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How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

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Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#41

Post by Finster »

SeanDav wrote: post #27
crazygringo wrote: post #6

> “Sleeping 8.5 hr. might really be a little worse than sleeping 5 hr.” How can people even take this kind of pseudo-science seriously? If I sleep for 5 hrs, I'm a complete zombie during the day, unproductive and depressed. If I sleep for 8.5 hrs (which is how long I sleep naturally), I feel great, productive, and happy. I get way more done. There are all sorts of studies showing all the negative effects of not getti…

How is an expert on sleep saying something MIGHT be true now being classed as pseudo science and not to be taken seriously? Your rebuttal of this "pseudo science" is that you perceive that you personally need 8.5 hours sleep - now that smacks of pseudo science to me. People are very different. Just because 1 person in a 1000 (or 100 or million or whatever) benefits from 8.5 hours sleep does not necessarily mean that…

Because of statements like:

> people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night, live the longest, are happier and most productive

O RLY? Time for another basic primer on causation vs. correlation.

Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#43

Post by SeanDav »

Finster wrote: post #41
SeanDav wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is an expert on sleep saying something MIGHT be true now being classed as pseudo science and not to be taken seriously? Your rebuttal of this "pseudo science" is that you perceive that you personally need 8.5 hours sleep - now that smacks of pseudo science to me. People are very different. Just because 1 person in a 1000 (or 100 or million or whatever) benefits from 8.5 hours sleep does not necessarily mean that…

Because of statements like: > people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night, live the longest, are happier and most productive O RLY? Time for another basic primer on causation vs. correlation.

That was the result of a study (in other words, science). Where is your proof that the study is invalid?

Note that I am not saying that the result is fact, just that there is science to indicate that things are not as simple as they may appear to people that dismiss the whole thing as "pseudo science".

Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#44

Post by vecinu »

Finster wrote: post #41
SeanDav wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is an expert on sleep saying something MIGHT be true now being classed as pseudo science and not to be taken seriously? Your rebuttal of this "pseudo science" is that you perceive that you personally need 8.5 hours sleep - now that smacks of pseudo science to me. People are very different. Just because 1 person in a 1000 (or 100 or million or whatever) benefits from 8.5 hours sleep does not necessarily mean that…

Because of statements like: > people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night, live the longest, are happier and most productive O RLY? Time for another basic primer on causation vs. correlation.

That was a statement that really stuck out. I cannot believe these 'conclusions' from just one study.

Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#45

Post by rayiner »

learc83 wrote: post #35
joonix wrote: post #19

I don't think humans evolved with alarm clocks. In an ideal world, would you not let yourself sleep as long as your brain deems appropriate? I think sunset and sunrise times would end up meaning a lot more. The post also doesn't seem to account for sleep debt. If you undersleep one night, you may have to sleep longer than normal the next night to make up for it.

From other articles I've read, there is some evidence to suggest that without artificial light, humans tend to break sleep into two periods--waking up in the middle of the night for a few hours. Also drinking water before you go to sleep works as a natural alarm clock.

I wonder how much of that is because of babies back in a time before widespread birth control. I break sleep up into two periods too, but it's not because of the lighting situation.

Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#46

Post by mgla »

Xcelerate wrote: post #3

You know how there's people that can get by on 4-5 hours of sleep each night? I think I'm the opposite. Left to my own devices, I will sleep 10-10.5 hours a day. If I wake up with anything less than 9, I feel pretty horrible. Not sure why, but I sure wish I could get by on less.

Have you considered the possibility that you're suffering from sleep apnea?

Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#47

Post by incision »

rayiner wrote: post #2

There is a lot of mumbo-jumbo surrounding sleep and precious little science, but I have found a few things in my own life that have made me feel better (could be placebo, who knows?) 1) Sleeping in multiples of 90 minutes really does work. It takes me very little time to fall asleep, so I can pretty predictably set my alarm to wake myself up in-between sleep cycles. My baby likes to sleep in three hour increments, an…

>Most of all, sleep is something worth experimenting with.

Yep.

Through experimentation, I've become a believer in ritual to prepare for and wake from bed as well as napping.

My sweet spot seems to be 8 hour sleep with a 40 minute nap round 13:00. If I had to choose, I'd take less sleep overnight before losing the midday nap.

Prior to experimenting, I was "sure" I functioned optimally at about 6 hours per night. Looking back, I expect it wasn't the specific duration that helped, just consistency.

Also, I second the breathe-right strip.

Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#48

Post by notahacker »

crazygringo wrote: post #6

> “Sleeping 8.5 hr. might really be a little worse than sleeping 5 hr.” How can people even take this kind of pseudo-science seriously? If I sleep for 5 hrs, I'm a complete zombie during the day, unproductive and depressed. If I sleep for 8.5 hrs (which is how long I sleep naturally), I feel great, productive, and happy. I get way more done. There are all sorts of studies showing all the negative effects of not getti…

In fairness, the OP treated the claim with some scepticism and quoted a contradictory view from another "sleep expert" that criticised the idea that levels of optimal sleep were the same for everyone.

What perplexes me is this notion that a person's optimum amount of sleep stays constant whatever they're doing (confounding factors like alcohol, illness and recent sleep-deprivation aside). Surely I'm not the only person in the world whose sleep requirement varies considerably according to the level of physical and mental exertion of the day before, climate, diet, ambient stress level etc.?

And whilst I believe naps probably are a good idea, I'm a bit perplexed to how one times a nap so it ends up being at least 20 mins and no more than 30 mins. Often it takes me that long simply to fall asleep, especially if it's a sunny mid-afternoon and I have plans for the rest of the day to be thinking about...

Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#49

Post by criley »

btilly wrote: post #37
tokenadult wrote: post #14

In general, most people (in the United States, the country I live in) need more sleep than they are getting. One way this is put to the test is by letting people relax in a comfortable reclining chair in a quiet, dark room during daylight working hours. Many people fall asleep in this condition, signaling that they are sleep-deprived, even if they have no regular habit of taking a nap in the daytime. I have lived in…

I wonder how much symptoms of what is characterized as "lack of executive function" or "ADD" can be relieved just by getting sufficient sleep. If you're a person who reads the description of ADD and says that it sounds like you, maybe a lot. If you're a person who has the disorder, sufficient sleep is not going to make it go away.

>If you're a person who reads the description of ADD and says that it sounds like you, maybe a lot.

I feel this unfairly divides ADD between "people who think they have" and "people who have" but in my experience this is a horrible line to draw.

Many doctors will listen for a stock phrase and hand out a one page questionnaire and diagnose you with adult on-set ADD on the spot.

Bam, then you "have" it, doctor verified and everything.

And yet, that person who "has" it may be no different than the one who read what is basically the same questionnaire online.

Re: How much sleep do we really need to work productively?

#50

Post by beachstartup »

pasbesoin wrote: post #25

Get your sleep. Give up something else. Four days to a week of severe sleep deprivation has been demonstrated to push the human body into a state of pre-diabetic crisis (per blood chemistry). Another perspective: We enjoy sleep. There might be a reason for that, eh?

a couple months ago i participated in a deadline push where i was deprived of sleep for up to a week at a time.

it felt like my metabolism had completely stopped, and my body was storing anything i ate as fat nearly immediately after i ate it. i was also bloated and gassy all the time. my diet was reasonably healthy (i wasn't eating pizza or anything like that, just normal foods like salads, chicken, occasional steak, some carbs, etc.)

it was obviously not good. btw i'm 30 years old, never felt this way before (haven't done a push like this since college age basically)

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