In my 20s and 30s I am able to get by on only 3 hours sleep if need be and I can still pull all nighters if necessary just so long as I get to recover the next night. I’ve heard some people say by your 40s your resiliency drops and you can’t function the next day on low or no sleep. Anyone have any idea?
Anecdotal: I was like you in my 20’s and 30’s, and could go days on 4 hours of sleep a day (parenthood will do that, as well as working graveyard shift). Now in my mid 40’s, I can still get away with ONE night of little sleep, and function pretty well, but I can’t go consecutive days with little sleep (less than 4 hours) and still function coherently…
In my case, your premise is true.
I’ve never had the ability to function without sleep, so no, never lost it. 9 hours a night is ideal for me.
It pretty much worked that way for me. In my late 20s I wrote my university graduation thesis and for the last three weeks only slept every other night. Got a pretty good grade and the final presentation also went well. After submitting the copies half an hour before the deadline I had lunch with my mother then went to bed at 3 pm and woke up at 5 pm the next day.
Now in my early 50s just one night with too little sleep significantly impacts both my performance and my sense of wellbeing.
I used to require 8 hours a night, but now only need to sleep about 6 hours a night. I wish I could get by on even less, I have much I still want to do.
Slept 12 hours last night,feel almost human.
Quite the opposite. Once I hit my 40s the amount of sleep I needed declined pretty dramatically.
I’m not 40 yet, but getting close, and I can now function on far less sleep than I used to. Back when I was in my teens, if I didn’t get a solid 8 hours or more, I’d end up with a very short fuse, and do stupid things. Nowadays, I can have several nights in a row of only 6, and be uncomfortably tired but still fully-functional.
This was me. I worked the graveyard shift off an on for most of my 30s into my 40s. I can maybe do one graveyard shift now with little consequence but there’s no way I could ever work that schedule now without being a zombiefied blibbering idiot.
At my current stage of life (50-something) I usually only sleep 6 - 7 hours at night and generally do pretty well all day. After a particularly stressful day at work I will often have a serious crash immediately upon arriving at home, but a quick 30 minute - 1 hour nap will perk me right back up again. But if I fall seriously short of the normal 6 - 7 hours of overnight sleep, I really feel it the next day.
I also noticed that as my parents and grandparents aged into their 70’s and beyond their sleep patterns continued to change to more frequent sleep periods of shorter duration. Can’t really comment of the effects of them missing a nap, though.
I see a difference not in how much sleep, but how much I dream. If a sleep, but it’s a dead black sleep, I’m not as on top of things. When I finally catch up and dream, I’m much more clear headed.
Not so I’ve noticed. If anything the amount of sleep I need has been dropping.
At 44, I need more sleep than I used to need. Under 8 hours and I’m tired all day. I usually get around 7 hours of sleep so I’m more or less ok but feel noticeably better with the right amount of sleep.
I find that I’m sleeping less as I get older (41 now). I still need about 5 hours minimum, but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to sleep more than 7 hours at a stretch, even on weekends. Five hours is typically all I get.
This describes me a bit. I didn’t add it in my op because I figured it was a fluke. I try to do high intensity aerobics and eat a micronutrient dense diet in my 30s. I notice I can recover faster from sleep deprivation than in my 20s. I assumed this was due to the improvements in exercise and diet, but wonder if it might be part of aging.
I’m in the camp of those who did just fine on four or five hours a night in my 20s and 30s, but after having cancer in my early 40s, everything changed. I want nine hours of sleep every night now; that would be ideal for me. It doesn’t often happen. Just at a time when I really need sleep, I find it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep (the problem is usually pain-related).
I never had that ability. Without about ten hours of sleep, I’m a barely coherent, drooling wreck. Always have been. I just hope it doesn’t get even worse.
Yes and no.
In my 20s, my ideal amount of sleep was about 7 or 8 hours. But if I got less, even for several nights in a row, I could power through and it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Now, I need much less sleep, 5 or 6 hours is fine. But if I get less even for one night, it’s much bigger problem for me, it’s really a struggle.
I would say since my early 30s, I have found 8-9 hrs a night to be ideal. I never get that much, but I would love to. I’m in my mid-40’s and that hasn’t changed. Less than 6 and I am useless.
When I was younger I could get by on much less and be just fine.
Hell no, I lost it in my 30s.