How Spending Time Outside Can Support Sleep, According To New Research

Besides offering a quick mood boost, spending time outdoors (even on cloudy days) exposes us to plenty of natural light. We know that this light can help keep our circadian clocks ticking smoothly, and that understanding served as a jumping-off point for this study.

"Humans evolved in an environment with a clear distinction between day and night, but our modern environments have blurred this distinction," the paper reads. When we're bombarded with artificial lighting and bright screens, we lose touch with the natural rhythms of the sun and moon, and it can be difficult for our bodies to keep track of what time it is. A slew of health challenges can follow suit: As we know from previous research on shift workers, a misaligned circadian rhythm can lead to all sorts of difficulties, including trouble sleeping.

After crunching the numbers, the team found that the average Biobank participant spent a median of 2.5 hours of time outdoors daily. The kicker was that for every extra hour spent outside, participants reported better sleep. They tended to have an easier time waking up, more alertness throughout the day, and fewer issues falling asleep and staying asleep.

This new research provides a clue on how we can hack the cycles of light and darkness to get better sleep. In addition to avoiding bright light and technology at night, we need to get outside as much as we can during daylight hours.

Previous research, also out of the U.K., has suggested that 120 minutes a week2 is the minimum amount of time we should spend outside to support our health. This new study shows that, if good sleep is a goal, most of it should be during the day—when we can harness all the circadian-supporting, vitamin D-boosting benefits the sunshine has to offer (safely and covered in sunscreen, of course!).