How much sleep you should be getting is a source of contention – nobody seems to know how much we’re meant to get. The government recently released a paper on ‘sleep hygiene’ – the behaviours around bedtime that help (or hinder) our quality and quantity of sleep.

New guidelines are expected to suggest that getting less than seven hours sleep could damage your health, stating that “failure to sleep between seven and nine hours a night is associated with physical and mental health problems, including an increased risk of obesity, strokes, heart attacks, depression and anxiety“.

And if you do need a little boost, research has recently discovered exactly how to have the best nap you possibly can.

Twenty to 30 minutes is meant to be the perfect amount of time – this allows you to “turn off your nervous system, recharge the whole body and improve alertness”. If you sleep any longer, you’ll be in a “deep sleep”, and you’ll feel even groggier when you wake up.

Between 1pm to 3pm is the best time to slot your nap in, if you were wondering – any later and you’ll end up impacting your night time sleep.

Do you have the gene that means you only need a few hours sleep a night?