Think back to last night – did you get enough sleep? Did you get that magic number of hours that you need – and, really, what is that number?

Well researchers have the answer – seven hours is the perfect amount for mental health. If you’re between the ages of 38 and 73, you want no less…and no more.

The testing showed that not enough sleep as well as too much sleep will affect our memories, problem solving skills, even our ability to pay attention. As well as more symptoms of anxiety and depression – and those got worse overall if the patten of not enough, or too much sleep, continued.

Now you’ve got the weekend, and three full nights, to start getting the right amount of sleep you need so you’ll be ready for Monday.

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We all look forward to having free time. But you either feel like you don’t have enough free time, or you have too much, and you become bored.

But is having one better than the other?

According to a new study, people are happier when they have more free time. It’s not surprising, but they only felt that way up to a certain point – two hours per day. If people find that they have more than five hours of free time per day, then they had a more negative opinion of their free time – just as bad as if they don’t have enough.

Too little free time makes people feel like they don’t have enough time to relax and do what they want to do, and too much makes them feel lazy and lacking purpose.

So, since the sweet spot for your wellbeing is right in the middle, researchers suggest those who feel like they have too little free time should try to find a few more leisure hours, and those with a lot of it should plan to do something more productive rather than wait for things to happen.

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Are you a regular coffee drinker? If so, it’s probably affecting your health – both positively and negatively at the same time.

Coffee drinkers get more steps in each day than non-coffee drinkers. But, by staying more active, they’re also getting less sleep overall.

The caffeine gets you moving – about 1,000 more steps per day on average. But the caffeine keeps you up – you get about 36 minutes less sleep at night. And the more coffee you drink, the less sleep you’ll get.

The big takeaway is that coffee shouldn’t be looked at as either good or bad for your health, because the effects are different. But if you do value one benefit over the other, take into consideration just how much coffee you drink every day.

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