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The myth of the eight-hour sleep

bbc.co.uk

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Re: The myth of the eight-hour sleep

#11

Post by roqetman »

charlieflowers wrote: post #5
mmwako wrote: post #2

Oh my God. This could change my life. One lifelong problem I've got is sleeping. I have great trouble falling asleep, and my sleeping patterns are very uncommon: some days I sleep 12 hours, some 5, but I'm usually very tired because of this. However, I used to think I had a "gift" of being really creative and having my best ideas just before sleep, just waking up, and during insomnia episodes. However, I've discovere…

I only found out recently (well into my adult life) that I am hyper-sensitive to caffeine. One cup of coffee in the morning will keep me up till 3 am at night. This tricked me into thinking that I'm an extreme night owl, and it kept me from ever getting really good sleep. Now, I've quit caffeinated beverages entirely, and I get tired around 11:30 pm every night, and I sleep fantastically well. I wake up naturally aro…

Similar here, but I've found that as long as I don't drink caffeine after 3pm, I sleep well. Any later than that and I wake at 3am or so. Made such a difference when I discovered this... I lost a serious amount of grumpiness.

Re: The myth of the eight-hour sleep

#13

Post by RyanMcGreal »

conradfr wrote: post #12

Some recent studies showed that an healthy night seems to be no more than 7 hours. Segmented sleep is interesting but I don't think a majority of people could balance that with family and work.

It rather seems that family and work need to be adjusted to balance them with our natural sleeping rhythm.

Re: The myth of the eight-hour sleep

#14

Post by RyanMcGreal »

roqetman wrote: post #11
charlieflowers wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I only found out recently (well into my adult life) that I am hyper-sensitive to caffeine. One cup of coffee in the morning will keep me up till 3 am at night. This tricked me into thinking that I'm an extreme night owl, and it kept me from ever getting really good sleep. Now, I've quit caffeinated beverages entirely, and I get tired around 11:30 pm every night, and I sleep fantastically well. I wake up naturally aro…

Similar here, but I've found that as long as I don't drink caffeine after 3pm, I sleep well. Any later than that and I wake at 3am or so. Made such a difference when I discovered this... I lost a serious amount of grumpiness.

For me it's around noon, but then again I go to bed at 9pm and get up at 4:30.

Re: The myth of the eight-hour sleep

#15

Post by mmwako »

pilsetnieks wrote: post #9
mmwako wrote: post #2

Oh my God. This could change my life. One lifelong problem I've got is sleeping. I have great trouble falling asleep, and my sleeping patterns are very uncommon: some days I sleep 12 hours, some 5, but I'm usually very tired because of this. However, I used to think I had a "gift" of being really creative and having my best ideas just before sleep, just waking up, and during insomnia episodes. However, I've discovere…

I cannot say anything about the sleeping patterns but are you sure that those creative bursts aren't happening just because it is quiet, no distractions, etc.?

Don't think so, because these come during the day in the most unexpected moments (with or without distraction). My theory is that all creativity comes from the subconscious mind, and during nighttime it's the subconscious that takes over. Just before sleeping, a gate opens where rational consciousness and unconsciousness "coexist" and that's when new ideas can be retained. It's like that guy that tried near-death experiences so he could write good ideas down.

Re: The myth of the eight-hour sleep

#16

Post by mmwako »

roqetman wrote: post #11
charlieflowers wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I only found out recently (well into my adult life) that I am hyper-sensitive to caffeine. One cup of coffee in the morning will keep me up till 3 am at night. This tricked me into thinking that I'm an extreme night owl, and it kept me from ever getting really good sleep. Now, I've quit caffeinated beverages entirely, and I get tired around 11:30 pm every night, and I sleep fantastically well. I wake up naturally aro…

Similar here, but I've found that as long as I don't drink caffeine after 3pm, I sleep well. Any later than that and I wake at 3am or so. Made such a difference when I discovered this... I lost a serious amount of grumpiness.

Nice to see I'm not alone :) it's impressive to see how different are our sleeping habits. I have to hack myself one of these days.

Re: The myth of the eight-hour sleep

#18

Post by RobAtticus »

mdkess wrote: post #8

For a long time I've wanted to cut myself off and figure out a natural sleep cycle. Normally (for better or for worse), I sleep 5-6 hours a night during the week, then get 8-9 on the weekends, but that's definitely shaped to the work week. Also, maybe interesting - two 4 hour sleep cycle with a couple hours between is what happens naturally to me after a night of too much drinking. I wonder if there's some reason for…

I believe I've read that all the alcohol processing eventually makes your blood sugar drop very low which is when you wake up (if you're like me, around 6-7am after going to bed at 3). Then of course, you're not very rested from little sleep (and not very high quality sleep) so you probably go back down for a few more hours.

Re: The myth of the eight-hour sleep

#19

Post by ericdykstra »

It would have been nice if there were some actionable items. What are the best segments? Is there something wrong if I can sleep 8 hours without trouble?

Does anyone have links to more research, perhaps with something a little more actionable of a conclusion?

Re: The myth of the eight-hour sleep

#20

Post by Shank »

I've kept a sleep pattern of 4-5 hours by accident, and I don't seem to function any less efficiently than when I sleep 8 or more hours. I do end up taking a nap on occasion, but that's still 6-7 hours, not 8.
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