# How much sleep do you need? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833 "2007-11-17T15:18:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/1 "2007-11-17T15:18:50Z")
I can make it on no less that 7 hours a night. Anything less and my eyeballs feel like their bleeding and I can’t think straight. When I meet the “I only need three hours a night” people, I’m dumbfounded at how they can function properly throughout life. What about you? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/2 "2007-11-17T15:27:01Z")
The older I get, the less I seem to need. If I get four or five hours straight, I’m lucky. (But then, I nap a lot.) ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/3 "2007-11-17T16:02:10Z")
I have to have 8 hours a night, am better with 9, and would love to have 10. I need sleep. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/4 "2007-11-17T16:09:33Z")
I’m like **Liberal** with this crap. I also get a nap during the day, if needed. I’m up most of the night/early morning, so my nap happens during the day, which screws up my being able to sleep at night, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_of\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@Sock\_of\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_of_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/5 "2007-11-17T16:34:19Z")
Always about an hour more than I actually get, whatever it is. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/6 "2007-11-17T17:23:26Z")
I usually get 5 1/2 or 6 hours during the week (about 12:30-6:15), and I manage pretty well. I never take naps - I hate sleeping during the day, and I don’t have time anyway. I get a little more sleep on weekends; I got about 6 1/2 hours last night. I’m a morning person, so I actually feel worse if I sleep too late. I’m 21 and a senior in college, if that explains anything. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/7 "2007-11-17T17:42:46Z")
I heard a sleep expert talking on the radio a couple of weeks ago. He was asked about all the famous figures who supposedly managed on a few hours a night. He said that it is basically crap, that he has pictures of all these revered figures asleep in important meetings. He said that many people who claimed to sleep very few hours neglected to include their daytime sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/8 "2007-11-17T17:52:26Z")
Through high school/college, I needed 8-10 hours a night. Then I went to work as a software developer in the mid '90s; the minimum 80 hour workweeks (some were 110+) left little time for sleep and I got trained out of sheer necessity to operate on 3-6. Now, I (generally) can’t sleep more than 6 hours a night; at least part of it has been my getting more sensitive to light, I think. During the summer, I sleep less (4-5 hours) than I do in winter (6-7 hours). ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/9 "2007-11-17T17:56:56Z")
Usually I get between seven and eight. If I can keep the bedroom really really dark and I’m really tired, I can sleep for about nine hours max as long as I don’t need to get up. If I get woken up after seven in the morning I won’t get back to sleep no matter what time I could sleep till, which can be annoying on my days off. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/10 "2007-11-17T18:02:32Z")
I can function pretty well on a couple of hours a night, but after about a week or so I’d need a long lie in to catch up. ---
**Author:** ![BrknButterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BrknButterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrknButterfly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/11 "2007-11-17T18:15:29Z")
If I get 8 hours, I’m good. Though I rarely get that because I am always putting it off and doing something else. It’s my own fault. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/12 "2007-11-17T19:41:30Z")
I need about 10 hours a night. That’s not to say I get it- I don’t, but for optimum performance, that’s what I’d need. My best friend always thought it extremely strange that I needed that much sleep and that there was something wrong with me, until a couple of years ago she read an article saying that some people really do need 10 hours- now she accepts it. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/13 "2007-11-17T19:50:06Z")
I guess I need 4 to 5 hours nightly, at least that’s how much I generally get through the week and I’m surviving. Hopefully, in a few years at the latest, that’ll change and I’ll get a more normal schedule and be logging about 7 hours a night, I feel better when I get that much. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/14 "2007-11-17T19:52:28Z")
Ideally, around 8 or 9 hours. I can function pretty well on 6 or 7, but anything less than that and I’m a zombie. I try not to nap; it exacerbates my insomnia. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/15 "2007-11-17T20:06:07Z")
7-9 is optimal, but during a week day I am lucky to get 6. Fortunately my working week is only 3 days long at the moment. My husband needs 10 or he’s cranky and has to have a nap. I call him Calvin Coolidge. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/16 "2007-11-17T20:52:59Z")
Seven and a half or I’m an utter zombie in desperate need of coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/17 "2007-11-17T20:56:03Z")
I’ve never needed more than 5. Typical nights are 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. but they’ve been that way since I was about 12. Just the way I’m wired. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/18 "2007-11-17T20:58:08Z")
When everything’s going great, seven hours and forty minutes is perfect for me. When I’ve had a hard week, I occasionally sleep ten hours on a weekend. But that’s just being indulgent. I also take naps when I can get them. I seem to handle lack of sleep better now that I’m older. When I was in my twenties I was a zombie if I got less than eight hours sleep, feeling jet-lagged all day long. Never could understand anyone who burned the midnight oil. Nowadays my sleep gets interrupted a lot, mostly be either the cats being playful or thoughts of work that won’t let me sleep, and it doesn’t seem to affect my daytime usefulness. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/19 "2007-11-17T20:59:13Z")
I need about 7 to 10. After a work week of getting less, I’ll zonk out on the weekends and sleep until noon. If I can’t do that, it’ll accrue until I shut down. Some times I’ve gone to bed at 8 because of it. For the record, I’m a night owl. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833/20 "2007-11-17T21:04:50Z")
I average 7 hours. 8 would be better, and after a couple of nights when the 7 I get regularly are fitful and I’m feeling sleep deprived I’ll go to bed 2 hours early and that seems to get me back on track for a while. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/426833.md?page=2)