Friday Q&A: What’s More Important, Sleep Quantity or Sleep Quality?

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Look at two things when we're looking at sleep. It is not just quantity. In fact, even more important than quantity is quality. And I'm looking at my sleep quality along with my quantity.

Here's JJ Virgin, triple board certified nutrition and fitness expert and four time New York Times best selling author. It's time to reignite wellness.

All right, I got this question as a DM on my Instagram channel that is JJ Virgin on Instagram and it said, do I really need eight to nine hours of sleep? Because I get seven and a half and I just wake up naturally after seven and a half hours and I feel great. So here's the deal with that. We've got to look at two things when we're looking at sleep. It is not just quantity. In fact, even more important than quantity is quality. That is why I track my sleep with an OURA ring. And so you could use Fitbit. An OURA ring. There's a lot of different sleep trackers out there. Remember what you measure and monitor, you can improve. So super duper important to measure this. And I'm looking at my sleep quality along with my quantity. Now I tend to do better at eight and a half. And in fact, I'm kind of jealous because man, I wish I could do amazing at like six hours of sleep a night. I wish I could. Or seven or seven and a half. But I find, and I think this is the absolute test, if you went away on vacation and you just started to go, okay, what time naturally would I fall asleep at night? And then what time naturally would I wake up in the morning? I find that I go for eight and a half hours. That's just my natural groove where I start to feel really, really good. And there's a couple things that I'll do at home if I find that my sleep isn't optimal. And these are two things that I found that really, really helped. One is my product, Sleep Candy. That might sound like a shameful plug, but I actually put it together because I knew what I wanted works like a charm. And you can always grab the show notes for all of our little short Friday Q&As. You can go to jjvirgin.com questions and you can get the show notes. And in there we'll list sleep candy. But the other thing that's interesting is cbd. And we'll put a link to the designs for all cbd. What's interesting with CBD is that it can help with deep sleep. So you want to focus on finding out what's your ideal amount of sleep. Is it 7 hours, 8 hours, 9 hours? Where are you? If you're someone who's healing more, under a lot more stress, or working out super hard, it might be a little bit longer. I push myself pretty hard, so I think that's why I find that I need eight and a half. But sometimes I'll get eight and a half or nine hours of sleep and still not feel great. And I look and I just had a crappy night's sleep. And sometimes I get eight hours sleep and feel greatness because I had an awesome night's sleep. So remember, quality matters. So make sure you're in a pitch black room. I always travel with a tempur Pedic eye mask. We'll put a link to that too. And earplugs just in case. Things are crazy where I'm at. A lot of times I'll find that they don't block the light out well enough in these rooms. And pitch black room. Great mattress. I have a Samina mattress. Oh my gosh, it's the best. Get the EMFs, the Wi Fi, all that stuff out of your room and really prepare yourself. I've done a lot of podcasts on sleep, but the big answer to this question is do you really need eight to nine hours of sleep? You really need your amount of sleep, of quality sleep that's right for you. And that's probably going to be somewhere between seven and nine hours. And make sure that you're tracking that. All right, if you've got a question, I've got answers. What you want to do is go over to Facebook @jj virgin official or go over to Instagramj virgin or. Or you can even go over to YouTube. You can leave it on my blogs all over the place. We are always watching for questions. Cause we love to answer them on our Q and A Fridays. And I'd love to answer yours.

Hey, J.J. virgin here. Okay, real talk. So often the holidays sneak up on me, travel gifts, hosting, you know, all the things and suddenly it's like, wait, who spent what and where? And I know I'm not the only one who's looked at a bill in January and thought, wow, that escalated quickly. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. It's rated the Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or on your phone. Monarch lets you link everything and gives you real time visibility so you're not shocked later. Right now, I've been checking the holiday spending category so I don't accidentally start the new year with that dreaded debt hangover. And honestly, just seeing everything laid out is already helping me stay more aware. This season. Monarch does the heavy lifting. It links your accounts in minutes, gives you smart categorization and super clear visuals. Yes, that end of year reset could be a real goal this time. Don't let financial opportunities slip through the cracks. Use the code virginonarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year. @monarch.com with the code Virgin, the holidays.

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Hello listeners, this is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I tag all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately. And I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything, you'll learn something about yourself as a reader, and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and visit our website what Should I Read Next? Podcast. Com to find out more.