How much sleep is necessary?

[gus]

Hi everyone,

I'm asking this because I'd like to cut my amount of sleep down from 7-12 hours to 5. I had a couple of days when I was unemployed/not going to school where I woke up and 5am and followed a very rigid schedule and actually got a lot done.

At the moment I sleep 8-12 hours, depending on how busy the previous day was and when I have to wake up. And although I sleep more than the 5am days I start feeling tired from 10am onward. I suspect this is because of the stress of rushing to work/school because I'm late, not enough right, and not exercising.

How strongly does stress affect energy levels, and does exercise decrease or increase the amount of sleep needed?

[Markus Jais]

Several books I read said that sleeping more than 9 hours is not a good idea and it can actually make you tired during the day.

How well do you sleep?

When you have a lot of stress you may sleep not very well and this could mean that your body does not get the regeneration it needs.

I found that after starting with regular exercise (running, gym), I sleep much better. Exercising can reduce stress.


Markus

[Rebecca800]

It's a misconception that we all need 8 hours sleep per night. Some of us may need up to 9 hours while others get by just fine on 4 or 5 hours. I do think it depends on your age, lifestyle, stress levels and other factors too.

I agree with you that sleeping 10+ hours can just make you feel more tired. I also think it depends on what stage of your REM/ NREM cycle you wake up in. So aim to go to bed at the same time every night, and get up at the same time each day. This will help your body establish a regular Circadian Rhythm.

Also, try to get more exercise during the day so you feel physically tired by the time you go to bed and don't waste time laying awake. Similarly, do a meditation routine or listen to relaxation music before you go to sleep to quickly ease your brain out of busy mode.

[Ralph]

It's not only how long do you sleep, but also how you sleep that matters. Five hours of restful sleep will do you better than 8 hours of sleep with full stomach and anxiety.

Strive to improve your sleeping efficiency, especially by sleeping with empty stomach. Change to a better diet, exercise regularly and after the initial detox period you'll easily do 5-7 hours a day

[AlexL]

Respectfully, I must disagree with Rebecca800. Evidence is mounting that the vast majority of people need at least 8 hours of good sleep per night. I can't tell you how many of my patients come in complaining of everything from fatigue to depression to inability to concentrate whose basic problem is inadequate sleep. We are a chronically sleep deprived society which thinks it can compromise its sleep in order to get things done without consequence. More and more scientific evidence is proving this assumption false. Memories and learning are consolidated during sleep and there's even evidence that getting less than 8 hours of sleep per night on a regular basis leads to weight gain! Steve's polyphasic sleep experiment notwithstanding, I'd be very cautious in promoting less than a good 8 hours of sleep per night (recognizing, of course, there's always the exception to the rule--but if you're getting less than 8 hours and don't feel you're functioning as well as you should, perhaps even just getting slightly sleepy around 3-5 in the afternoon, I'd recommend trying life with a full 8 hours per night!).

Alex Lickerman, M.D.

[Power]

I agree with Alex on this one.

I've never agreed with getting 5-7hrs of sleep. We had several post on this topic.

A new point I want to add:
I can agree that we are all different. I guess the best way to go about this is to do a personal experiment and track your progress. Record how you feel and the experiences you have if you sleep 5-7hrs and compare it with 8hrs of sleep.

Personally, I don't perform my best when I get 5-7hrs sleep. I need my 8hrs flat and not 7.5hrs or less. I've tried having a bath, then meditated and then going to sleep (for that some Quality sleep) for 6 hrs... I still feel I wasn't performing at my optimal.

My previous arguments were exactly with Alex. Plus, I believe that nature intended for us to get a good 8hrs of sleep. The sun goes down from 6pm-8pm and rises from 5am-7am (depending where you are). Approximately 10-12hrs of darkness... I don't see the point in resting for only 5hrs-7hrs.

I compete at a basketball league every year and I can feel the big impact of getting 7hrs compared to 8hrs of sleep. It proves to show that my body requires to rest and rejuvenate.

Another point is that you don't even enter deep sleep until 3-4hrs. Only then at a deeper sleep your body starts to rebuild and rejuvenate itself. Cutting you sleep hour is like cutting your rejuvenating time.

[Raymond Edeh]

I sleep for not more than 6 hours a day.

Every full-time internet marketer will always tell you that they hardly sleep which is one of the disadvantages of marketing online.

Internet marketing is more like an addiction than a business.

Cheers,
Raymond Edeh

[Liveformx64]

Originally Posted by Raymond Edeh

I sleep for not more than 6 hours a day.

Every full-time internet marketer will always tell you that they hardly sleep which is one of the disadvantages of marketing online.

Internet marketing is more like an addiction than a business.

Cheers,
Raymond Edeh

I am a full time internet "marketer" and I sleep 8 to 9 hours a night. Therefore your statement is moot.

Sounds to me like you are trying to justify your workaholism.

----

There is no prescribed amount of sleep for every person. It will vary based on genetics, work load, diet, and lifestyle.

[Eric Roosevelt]

From a historical perspective, we can see that people used to sleep much more than they do today. It was often taken for granted that you could get 8+ hours every night, if not more than that.

Albert Einstein slept for about 10 hours a night. Today he would probably be working in some laboratory which required him to get up at 6.00 AM and rush to work. No doubt this would've affected his creativity.

[Keephappy]

I generally sleep 6 hours per day in average. So far so good not feel tired the day. Sometimes you feel tired in 10 am perhaps because you woke up at 5am. 5-10am it's already 6 hours. So I think it's ok if you feel tired especially if you are very busy during these 6 hours. Perhaps you can do some relaxation exercies during the day or go out for a walk to reduce stress.

Sometimes you felt tried may due to the oxygen level at where you were was low.
One solution, open lots of windows, if it is air-conitioned make sure it is clean frequently.

[ginkgo]

If you do not mind getting a nervous breakdown then a few hours a night is good. For optimum functioning, sleep as long as you possibly can. Most Americans do not get enough sleep and have problems sleeping. You can eat too much or exercise too much but you cannot possibly sleep too long. See this article about this on the article about can you lose weight too fast.

Some people need to sleep 24 hours a day and do that. It is called a coma. I know a guy who was in a coma for a few months decades ago. He is alive and well today. My blog tells about a girl who jumped off of a 5th story balcony and lived after spending a couple of days in a coma. In deep sleep you experience the ultimate, supreme state of consciousness but do not remember it when you wake up.

[Eric Roosevelt]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

[SIZE="2"]If you do not mind getting a nervous breakdown then a few hours a night is good. For optimum functioning, sleep as long as you possibly can. Most Americans do not get enough sleep and have problems sleeping. You can eat too much or exercise too much but you cannot possibly sleep too long.

Sure you can. If you get much more sleep than we need on any given night, your quality of sleep will probably decrease because of decreased "sleeping pressure". The sleeping pressure needs a certain amount of hours to build up during the day.

[ginkgo]

It is like saying that you can kill yourself by holding your breath. You may pass out but you will start breathing again since it is involuntary. Sleep is not under your control. It is involuntary. If you do not need to sleep then you cannot fall asleep. Prove me wrong by sleeping for 20 hours without any sleep deprivation.

The article explains this but you did not read the article. IF YOU HAVE NO NEED FOR SLEEP YOU WILL NEVER GO TO SLEEP EVEN IF YOU LIE THERE FOR 5 HOURS.

[ragtag]

I generally need around 7.5 hours of sleep. If I don't set the alarm clock, I'll wake up refreshed after about 7.5 hours. For a while I actually set a timer instead of an alarm clock, setting it at 8 hours, but would wake up a bit before it rang.

That said, I often don't get more than 6 hours of sleep, and I do notice it. I feel more tired, I'm less effective and most importantly less happy than after a good 7.5-8 hours.

I've also found I gain nothing in effective time by sleeping less. I may gain 1.5-2 hours, but my productivity for the whole day will likely be at around 50%, so in effect I have 7 less effective hours than when I've had a good nights sleep.

(maths: 16 awake hours with 8 hours sleep. 18 with 6, 18/2=9 and 16-9=7. )

A good friend of mine and house mate from a few years back used to claim he could get by on 4-5 hours, but it wasn't really true. He would sleep little during the week and be grumpy and annoying, then sleep extra during the weekend to recover. You could clearly tell a difference in his mood, if he had slept 4-5 hours or a full 8.

That said, I'm going to sleep NOW, and since I have to get up early I probably won't get a full 8 hours of rest.

[TheEnthusiast]

lately i haven't sleep my 8 hrs i feel low on energy

[rmuller965]

Hi all,

This is really a very good question.I have given lot of speech on this.According to me 4 hours of sleep is enough for human body,6 hours of sleep is luxury and 8 hours of sleep is wastage of time.

If you want to reduce your sleep start drinking lot of water so that your immune system will be balanced and you will not feel tired.I lived so many days and nights without sleep just by drinking lot of water.
In my earlier days I was great fond of sleep,I usually slept for 10-12 hours but after starting my business I reduced to 4-5 hours.

Best wishes

[joeljonathan]

Whether you are one of the people that needs 8 hrs of sleep a night or one of those that only needs 4 hrs of sleep a night it is key that the sleep that you do get is of high quality. Maybe the best way to determine how much sleep you personally need is to keep a journal and tracking your sleep details much like your would for counting calories in a diet. Just an idea.

[Big C]

I can get by on 5 hours a night and even 4 i can function ok. What i find is if i actually have 8 hours or more i actually feel worse for it on getting up. And i sleep well.