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Poll: How much do you sleep?

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Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#41

Post by Alupis »

japhyr wrote: post #33

I'll put in a plug for ditching your alarm clock. I was a terrible snoozer for years. At my worst, I went through a bad progression: I moved my alarm clock across the room, so I'd have to get out of bed to hit snooze. I got so I could walk across the room, stand on a chair, reset the snooze, and go back to sleep without ever knowing it. I removed the snooze button from my alarm clock, and covered the hole with tape.…

Maybe one of those alarm clocks that make you solve some challenge/puzzle would wake you up a bit more.

Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#42

Post by QuixoticChris »

rgbrenner wrote: post #36
japhyr wrote: post #33

I'll put in a plug for ditching your alarm clock. I was a terrible snoozer for years. At my worst, I went through a bad progression: I moved my alarm clock across the room, so I'd have to get out of bed to hit snooze. I got so I could walk across the room, stand on a chair, reset the snooze, and go back to sleep without ever knowing it. I removed the snooze button from my alarm clock, and covered the hole with tape.…

I do the same thing with my alarm -- walk across the room and manually set it for 10 minutes later.. sometimes several times... sometimes without even remembering. So what does no alarm mean in practice? How early do you go to bed? and how early do you need to be at work? Does this mean going to bed at 8pm?

I've been moving in this direction for a few months as well. In the beginning, yes, it might mean going to bed at 8 or 9. People who snooze like this (I used to) are probably going around with a significant "sleep debt". For example, if I set no alarm a couple of months ago, I would sleep for 12 hours. If I set no alarm again the next night, I would sleep for 12 hours again.

After maybe a couple of weeks of heavy sleeping (see note), your pattern will hopefully return to where you can go to bed at a normal time again without worrying about oversleeping.

NOTE: I don't recommend trying to make up that sleep night after night. Two nights of 12 hours in a row leave me feeling not my best. But consistently getting above-average amounts of sleep for an extended period of time will move you in that direction. (9.5ish has been good for me.)

Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#43

Post by Retra »

japhyr wrote: post #33

I'll put in a plug for ditching your alarm clock. I was a terrible snoozer for years. At my worst, I went through a bad progression: I moved my alarm clock across the room, so I'd have to get out of bed to hit snooze. I got so I could walk across the room, stand on a chair, reset the snooze, and go back to sleep without ever knowing it. I removed the snooze button from my alarm clock, and covered the hole with tape.…

I always set my alarm each night, and I haven't heard it go off in about 6 years. I always wake up before my alarm would go off, without fail. Even if I set it to a strange time.

I think it has to do with the fact that I set it each night, but I'm not sure...

Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#44

Post by mcmatterson »

japhyr wrote: post #29
nkozyra wrote: post #14

My first child turned 14 months yesterday. For the duration of his life I've operated on 5-7 hours total every night. I (and my co.) were just acqui-hired, but prior to that I was in the 5th year of startup hustle, which became infinitely harder with a newborn. The difference is that I appreciate the value of sleep more than I did before. During a near-acquisition a few years ago I was sleeping 3 hours a night thinki…

My kid will turn 4 in March. It's much better these days than when he was an infant, but there are still many interrupted nights - dreams, peeing, just coming in to say he's awake. It's sweet; I wouldn't give it up for the word. Some day he'll be too old to crawl into bed with us, so I enjoy every night he comes to visit us now. What I'm finding, though, is that when I get uninterrupted sleep now, it's amazingly refr…

Also a parent of a 4yo, agreed 100%. I notice a difference even if I don't get woken up at night (which thankfully is a rarity). I think it's mostly a matter of how I get woken up in the morning (she's basically our alarm clock), even though I get up at roughly the same time when she's not around.

I've also noticed that the rare nights when she's completely out of our care (at her grandparents), my quality of sleep is even better still. I wonder if there isn't some sort of psychological stress that affects sleep quality when there's a kid in the next room who's your responsibility.

Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#45

Post by nkozyra »

mcmatterson wrote: post #44
japhyr wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kid will turn 4 in March. It's much better these days than when he was an infant, but there are still many interrupted nights - dreams, peeing, just coming in to say he's awake. It's sweet; I wouldn't give it up for the word. Some day he'll be too old to crawl into bed with us, so I enjoy every night he comes to visit us now. What I'm finding, though, is that when I get uninterrupted sleep now, it's amazingly refr…

Also a parent of a 4yo, agreed 100%. I notice a difference even if I don't get woken up at night (which thankfully is a rarity). I think it's mostly a matter of how I get woken up in the morning (she's basically our alarm clock), even though I get up at roughly the same time when she's not around. I've also noticed that the rare nights when she's completely out of our care (at her grandparents), my quality of sleep i…

Considering I still regularly wake up and sleepfully check the bed for a baby that has been in his crib the entire night, I will attest 'yes.'

It's proof positive that I'm always subconsciously thinking about the safety of my son, and this has interesting analogs (to me, at least). When I had issues with my startup (again, pre acqui-hire), my sleep quality suffered mightily. When we had a new customer or a new contract or a well-received release, I slept better.

My hope is that I'll acquiesce a bit on the subconscious, constant fear for the nightly safety of my son, my sleep quality will continue to improve and in the near future I'll be a benevolent billionaire. Meanwhile, another long night :)

Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#46

Post by ivanhoe »

nkozyra wrote: post #34
UrMomReadsHN wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No no no no and no. You can't train your body to need less sleep. Sleep deprivation actually effects your judgment on how much sleep you need. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1690

"Affects." Score one for the "sleep deprived." :) First, literally none of the sources in that link works. Every single one is a 404. Second, less sleep != "sleep deprivation." This assumes that people never get used to sleeping more than is physiologically necessary. I sleep 5.5 -> 6.5 hours a night. Plenty of people do. But I used to sleep 8+ hours a night in my mid-20s and anything less would leave me feeling wort…

I rarely sleep longer than that, but it's not a training, simply comes with the age (I'm 40). Real question is how long would you sleep now if you could sleep as much as you want? If every now and then you need to get a day of sleeping longer to re-energize, or you regularly have periods in night when you just can't keep your eyes open for a second longer, that probably means that you are not sleeping enough. On the other hand if you function like this in a stable manner, without sleeping "crisis", it's quite possible that you just don't need more than those 6-7h.

Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#48

Post by curiousfiddler »

I'm lucky to have worked in several places where there was no specific in/out time as long as you get the work done. As a result, I don't use an alarm. I've realized that sometimes, it's very hard to predict the amount of rest my body would need on a particular night, and having no alarm on, permits me to often be well rested. I've also realized, that I have rarely slept more than 8 hours, so looks like this does not lead to oversleeping. I recommend trying this out if you can.

Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#49

Post by ekianjo »

mindcrime wrote: post #15
ekianjo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends a lot on your physiology. A certain number of people need 8 or more hours to feel "good" when they wake up. You have to live with what you got :) Until someone invents some sleep supplements to cut down on sleep time or something.

Here ya go: http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/12/sl...

Not available at this stage, though, as a supplement :)

Re: Poll: How much do you sleep?

#50

Post by nkozyra »

ivanhoe wrote: post #46
nkozyra wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Affects." Score one for the "sleep deprived." :) First, literally none of the sources in that link works. Every single one is a 404. Second, less sleep != "sleep deprivation." This assumes that people never get used to sleeping more than is physiologically necessary. I sleep 5.5 -> 6.5 hours a night. Plenty of people do. But I used to sleep 8+ hours a night in my mid-20s and anything less would leave me feeling wort…

I rarely sleep longer than that, but it's not a training, simply comes with the age (I'm 40). Real question is how long would you sleep now if you could sleep as much as you want? If every now and then you need to get a day of sleeping longer to re-energize, or you regularly have periods in night when you just can't keep your eyes open for a second longer, that probably means that you are not sleeping enough. On the…

I considered the age thing, but given the rapid paradigm shift here (pre-kid, post-kid), I think that can be dismissed.

That I can feel the same with 2 - 2.5 hours less sleep than I did a year and a half ago suggests to me that I have conditioned myself.

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