# too much sleep or too little **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769 "2001-08-29T18:39:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/1 "2001-08-29T18:39:43Z")
This old article popped up on the front page [Why do you feel groggy after oversleeping?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990205.html). It only raised additional questions, so I’m posting here rather than commenting on the article elsewhere. Barring the use of clocks, how does one tell the difference between oversleeping and too little sleep? It seems to me that you’d be just as groggy either way. An additional question: Why would your body allow you to oversleep if you didn’t need the extra rest? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/2 "2001-08-29T18:47:32Z")
If you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t feel groggy, but sleepy. (There’s a diffeence.) In addition, you won’t feel refreshed, as you would after a good night’s sleep. I’ve also heard that if you get too much sleep, you may wake up feeling good, but you’ll get groggy around 11am. Why would a body do this? I don’t know. I’ve never experienced that luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/3 "2001-08-29T18:47:35Z")
I’d classify oversleeping as those times when you wake up naturally, then roll over and go back to sleep. That first waking up was your body telling you, “Get out of bed, asshole!” While the normal amount of sleep per night differs from person to person, for most folks it averages from 6 to 8 hours a night. So sleeping 10 hours is oversleeping. Not very scientific, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/4 "2001-08-29T18:50:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guy Propski \* > \*\*I’d classify oversleeping as those times when you wake up naturally, then roll over and go back to sleep. That first waking up was your body telling you, “Get out of bed, asshole!” \*\* I can’t go along with that. I sometimes wake up around 3am feeling good. Maybe I’ll get up now, I think, and get a headstart on things. But then I roll over and go back to sleep until the alarm wakes me at 5am, and now I feel tired. Perhaps if I go to sleep earlier instead of posting on the SDMB, I’d feel better. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/5 "2001-08-29T19:14:11Z")
I get a sore back if I sleep too long, so that’s my indicator rather than groggy vs. sleepy. ---
**Author:** ![jonfromdenver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@jonfromdenver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonfromdenver)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/6 "2001-08-29T19:20:41Z")
check out the related thread in another column: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=84352](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=84352) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/7 "2001-08-29T19:29:26Z")
Damn! I can’t believe **Ethilrist** be me to it. Well, ditto. One of these days I’m going to have nothing else to have to worry about (going to work, little things like that) and I’m going to try getting up that first time I wake up feeling like I’ve had all the sleep I need (for me, this is usually around 3:00 or 3:30) and see how it goes. Didn’t Ben Franklin or Einstein or somebody used to sleep like three or four hours at night and then take a two or three hour nap during the day? Seems like a good compromise if you can schedule your life around it. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/8 "2001-08-29T19:50:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\*Didn’t Ben Franklin or Einstein or somebody used to sleep like three or four hours at night and then take a two or three hour nap during the day? Seems like a good compromise if you can schedule your life around it. \*\* It was Edison. Or at least that was what was said about him. Only I heard that he took frequent, but shorter, naps during the day. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-sleep-or-too-little/78769/9 "2001-08-29T20:06:59Z")
My eyes begin to hurt and my mouth goes dry when I sleep too long. If I sleep past that stage I get an upset stomache.