the past week
The most interesting thing is that the last few days actually look different.
During the past week, September 23–29, I slept an average of:
6 hours and 41 minutes.
That is about 26 minutes longer than my yearly average of 6 hours and 15 minutes.
My average wake-up time during the past week was:
5:36 a.m.
Still early.
But later than the yearly average of 5:23.
And when I look at the individual days, the change becomes even clearer.
On September 24, I slept 4 hours and 55 minutes and woke at 4:03 a.m.
On September 25, I slept 6 hours and 22 minutes and woke at 5:26 a.m.
On September 26, I slept 6 hours and 44 minutes and woke at 5:46 a.m.
On September 27, I slept 7 hours and 11 minutes and woke at 5:54 a.m.
On September 28, I slept 7 hours and 14 minutes and woke at 6:00 a.m.
And on September 29, I slept 7 hours and 37 minutes and woke at 5:55 a.m.
That does not mean I can say:
I moved my morning later, and therefore my sleep improved.
There are far too few days for that.
But it does mean that something has changed.
I have given my body more opportunity to sleep.
And my sleep duration has increased.
It is still too early to know what is causing what, but trying to sleep longer has at least given me more time for sleep.
Garmin still says my sleep need is higher
Here comes the next interesting thing.
During the past week, I slept more than my yearly average.
But Garmin estimated my average sleep need that week at:
8 hours and 56 minutes.
That is higher than the yearly average of 8 hours and 31 minutes.
So even though I slept more, the gap between actual sleep and estimated need was still about:
2 hours and 15 minutes per night.
Almost exactly the same gap as over the full year.
That does not mean the extra sleep was pointless.
Rather, it shows that a few longer nights do not automatically erase a long-term pattern.
And perhaps that is another reason why I don’t suddenly feel amazing.
Because I don’t actually feel more alert
So how does my body feel?
Am I more alert?
Hmm.
No.
I wouldn’t say that if I’m being truthful.
Maybe my body is more rested.
But I don’t feel any dramatic difference.
And perhaps that is not so surprising.
My average sleep score for the past week is only:
49 out of 100.
Garmin classified every night that week as poor sleep.
So even though the amount of sleep has increased, the quality still does not seem particularly good.
That reminds me of something important:
More sleep is not automatically the same as good sleep.
Maybe I’m improving the amount first.
Quality is another part of the picture.
What does research say about how much sleep we need?
Adults’ sleep needs vary.
1177, the Swedish healthcare information service, writes that adults usually need around seven to nine hours of sleep, while also emphasizing that sleep needs are individual.
The CDC also recommends 7–9 hours for adults in my age group.
Sleep is important for the recovery of both body and brain, and for memory, concentration and our ability to handle strain.
So there is no exact magic number that fits everyone.
But there is a clear difference between saying:
I manage on six hours.
and actually asking:
How does my body function when I regularly get more sleep?
That is the question I’m trying to answer now.
So the question is not whether everyone feels better if they sleep longer, but what happens when someone who is actually sleeping too little gets more sleep.
Garmin does not calculate sleep need from age alone
I also became curious about how Garmin arrives at its estimated sleep need.
It is not just a general number based on age.
Garmin’s Sleep Coach can take several things into account, including:
- previous nights’ sleep
- activity
- circadian rhythm
- naps
- HRV, or heart rate variability
That means the estimated need can vary from night to night.
If you have slept poorly for several nights, the need may increase.
If you have been more active, that can affect it too.
I find that interesting, because it reminds me that sleep is not simply a fixed number of hours.
The body is affected by what life looks like.
What happens when people get to sleep longer?
There is also research where people who normally sleep too little have been encouraged to extend their sleep.
In one randomized study, 80 adults who usually slept less than around 6.5 hours per night took part.
The group that received help to sleep longer increased their sleep duration by about 1.2 hours per night.
The researchers also saw changes in energy intake. The group that slept longer consumed, on average, around 270 fewer kilocalories per day than the control group.
That does not mean everyone automatically eats less if they sleep longer.
The study involved a specific group, and the results should not simply be applied to everyone.
But it still shows something important:
An extra hour of sleep does not necessarily have to be an insignificant change.
When someone is genuinely sleeping too little, longer sleep can produce measurable effects.
The stress numbers also make me curious
Then I looked at my stress values for the past week.
September 23: 60
September 24: 63
September 25: 57
September 26: 57
September 27: 46
September 28: 46
September 29 so far: 46
Here I want to be careful.
I cannot say:
I’m sleeping longer, and that is why my stress has gone down.
One week is nowhere near enough to draw that conclusion.
There could be many other explanations.
But I can say:
This is something I want to follow.
Because at the same time as my sleep duration has increased, my stress values have been lower over the last few days.
If the same pattern continues for several weeks, it becomes much more interesting.
Body Battery says something too
My average overnight Body Battery change during the past week is only:
+17.
On September 28, my highest Body Battery reading was 29 and the lowest was 5.
Garmin uses factors such as sleep, rest, stress and activity when estimating Body Battery.
So that is another thing I can follow over time.
Not only:
How long did I sleep?
but also:
How much recovery does my body actually seem to get?
Sleeping longer could actually matter
When I look at the yearly data, the question becomes much more concrete.
My average bedtime over the year is:
10:42 p.m.
My average wake-up time:
5:23 a.m.
Between those times, there are only about 6 hours and 41 minutes.
And that is before subtracting the time it takes to fall asleep or any time spent awake during the night.
If I continue going to bed at around 10:40 p.m. but move my morning to six, there are roughly:
7 hours and 18 minutes in bed.
If I move it to seven instead, there are roughly:
8 hours and 18 minutes.
And suddenly the maths becomes very clear.
If I go to bed around half past ten and almost always start my day around five, it is practically impossible to get close to eight hours of actual sleep.
Even six o’clock does not leave much margin.
Do I need to sleep longer – all the way until seven?
No.
Not automatically.
Seven o’clock is not healthier than six just because it comes later.
The benefit exists if the later time allows me to actually get more sleep and feel better.
If, after a while, I notice that six is enough – that I feel rested, function better during the day and recover well – then there is no reason to chase seven just for the sake of it.
But if I am still far below my sleep need?
Then I think the next experiment is obvious enough to try.
Do not get up before seven.
And then see what happens.
But this probably isn’t only about sleep
The more I think about this, the more I realise there is another part to it.
I wrote this morning:
I don’t have to start doing lots of things before the clock has even reached seven.
And perhaps that is where an equally important change is happening.
I’m very good at doing.
I wake up.
Then comes the coffee.
The computer.
The blog.
The app.
The thoughts.
The planning.
Something at home.
Something I suddenly thought of.
And just like that, the day has started.
What I may really be practising now is this:
Being awake does not automatically mean being active.
I can wake up without immediately starting to perform.
I can allow the morning to still be rest.
Maybe that is a psychological change just as much as a sleep change.
Read more
I don’t seem to have written a full post specifically about my own sleep before, but this topic connects with things I have written about earlier.
👉 Living with ADHD when your energy is not enough
https://malix.se/06/leva-med-adhd/07/23/33/
There I write about energy, recovery and what happens when there simply is not quite enough energy.
👉 A new day, new possibilities – recovery in the motorhome
https://malix.se/23/ny-dag-nya-mojligheter-aterhamtning-husbil/06/42/33/
A post about rest, everyday life and the need to give yourself space to settle.
👉 Tools for life
https://malix.se/verktyg-for-livet/
Here I collect material and reflections about everyday life, recovery and creating things that actually work.
Now I have a starting point
I think this may be the most important part.
I no longer have to rely only on trying to remember how I used to feel.
I have a full year of data.
My starting point is:
Average sleep over the year: 6 hours 15 minutes
Garmin’s average estimated sleep need: 8 hours 31 minutes
Average sleep score: 57
Average bedtime: 10:42 p.m.
Average wake-up time: 5:23 a.m.
And during the past week:
Average sleep: 6 hours 41 minutes
Average sleep need: 8 hours 56 minutes
Average sleep score: 49
Average wake-up time: 5:36 a.m.
Average overnight Body Battery increase: +17
That means I can actually follow what happens.
In a few weeks, I can compare again.
Am I sleeping more?
Am I waking later?
Is my sleep score changing?
Are my stress levels changing?
Is my Body Battery charging better?
And most importantly:
How do I feel?
Because the watch must never become the whole truth.
It is a tool.
My body and my own experience need to be part of the picture too.
My goal is not to sleep longer simply for the sake of sleeping longer. The goal is to find out how much sleep my body actually needs.
Between the lines
At first, I thought this was about moving my morning by one hour.
From five to six.
Now I can see that it is about a pattern that has existed for at least a full year.
On average, I have woken at 5:23 a.m.
On average, I have slept 6 hours and 15 minutes.
And at the same time, I have kept thinking that maybe this is just the way I am.
Maybe I am a morning person.
I probably am.
But being a morning person does not have to mean that my body always gets enough sleep.
So now I’m going to investigate it.
First six o’clock.
Then perhaps seven.
Not because one particular time is right.
But because I want to find out what happens when my body actually gets the chance to finish resting.
And perhaps I am also learning something else at the same time:
I do not have to start doing things just because I am awake.
One morning at a time.
Questions for you
Do you know how much you actually sleep over time?
Do you wake at roughly the same time every morning?
Have you ever looked at a full year of sleep data and discovered a pattern you had not noticed before?
Does your day begin the moment you open your eyes?
And if you gave your body an extra hour in the morning – do you think you would sleep, or would the coffee win?
✉️ Want to follow along?
I write about everyday life as it really is – ADHD, recovery, relationships, change and the things I am trying to understand along the way.
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Sources and further reading
1177 – Sleep is important for your health
About sleep needs, recovery and how sleep affects the body and brain.
CDC – About Sleep
About recommended sleep duration for different age groups.
Garmin – Sleep Coach
About how Garmin estimates individual sleep need.
Tasali et al., JAMA Internal Medicine (2022)
A randomized study on sleep extension in people who usually slept too little.
Live today, right now – life does not come with a replay.
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