# How Much Do You Sleep **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602 "2010-06-10T01:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/21 "2010-06-10T16:46:48Z")
I voted 6 hours but it is more like 6.5 hours. I probably need about 7.5 hours but I rarely get that much free time. I will probably get about 4 hours a night until the FAT on 21 Jun 2010 is complete. Damn… am I tired! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/22 "2010-06-10T16:47:37Z")
I said six. As few as 4, as many as seven, but almost always exactly six. Zero? Why was it even an option? How can **Happy Poster** be a happy poster. ---
**Author:** ![Bayesian\_Empirimancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Bayesian\_Empirimancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayesian_Empirimancer)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/23 "2010-06-10T17:30:14Z")
4 hours, insomnia sucks. I guess that’s why my workout routine starts at 4:30. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/24 "2010-06-10T18:40:32Z")
Since I’ve been [del]unemployed[/del] a housewife, I’ve slept a consistent nine hours, waking up at the same time without an alarm clock, so I’d have to say nine is my ideal. Actually, thinking about it, it’s probably closer to eight and a half, because I read for a bit before turning out the light. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/25 "2010-06-10T18:57:29Z")
Not enough. I go to bed between 11.30 and 12 on a work night, but I don’t sleep well and end up getting up at 7 having actually only slept for parts of that. Impossible to say how much sleep I actually get. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/26 "2010-06-10T19:31:56Z")
I put nine, which will do if I’m medicated. (I have a form of narcolepsy that affects my wake-up; without alarms or medication I’ve slept 14 hours or so many many times.) Our not-at-all-distant ancestors averaged much more sleep than we do before electricity made most of the world 24-7. There were exceptions of course: wartime, those who lived in tenements where there was lots of activity outside, etc., but most people who lived on farms (which was most people) slept about 10 hours per night minus occasional time reading the Bible or whatever by firelight and making lots of babies. I’ve wondered if the extra sleep was due to physical need or lack of stimulation. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/27 "2010-06-10T19:37:34Z")
Through meditation and good thoughts I have not had to sleep for 45 years. Someitmes I meditate 6 hours in my bed and close my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/28 "2010-06-10T19:43:30Z")
I’d like 8 (hell I’d _like_ 10) but usually get 7, sometimes less. I voted 7. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/29 "2010-06-10T19:59:38Z")
Seven on weekdays, nine on weekends. ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/30 "2010-06-10T20:12:25Z")
I average seven on weekdays, but on weekends I will sleep very late, twelve hours or over if I don’t have to go anywhere. It really messes up my weekday sleep, but I sincerely hate waking up (and going to bed). So I put 7 hours since that’s what I get when I have to be normally productive. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/31 "2010-06-11T01:14:32Z")
Nine hours would be ideal for me, I think. But it doesn’t happen. My body has its own, very strange circadian rhythm. I go to bed around 10PM. Sleep like a rock until about 3:30 or 4AM. I get up, get some stuff done, noodle around on the 'puter, go back to bed around 7AM, sleep until 8:30 or so. So, most 24-hour-periods, 7.5-8 hours. But 9 would be better. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/32 "2010-06-11T01:19:38Z")
I don’t sleep. I spleep. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/33 "2010-06-11T04:37:34Z")
I hate to say it, but probably about eleven hours. I probably get about oh, nine hours sleep at night, and often I end up falling asleep during the day. The anti-convulsants I’m on can really knock you out. Ask me about all the times I fell asleep on the bus. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/34 "2010-06-11T05:34:28Z")
6ish hours on weekdays, 8-9 on weekends. My problem is that I’m an extreme, extreme night owl. I haven’t gone to bed before 1:00am in about 5 years, and if left to my own devices my sleep schedule would run from 4:00am-12:30pm. Even if I’m tired, I just physically cannot fall asleep before that late hour. I can get 3 hours of sleep and then still be up until 2 the next night, just cuz. I can get away with it now because I’m in grad school and don’t necessarily need to function on a 9-5 schedule, but once I start working it’s going to be a big problem. I sleep a normal number of hours and do not have insomnia or excessive sleepiness, but my internal clock is considerably off. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/35 "2010-06-11T09:08:15Z")
I get between 5 and 6 hours a night - bed at 11pm-ish, up at 5:20 to get to work (I workout for an hour once I get there, though, after a 1 hour commute). It probably isn’t enough, but I rarely need a midday nap anymore. Even weekends I don’t usually oversleep. I do sleep solidly, though. Si ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@Electric\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/36 "2010-06-11T09:23:15Z")
Seven is what I usually manage, though I can live with six and would prefer eight. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/37 "2010-06-11T09:30:22Z")
I’m glad I’m not the only one who put 13 or more. I’m surprised there were even different options for numbers above 10. It’s hard to say that it’s all sleep; a lot of it is laying in bed and either trying to get to sleep, or almost feeling paralyzed being unwilling to get up. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/38 "2010-06-11T10:50:34Z")
Let me guess, you’re 15? ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/39 "2010-06-11T20:16:34Z")
My situation is kind of weird. Back in December I would have put 8.5 with 9 optimal. Very hard to drag my ass out of bed, hit the snooze for 30 minutes before I could stumble to the couch to drink coffee for an hour before I could even think of getting in the shower. But then my diagnosis changed from depression to bipolar spectrum disorder. With that came a change from Lexapro to Lamictal. Now I am a bit too in sync with my circadian rhythm and I am _awake_ (BING!) at 5:00-5:15AM every freaking day. I am, apparently, a morning person. Who the fuck knew. Never was for the first 41 years of my life, but I guess I will be for the remaining 41. I’ll be interested to see what happens in the fall… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602/40 "2010-06-13T01:12:03Z")
Now see, **niblet** , I’m on Lamictal, (combined with Zonegran), and it just about wipes me out. Earlier today I was doing laundry and practically dozing off in front of the dryer! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-sleep/542602.md?page=3)