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How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

bbc.co.uk

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Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#61

Post by pa5tabear »

crazcarl wrote: post #17
frogpelt wrote: post #3

I often wondered about sleep recommendations that focus on the amount of time. I realize that if you try to sleep for seven hours instead of six you are likely to get more sleep. But my problem is that not every person is getting the same quality of sleep in that period of time. If I sleep seven hours I may be getting as much rest as another person who sleeps six or a person who sleeps eight or nine hours. Sleep is a…

There are some products out there that attempt to measure sleep quality via leaving your phone on the bed, or wearing a bracelet. I'm not sure of the accuracy, though. I hope these will get even better (maybe a non-intrusive headpiece that can measure brainwaves?) in the future.

I have the Sleep Bot app and it measures movement and sleeping time and graphs the data. It doesn't give any analysis, however.

Do you have advice for a better analysis of my sleep each night?

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#62

Post by skizm »

cliveowen wrote: post #36
skizm wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't believe it when research claims X because of personal experience. That's a horrible way to look at any research conclusion. Have you considered you are possibly oversleeping? 7.5 hours might be a magic number (exactly 5 rem cycles) as opposed to 6.5 which will put you waking up in the middle of a rem cycle. Studies can be faulty for a whole bunch of reasons but dismissing a body of work because your little…

I don't see how one can oversleep, if you don't need anymore sleep you just wake up, that's how it works.

First of all, that has nothing to do with the point I made in my last comment; which is you can't dismiss peer-reviewed research based on personal experience.

Second, that is not how it works. There are varying levels of sleep. Some better than others. When your body doesn't need to go through rem sleep anymore it is sufficiently rested but that doesn't mean you feel like a ray of sunshine and immediately jump out of bed. There are other factors which make a person want to stay in bed longer than they should which leads to shitty non-rem sleep. Too much of this makes you feel groggy.

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#63

Post by MasterXen »

joonix wrote: post #4

Doesn't matter for me. I hardly get much deep sleep due to anatomical issues essentially blocking my airways. I can't afford the surgery (even though I have insurance) nor will my government contribute to it (even though it would increase my productivity multiple times over, meanwhile they throw trillions at universities offering useless degrees). But yes, we have a culture that doesn't value sleep. I know of people…

I heard the hovering helicopter too (it was yesterday morning IIRC); it was around until at least 8am. I was so surprised by the continual sound (rather than passing-by) that I even googled how long a helicopter can hover for on a full tank.

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#64

Post by zck »

tomsaffell wrote: post #59
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Keeping busy at one's job is valued above most else. I also hate how our smalltalk starts with "What do you do for a living?" That's a fair question, but its depressing when that's the first one and all we really talk about. Its a puritan's overworked culture serving the elites. This shutdown is about this as well. We really need to have European-style vacation time and healthcare. I hope my generation gets it right…

>our smalltalk starts with "What do you do for a living?" I agree - it's not good small-talk. Since this was pointed out to me (~15 years ago) I've made a conscious effort never to ask people what they do for a living. One friend I knew for a year before I found out what he did (that's a rare situation, granted). If you haven't tried it then I highly recommend it.

I love this idea, but I've struggled with what to replace it with. "Tell me about yourself" is the best thing I've come up with, but it sounds like an interview. "What are you interested in?" is another option, but it too sounds formal. I want to ask people what they care about without having it be awkward. How do you open small talk with someone you've just met?

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#65

Post by mulletbum »

chrismonsanto wrote: post #37
esw wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm right there with you. Thanks to my infant and a merciless cat, it's been a couple of years since I've slept past 4:30am. I try to get to bed early as often as possible, but it's hard to simply 'give up' and go to bed at the end of a long day when you've finally got a moment to yourself.

Do you have an automatic feeder for the cat? I use the Crown Majestic (search on Amazon) and it works pretty well--my cat stopped sniffing my face at 6am...

I bought the same feeder in the hopes that this would occur, but it seems my cat just can never get enough. So I run into the trade off between health (my cat's) and sanity (my own). I would still suggest the feeder to everyone to try however, it really is a well made product that could easily fix bad habits in your animals feedings.

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#66

Post by scott_s »

zck wrote: post #64
tomsaffell wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>our smalltalk starts with "What do you do for a living?" I agree - it's not good small-talk. Since this was pointed out to me (~15 years ago) I've made a conscious effort never to ask people what they do for a living. One friend I knew for a year before I found out what he did (that's a rare situation, granted). If you haven't tried it then I highly recommend it.

I love this idea, but I've struggled with what to replace it with. "Tell me about yourself" is the best thing I've come up with, but it sounds like an interview. "What are you interested in?" is another option, but it too sounds formal. I want to ask people what they care about without having it be awkward. How do you open small talk with someone you've just met?

"What do you do for fun?"

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#67

Post by [deleted] »

skizm wrote: post #25
cliveowen wrote: post #24

I don't believe all of this claims about sleep. I sleep 10 to 12 hours a night and I always feel like shit. Even when I had to go to school, I used to sleep 8 hours a night and I was drowsy for most of the day.

> I don't believe it when research claims X because of personal experience. That's a horrible way to look at any research conclusion. Have you considered you are possibly oversleeping? 7.5 hours might be a magic number (exactly 5 rem cycles) as opposed to 6.5 which will put you waking up in the middle of a rem cycle. Studies can be faulty for a whole bunch of reasons but dismissing a body of work because your little…

[deleted]

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#68

Post by mike_esspe »

joonix wrote: post #4

Doesn't matter for me. I hardly get much deep sleep due to anatomical issues essentially blocking my airways. I can't afford the surgery (even though I have insurance) nor will my government contribute to it (even though it would increase my productivity multiple times over, meanwhile they throw trillions at universities offering useless degrees). But yes, we have a culture that doesn't value sleep. I know of people…

Properly installed double glazing will block almost all sound, why not install them?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulated_glazing

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#69

Post by CamperBob2 »

AndrewDucker wrote: post #7
joonix wrote: post #4

Doesn't matter for me. I hardly get much deep sleep due to anatomical issues essentially blocking my airways. I can't afford the surgery (even though I have insurance) nor will my government contribute to it (even though it would increase my productivity multiple times over, meanwhile they throw trillions at universities offering useless degrees). But yes, we have a culture that doesn't value sleep. I know of people…

Particularly when aircraft noise is correlated with heart disease risk: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131009100602.ht...

I wonder how they took exhaust emissions out of the equation? Aircraft noise is disturbing as hell when you first encounter it, either because you moved under a flight path or because the flight path moved over you, but in my experience you just don't hear it anymore after a few weeks. It's one of the easier environmental sounds to tune out.

Re: How much can an extra hour's sleep change you?

#70

Post by jerf »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #34
grannyg00se wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it seems we have a culture that doesn't value well-being in general. People might say that they do, but the entire culture is set up against it. Sleep is just one more neglected aspect of well-being. We also have ridiculous working hours, insane commutes, pathetic diet and exercise habits, and a health record to show for it. Keeping busy at one's job is valued above most else.

>Keeping busy at one's job is valued above most else. I also hate how our smalltalk starts with "What do you do for a living?" That's a fair question, but its depressing when that's the first one and all we really talk about. Its a puritan's overworked culture serving the elites. This shutdown is about this as well. We really need to have European-style vacation time and healthcare. I hope my generation gets it right…

'I also hate how our smalltalk starts with "What do you do for a living?"'

I consider it a clear improvement over its primary competition in other cultures, "Where are you from?" and "Who are your parents?" At least this one, if you don't like the answer you're giving, you have power to change it.

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