Sleep

[Darcy88]

How much do you sleep? How many hours is ideal for you? I need at least 7.5 to 8 hours or there is a noticeable deficit in my cognitive abilities. I've met people who function totally fine on as little as 4 hours of sleep. 6 hours seems to be the average of those I've asked. That is too little for me unless I'm meditating a lot. There is a commonly held belief that you need less sleep the older you get, but I remember reading a scientific study stating that this is not true and that the more a person sleeps the better off they'll be mentally and functionally regardless of age.

I heard a segment on the radio talking about new technologies designed to enhance a person's sleep and make it so they require less of it. The military is at the forefront of such research. Here's an interesting article discussing a potential future in which sleep is lessened or altogether rendered unnecessary: http://www.aeonmagazine.com/being-human/jessa-gamble-life-without-sleep/

[cacian]

I sleep between 10 pm and 5/6/7/8 am daily sometimes till nine ish on a sunday if I go to bed after 10 pm.
I would say I sleep soundly. I use to skip sleep when at weekends when I was out partying, it was not good ;)

[Volya]

I always get confused when I try to think about how much sleep is 'ideal' for me because some days I can sleep for 12 hours and still wake up feeling dead, but on other days I can get no sleep and still make it through the day perfectly fine. My levels of tiredness seem to be directly proportional to how much my current activity is engaging me. Whether I've had a good nights sleep or no sleep, some lessons at school will send me under instantly... Whereas there are some lessons that I can stay completely focused even when I'm actually exhausted...

[Indomitable]

My ideal amount of sleep would be eight hours. I'd also like to include an hour of meditation in my schedule. Unfortunately, I average about 6 hours during the school year; I'm hoping to alter that this upcoming year.

[Shevek]

I used to be able to pull all-nighters and feel perfectly fine the next day (even after intoxication). Now I need at least a few hours of sleep to function, and I feel it when I'm sleep deprived. I usually only end up getting 5 hours. I also don't drink caffeine regularly.

[*Classic*Charm*]

10 hours is ideal for me, between 1am and 11am. I know it sounds like a lot, but I've tried doing more or less over varying stretches of time and nothing works as well. I can function physically on less (used to go to horse shows after 4 hours and be okay all day), but anything intellectual (going to class, sometimes work) is a write-off with less than 8 hours. I make sure I have at least 9 before days I assist in surgery, just in case.

[Emil Miller]

I doubt that anyone likes their sleep more than I do. I cannot for the life of me believe that anyone leaps from their bed and greets the dawn with a smile.
Years of having to get up at 6.50 a.m, when all I wanted to do was stay warm, comfortable and relaxed in bed, are still being paid back by my sleeping as long as possible since I walked away from work: the most foul 4 letter word in the language. If anyone has to work for their living, no matter how necessary to the general good it may be, they are are not a free person. There may be insomniacs who don't have a problem with getting up in the morning but personally that is the time when I like to be asleep. During the summer the early light makes it difficult, but when the cold wet winter arrives and it's dark until eight a.m., I hibernate and often manage eleven hours although I might occasionally wake up to stick two fingers up to the world before returning to blissful sleep.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I doubt that anyone likes their sleep more than I do. I cannot for the life of me believe that anyone leaps from their bed and greets the dawn with a smile.
Years of having to get up at 6.50 a.m, when all I wanted to do was stay warm, comfortable and relaxed in bed, are still being paid back by my sleeping as long as possible since I walked away from work: the most foul 4 letter word in the language. If anyone has to work for their living, no matter how necessary to the general good it may be, they are are not a free person. There may be insomniacs who don't have a problem with getting up in the morning but personally that is the time when I like to be asleep. During the summer the early light makes it difficult, but when the cold wet winter arrives and it's dark until eight a.m., I hibernate and often manage eleven hours although I might occasionally wake up to stick two fingers up to the world before returning to blissful sleep.

"Work is the last refuge of the unimaginative."

As I have frequently discussed with Emil my thoughts are exactly of the above. Living life via the alarm clock is not living. To work is to be nothing more than a slave and to have to get up when it is dark and cold outside is nothing more than evil. I have to work 39 weeks of the year, which is better than most but is still 39 too much. Every day I get up I plot ways out of it or at least to finish early. I'm already going to retire at 55 as a minimum but I'm working on cutting it down from there.

In terms of hours sleep I can get away with 7 a day. However I often push this to 6 and feel crap the rest of the day. I often grab a 9 hour refresher at the weekend on one of the days.

[Ecurb]

"Work is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
.

Ture, perhaps, but imagination is also the refuge of the working man.

[Emil Miller]

Ture, perhaps, but imagination is also the refuge of the working man.

Have you ever read The Sun?

[cacian]

Ture, perhaps, but imagination is also the refuge of the working man.

Hi Ecurb I would say there is no imagination in any working life. what there is rigid discipline routine and manual labour. imagination does not work it leisures.

[Ecurb]

Hi Ecurb I would say there is no imagination in any working life. what there is rigid discipline routine and manual labour. imagination does not work it leisures.

Why? Repetitive, mindless physical labor frees one's mind and imagination. Mentally taxing work does not allow the worker to think about other things -- but some physical work does (other varieties of physical labor demand concentration so that it's difficult to let one's mind wander).

I'll grant that it's been a few years since I've done such work, but when I did, I thought a lot (for me, anyway). What else is there to do to pass the time?

[Darcy88]

Why? Repetitive, mindless physical labor frees one's mind and imagination. Mentally taxing work does not allow the worker to think about other things -- but some physical work does (other varieties of physical labor demand concentration so that it's difficult to let one's mind wander).

I'll grant that it's been a few years since I've done such work, but when I did, I thought a lot (for me, anyway). What else is there to do to pass the time?

I agree. I've done a lot of mindless mechanical jobs in which I was able to let my mind imaginatively soar. Once muscle memory takes over the mind is free to do as it pleases. I would get a lot of ideas for stories and essays and poems while swinging a hammer or cutting with a knife or picking up bails of hay.

[Snowqueen]

7 hours sleep is always good enough for me. I don’t take an afternoon nap as most people do here in summer, even if I have spare time.

[cacian]

Why? Repetitive, mindless physical labor frees one's mind and imagination. Mentally taxing work does not allow the worker to think about other things -- but some physical work does (other varieties of physical labor demand concentration so that it's difficult to let one's mind wander).

I'll grant that it's been a few years since I've done such work, but when I did, I thought a lot (for me, anyway). What else is there to do to pass the time?

well I see what you mean but if one is busy thinking something else whilst manually handling a job then is it really safe?
for me it means that we are naturally creative and our mind is constantly seeking to escape routine of daily work. I think one must find a time to be creative and another to work. chopping some wood or ploughing a field and composing a symphony both at the same time is not perhaps a good idea because it is not safe.

[cacian]

7 hours sleep is always good enough for me. I don’t take an afternoon nap as most people do here in summer, even if I have spare time.

that is called a siesta in Spanish. most Mediterranean countries do take a nap as an after lunch digestive as well as a rest for the general well being. where about are you if you do not mind me asking?

[Helga]

I guess I sleep about 8 hours. If I get 7 or less I am very annoyed and no fun to be around. I don't sleep more on weekends or anything like that, I am kinda stuck in routines. I like my bed a lot and I can stay in bed long after I wake up just letting my mind wander.

[NikolaiI]

9 hours is about ideal for me; 8.45 is ok, too. I'm not at my best with less; although 8 is okay for a couple days in a row. I can go 6 hours if I'm well rested before-hand, for a couple days, but I'd usually rather not. They say Einstein said he needed 10 to function at all . . . so obviously I'm closer to Einstein than you. ;) Just kidding. I have a friend, an Electrical Engineering prof, who only gets 4 hours a night, for many years, but I'm pretty sure it's had an effect on his health.

[faithosaurus]

I usually sleep between 6-8 hours. I can't really fall asleep until at least midnight, no matter how hard I try. Though, during the school year it's usually around 4-6.