When it comes to sleep, are you a zombie, a wizard—or a daredevil?

Despite our biological urge to snooze every night, surveys show that up to 75 percent of Americans don’t get enough sleep. And pumping our bodies full of stimulants like caffeine and sugar is like putting a bandaid on a bullet hole. It’s not a feasible fix.


Which is why we created this sleep quiz—to help you determine how much sleep you actually need, and what sleep deprivation is doing to your mind and body.

Want to see really, really sleep deprived people do comedy? Watch Tuesday’s live taping of The Chris Gethard Show featuring special guest Seth Meyers.


The quiz and results are based on the expert guidance of Ilene Rosen, an associate professor of clinical medicine at University of Pennsylvania who specializes in sleep apnea and serves on the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine—as well as guidelines from the National Sleep Foundation and recent sleep studies published in major scientific journals.

You’ll notice that we ask whether you slept less than 6 hours, 7 to 9 hours, or 10 or more hours—these are the blocks outlined by the National Sleep Foundation. If your sleep falls between the cracks—say, you slept 6.5 hours or 9.5 hours last night—round down, just to be cautious. (Most people don’t fall asleep as soon as they get in bed.)

Of course, there are some exceptions to the guidelines outlined in the quiz. If you’re a “long sleeper” (someone whose body physically needs more sleep on average) or a “short sleeper” (someone whose body can function perfectly fine on less sleep), the results of your test might be a little skewed, but we hope they will still provide useful info about sleep deprivation—which can take a toll after just one night of bad sleep.

So are you ready to change your sleep habits? Scroll on up and take the quiz.

From Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Portugal and the UK we bring together skills in infographics, illustration, video, 3D, UX, game design, programming and above all a love of storytelling.


Taryn Hillin is Fusion’s love and sex writer, with a large focus on the science of relationships. She also loves dogs, Bourbon barrel-aged beers and popcorn — not necessarily in that order.