DONALD TRUMP CLAIMS he usually gets between four and five hours of sleep per night. He says he usually goes to bed at midnight or 1am and wakes up at 5am to eat, read newspapers and watch television.

“Don’t sleep any more than you have to,” he wrote in his 2004 book Think Like a Billionaire.

His predecessor, the late UK prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, also famously said that she only ever needed four hours’ sleep a night.

Both figures arguably benefited politically from the notion that they were leaders who were ‘always on’ and, in a sense, to be feared. Certainly, Trump’s recent late-night online pronouncements have caused many to wonder if he sleeps at all. 

The late British PM, Margaret Thatcher famously said she survived on four hours' sleep. Trump swears by seven. Alamy Alamy

Increasingly, in a society that prizes productivity, sleep is considered expendable, something to trade for working late, but with experts advising that the optimum amount of sleep is 7–9 hours each night, Trump and Thatcher’s advice is once again not good or helpful.

Adequate sleep, so vital to good health, is a major factor that can improve brain health and reduce the risk of dementia. Too little sleep (less than six hours) or too much (more than nine hours) is associated with reductions in attention, memory, logic and reasoning.

What is good quality sleep?

We humans spend about a third (30%) of our lives sleeping. The brain goes through a series of sleep cycles every night, each cycle lasting from 90 to 110 minutes.

Stage 1 is the lightest stage when you first doze off and lasts a few minutes.

Stage 2 is slightly deeper, where brain waves slow down, and memories are organised. It accounts for up to half of the time spent asleep.

Stage 3 is the stage of deep or slow wave sleep that is crucial for physical restoration, immune health and cellular repair.

The final rapid eye movement (REM), Stage 4 is the phase where vivid dreaming occurs and is critical to emotional regulation.

Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

When people go to sleep, ideally, they proceed uninterrupted through the sleep cycles to get the most out of sleeping.

Alcohol in particular can affect REM sleep, interrupting your circadian rhythm, resulting in fragmented sleep, fatigue and brain fog that can last for days.

The body clock that controls sleep

A good night’s sleep is underpinned by two things: how tired we are,........

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