# sleep?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 1999, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745 "1999-12-06T11:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@chief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chief)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/1 "1999-12-06T11:01:00Z")
how much sleep does one acutally need every night? * * * Chief’s Domain - [http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi](http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi) ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/2 "1999-12-06T12:14:00Z")
At least 5 1/2 hours or else I start getting punchy. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/3 "1999-12-06T12:25:00Z")
I think the minimum is approximately six hours to be healthy, but eight is recommended, and if you have ten or more, that’s too much and just as bad as too little. Not that that stops me. * * * -PIGEONMAN- Hero For A New Millennium! [The Legend Of PigeonMan](http://www.hotkey.net.au/~guanolad/pigeonman/) - updates every Wed & Sat. If I can be bothered. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/4 "1999-12-06T13:01:00Z")
I usually get between 5 and 6 hours. I heard on the radio the other day a study that claimed that people who slept between 4 and 5 hours had the longest lifespan. Like I said though heard it on the radio, anyone actually have a link to this sleep study ? ---
**Author:** ![Globe-trotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@Globe-trotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Globe-trotter)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/5 "1999-12-06T13:04:00Z")
I need at least 6 hours. Ideally, more. 🙂 The SD chatroom’s ruining my sleeping patterns. \ 😉 * * * Some drink at the fountain of knowledge…others just gargle. ---
**Author:** ![Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/6 "1999-12-06T16:05:00Z")
Mine too Moosie! I need at least 7 hours a night, but I can get by on less during the week as long as I catch up on the weekend. Weekends I sleep 12-14 hours. * * * “Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.” - George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![CanadianSue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@CanadianSue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanadianSue)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/7 "1999-12-06T16:07:00Z")
Lately I’ve been getting between one and three hours a night, but normally about 5 does it for me. * * * The thing about life is that if you can laugh at yourself and the mistakes you make, then you learn lessons from the things that cause the most pain ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/8 "1999-12-06T16:14:00Z")
## 4 to 5 hours a night during the week, 6 to 7 hours in weekends. Unless Moosie ICQ’s me to join her and the other perves in the Chatroom 🙂 Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![Globe-trotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@Globe-trotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Globe-trotter)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/9 "1999-12-06T16:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Unless Moosie ICQ’s me to join her and the other perves in the Chatroom And vice versa, wiseass! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CanadianSue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@CanadianSue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanadianSue)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/10 "1999-12-06T16:27:00Z")
Moosie, you and Cold are definitely bad influences in my life, and soon I’ll have to start a 12 step program to battle your evils … 😉 ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/11 "1999-12-06T16:28:00Z")
What kind of sleep? Also, any discount for getting up to pee? ---
**Author:** ![Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/12 "1999-12-06T16:30:00Z")
Wait a minute…Cold, YOU’RE the one always sending me messages on ICQ saying “Chatroom…over there…NOW!” And you blame US for corrupting you…_sigh_ * * * “Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.” - George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![Globe-trotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@Globe-trotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Globe-trotter)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/13 "1999-12-06T16:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Moosie, you and Cold are definitely bad influences in my life, and soon I’ll have to start a 12 step program to battle your evils… Now, why anybody would want to do that is beyond me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CanadianSue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@CanadianSue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanadianSue)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/14 "1999-12-06T17:03:00Z")
Team Jackets all around!! * * * The thing about life is that if you can laugh at yourself and the mistakes you make, then you learn lessons from the things that cause the most pain ---
**Author:** ![MLAW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@MLAW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLAW)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/15 "1999-12-06T17:28:00Z")
Hey, a topic I’ve been studying for years - most facinating. When I was a teenager I could go 12 hours easy. Now (at 36) I’m awake after 6 or 7 hrs. We need less sleep as we age. Eight hours is the average, however, each individual has it’s own needs. I have a co-worker who is wide awake after 4 hours; completely rested and ready to go. If I sleep too long then I drag my ass around all day. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/16 "1999-12-06T17:36:00Z")
I can function for weeks at a time with minimal sleep - 3-5 hours a night, sometimes less. However, after a week (or two at th most), I need a “no alarm clock” day where I just zonk out and wake up whenever I do. Sometimes, this has resulted in deep 17 hour marathons of slumber. Other times, I get not considerably more sleep than I did before, but I still feel refreshed. * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/17 "1999-12-06T17:44:00Z")
I recall reading that Napoleon only needed 3 hours. Also, Thomas Edison got by with a few 15 minute naps a day. Has there ever been anyone who did not sleep at all? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/18 "1999-12-07T06:00:00Z")
I could use a nap right now. * * * “Some people are worried about the difference between right and wrong. I’m worried about the difference between wrong and fun.” ~P.J. O’Rourke~ ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/19 "1999-12-07T06:23:00Z")
It can go anywhere from 5 and a half to 9.If I need to get sleepy,I just lay down. # minutes before I fall asleep. I can’t lay down without falling asleep(especially after reading a serlin post!) ---
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep/11745/20 "1999-12-07T06:42:00Z")
I am at my peak if I sleep 3-4 hours twice a day. I will wake up perfectly refreshed and ready to go. Not easy to work into a schedule though. Right now I sleep 12-4, go to work 5-2, then sleep 3-6ish. Adjust a bit on weekends. As a teen, I routinely stayed up 32-40 hours over weekends, and the crashed for 12 and woke up fine. I can do that still, just not as often. I think it’s because I am getting tolerant to caffeine… harder to stay awake with it. * * * [http://www.madpoet.com](http://www.madpoet.com) The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.