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How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

nytimes.com

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Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#61

Post by jamesbkel »

guygurari wrote: post #50
BlazingFrog wrote: post #47

I envy all of you people who "choose" how many hours of sleep they will have (or not have). After you have kids, especially if their sleep pattern is very inconsistent for no apparent reason, you just take whatever you can get. Unfortunately, you may not be ready to sleep at 10pm that night that your child will decide to wake up at 1am ready to go about her day... Don't pay attention to me. Just another rant from a s…

We had a lot of sleep-related problems with our kid. We recently sought professional help and started a program that gives children good sleep habits. We are three weeks in, and the results so far are nothing short of amazing. To put it simply, the kid is sleeping much better, and we got our lives back. One thing we learned the hard way is that following a method from a book is not enough -- you need a professional t…

Did the advice apply to just your child or did it also include parental sleep habit advice?

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#62

Post by TheSOB88 »

patrickk wrote: post #56

How little sleep one can survive on is something I would like to not to explore. I've struggled with insomnia for over a decade now, and if you are fortunate to consistently get a solid nights sleep and wake up refreshed, then you should appreciate the energy you have. I would much rather sleep well, have less hours in the day to work with and operate at 80-100% mental capacity rather than get less sleep, drink gallo…

Ever try not exposing yourself to light at night? That's any light - overhead lights, computer screens, lamp poles. Your body produces melatonin based on that kind of input, and anything with significant blue light in it apparently stops you from producing it.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#63

Post by smackay »

guygurari wrote: post #50
BlazingFrog wrote: post #47

I envy all of you people who "choose" how many hours of sleep they will have (or not have). After you have kids, especially if their sleep pattern is very inconsistent for no apparent reason, you just take whatever you can get. Unfortunately, you may not be ready to sleep at 10pm that night that your child will decide to wake up at 1am ready to go about her day... Don't pay attention to me. Just another rant from a s…

We had a lot of sleep-related problems with our kid. We recently sought professional help and started a program that gives children good sleep habits. We are three weeks in, and the results so far are nothing short of amazing. To put it simply, the kid is sleeping much better, and we got our lives back. One thing we learned the hard way is that following a method from a book is not enough -- you need a professional t…

I'd agree with getting professional help for the simple reason is that they probably have greater experience and know a wide range of tricks and techniques you can try and when to try them. Books can be a one size fits all approach that is more of a recipe approach so it is difficult to judge what advice to follow and more especially if the first few ideas fail to generate any results. Also having someone around who is not also sleep-deprived (hopefully) and so thinking clearly is only a good thing.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#64

Post by patrickk »

TheSOB88 wrote: post #62
patrickk wrote: post #56

How little sleep one can survive on is something I would like to not to explore. I've struggled with insomnia for over a decade now, and if you are fortunate to consistently get a solid nights sleep and wake up refreshed, then you should appreciate the energy you have. I would much rather sleep well, have less hours in the day to work with and operate at 80-100% mental capacity rather than get less sleep, drink gallo…

Ever try not exposing yourself to light at night? That's any light - overhead lights, computer screens, lamp poles. Your body produces melatonin based on that kind of input, and anything with significant blue light in it apparently stops you from producing it.

Believe me I've tried everything over the years. From what I've read about insomnia, it's incredibly subjective; things that work for one person won't help at all for others. Some people can get their "sleep hygiene" (stuff you are supposed to do in order to sleep well) all wrong, and still sleep like a log, e.g. drink plenty coffee late in the evening, noisy environment, lack of exercise, eating heavily close to bedtime etc. If I do any of these things I'm almost guaranteed to have an awful night's sleep.

Recently I've bought a Kindle DX (used along with a relatively dim overhead freestanding lamp[1]), and I read that till I feel really sleepy. This satisfies my craving for reading instead of staring at a computer screen. The lack of a backlit screen shining into your retinas really helps!

[1] http://p.mdcd.net/product_images/full/2b3c568350aa9759eaa00a...

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#65

Post by adamtj »

pamelafox wrote: post #18

I often get told that I don't sleep enough (more like 6 than 8, if that), but for me, my dreams get stranger the longer I sleep, and my day is happier if I can wake up without strange dreams lingering in my head. For example, last night I slept about 8 hours (probably due to wine the night before), and my final dream involved me trying to evade certain death in a circus. I'd prefer to start off my day on cheerier not…

I've read that people sleep less deeply when they've had alcohol.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#66

Post by w1ntermute »

edoloughlin wrote: post #58
wizard_2 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain in a bit more depth?

"you need a professional to guide you through this" - I think that's probably enough depth?

No, it's not. He's asking for more detail than that. Otherwise, he wouldn't have responded to a comment saying "you need a professional to guide you through this" with "Can you explain in a bit more depth?".

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#68

Post by nostrademons »

pamelafox wrote: post #18

I often get told that I don't sleep enough (more like 6 than 8, if that), but for me, my dreams get stranger the longer I sleep, and my day is happier if I can wake up without strange dreams lingering in my head. For example, last night I slept about 8 hours (probably due to wine the night before), and my final dream involved me trying to evade certain death in a circus. I'd prefer to start off my day on cheerier not…

I've also noticed that my dreams get crazier and more vivid the longer I sleep - the dream I have at the 7 hour mark is usually quickly forgotten after waking, but the ones I've had after about 11 hours of sleep are vivid, realistic, long, and often stick with me for months. Occasionally years.

I tend to embrace those dreams, however, and seek them out. I feel like a good portion of my creativity comes from waking up relaxed after a vivid dream. Even if I don't remember the dream itself, I feel like it puts me into a mental state where I'm more open to new and strange ideas.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#69

Post by AndyJPartridge »

pstack wrote: post #22

I'd settle for even being able to sleep at regular intervals. I have a habit of staying up until I'm tired and waking up when I can't sleep anymore. As a result, I may stay up all day for several days and then stay up all night for several days. Or for several days, I may sleep twice during 24hrs, in completely random periods. I just don't do well with the concept of "well, it's 10pm, so that means it's time to get i…

I've not needed to be anywhere at any particular time most days for about 8 years now. I sleep wildly like you mention, and often don't feel good for it.

I recently went camping in the Lake District, and as the camp sites were very dark at 10pm I went to bed, and as the tent starting getting hot at 8am I got up.

I felt great for it.

For me, I think my body needs a routine. Shame I can't get into that routine at home, despite trying.

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