How much sleep do you need?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

I hear you. Those would be my preferred hours too. Fortunately for me, my familly doesn’t particularly think that’s a problem (or at least, I’m old enough for them to leave me to deal with it myself if it is), though of course I get teased about it. Unfortunately for me, I have work and uni to unreasonably demand I be up in the mornings. grumbles

As to how much sleep I need to start the next day feeling goodly: infinite. I never start the day feeling anything but dead. I usually must spend at least half an hour technically awake but not actually moving before I can get up. However, to be feeling decent a little while after I get up, I think I need about 5-6 hours. I can go down to 3-4 for a couple of nights without too many ill effects though. If I can I spend much longer than that in bed though. On most weekends I’m technically awake by around 8:30, but I sometimes don’t get out of bed till 2:00.

42

I need nine hours, but can survive on eight.

Anything less and I have dark circles, a headache, and I yawn all day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to be up at 7, and usually only get about 7 hours, so I yawn every three minutes through my three most boring classes, but MWF I’m up at 8:30, so I get to sleep in and make up the extra time. My body is like a sleep bank - if I miss two hours one night, I need to make it up in the next two days or I deconstruct.

Ever since I started school, I’ve found that I’m ready to pass out at midnight and get jerked awake by my internal clock at 9am.

My idea of a perfect day is sleeping a full nine hours, having an hour to read in bed, doing whatever I have to do, then spending the rest of the day in or near my bed. I don’t nap well - usually I wake groggy and confused - but just being in bed helps. Also, I meditate, so even when I can’t sleep, I can wake up feeling fairly well-rested.

Any less than seven and a half hours, and I have to wear my glasses since my eyes are too dry for contacts, and I depend severely on caffeine to make it through the day. I have to read “The Rape of Lucrece” tonight, so I will probably wear the glasses tomorrow.

FYI, I read a thing a few years ago about figuring out how much sleep your body needs. Set aside three days when you can sleep in as late as you want. Go to bed the same time every night. The first morning you will sleep a whole lot (I slept 13 hours), the second a little less, and the third morning in how much sleep your body needs.

I wish with all my heart that I could get by with six hours. That would leave me much more time to study.

43

WOW! This is my biggest thread ever started!

THanks for all the great info, ever since I pulled my first 4am assignmetn in Year 11, then My first all nighter in university, I have been fascinated by the effects of sleep/no-sleep.

And that whole fight club idea fascinates me.

THe 1 1/2 hour cycle is how long it takes for your rem sleep to kick in, then kick out. Apparently a healthy,undisturbed sleep will wake you up at the tail end of one of these cycles. SO the theory goes that you will feel best if you have a nap and wake up on the end of a cycle.

For me though, it kills me to nap any longer than half an hour. I love my afternoon naps, and feel like one almost everyday, but if it goes any longer than 30 mins then I’m a zombie for the rest o the day. End up really flat/ mopey, and down feeling.

Those who mentioned the whole “sleep is unproductive and there are better things to do” idea, I feel the same way completely, its just a pity my eyes/body doesnt. I love the night, I love the day, but my head loves 4 hours a night. Ce la vie

I actually started this thread thinking I’d be the champion no-sleeper…looks like im up there, but not the champ. Ill do better tonight!

44

I went through a phase where I would sleep 6 hrs exactly. No matter how hard I tried, I would only sleep 6 hrs.

I thought I could break this once. I stayed up at one point about 30 hrs or so. I ended up going to bed at 9p, thinking I’d get at least 10 hrs of sleep. Nope. Woke up at 3a as lively as ever. Finally I got back to sleep around 6 or so, but I had to be up at 8 for work, and was more tired at 8 than I was at 3.

I gave into this and was doing this for almost 2 yrs. I still sometimes only get 6 hrs, but I don’t sleep EXACTLY 6 hrs any more. During the week I usually get 7 or 8 hrs, and on the weekends, more. I’m usually up no later than 9a, tho. Unless of course I drank a lot and stayed up really late, then I might sleep till 12.

I’m just glad that I’m not still only sleeping 6 hrs. It was cool, because I could stay up late, get my 6 hrs, then go. It sucked because sometimes you want to sleep more than that. I was wondering if I was falling into the insomnia that the character from S.King’s Insomnia fell into. Alas, I never got less than 6 hrs.