What is Sleep Quality Score?
A sleep quality score combines duration, schedule consistency, environment, pre-bed habits, and daytime energy into a 0 to 100 view of how well you sleep. It does not diagnose sleep disorders; possible disorder signs (loud snoring with gasping, severe insomnia, sleepiness while driving) route to a doctor.
The Formula
Score = Weighted Sum (Duration + Consistency + Environment + Pre-Bed Habits + Daytime Energy)
Consistency is the highest-leverage single category for most adults; duration without consistency rarely produces refreshed mornings.
Worked Example
An adult sleeping about 6 hours with variable bedtime, dark cool bedroom, scrolls phone in bed, last coffee at 3pm, wakes unrefreshed most mornings.
- Duration: 4 (under 7 hours)
- Consistency: 3 (variable schedule)
- Environment: 8 (good bedroom)
- Pre-Bed Habits: 2 (phone in bed, late coffee)
- Daytime Energy: 4 (unrefreshed)
📌 Score around 42. Highest leverage is locking the wake time (consistency) and pulling phone out of the bedroom (pre-bed habits). This is general wellness education, not a sleep-disorder diagnosis.
Why This Matters
Sleep is the foundation of recovery
Published sleep research consistently shows 7-9 hours per night for adults supports cognitive, metabolic, mood, and immune function. Below 6 hours sustained, all of these degrade measurably.
Schedule consistency outperforms duration
Holding a fixed wake time across all 7 days (including weekends) is one of the most robust findings in chronobiology research; it tends to pull bedtime into alignment automatically.
Screen light suppresses melatonin at a measurable level
Harvard Medical School research found that blue-enriched light from screens used within 2 hours of bedtime suppresses melatonin production by roughly 50% and shifts circadian timing by about 1.5 hours. Removing the phone from the bedroom is often the single highest-return sleep hygiene change.
Common Mistakes
❌ Trying to catch up on weekend sleep
Social jet lag from variable weekend schedules disrupts the circadian rhythm more than it repairs the sleep debt. A fixed wake time produces a more recoverable system.
❌ Treating supplements as a substitute for sleep hygiene
Supplements may help at the margin, but environment and schedule changes do the heavy lifting. Persistent reliance on sleep aids warrants a doctor conversation.
❌ Ignoring room temperature as a sleep factor
The National Sleep Foundation recommends a bedroom temperature of 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal sleep. A room that is too warm disrupts slow-wave and REM sleep stages even when total sleep hours appear normal, leading to unrefreshed mornings despite adequate time in bed.
Industry Benchmarks
| Category | Good | Average | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult nightly sleep need | 7-9 hours | 6-7 hours | Under 6 hours |
| US adults reporting insufficient sleep | Stable schedule | ~1 in 3 adults | Chronic short sleep |
| Sleep-disorder signs to discuss with a doctor | None | Mild snoring without daytime issues | Witnessed pauses, gasping, severe insomnia |
Source: CDC Sleep and Sleep Disorders Surveillance and American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guidelines
Benchmark data sourced from CDC Sleep and Sleep Disorders Surveillance and American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guidelines.