The Truth About Sleep, Science and Productivity

Good article in Fast Company about how much sleep people need to maximize their productivity.

The Truth About Sleep, Science and Productivity 

When the topic of sleep arises, two questions invariably follow:

What's the perfect amount of sleep to keep batteries charged and stay productive?

How do I go to sleep the right way?

Both are common questions, but the answers aren't as simple as they might seem.

THERE'S NO MAGIC NUMBER

... 

The bottom line: understand that sleep is highly individual, and to ensure that you can fall asleep when you need to, train your brain into knowing when it's time to turn the lights off.

For the record, I am one of those people who needs 8 hours of sleep to even be quasi-functional.