Sleeping habits, how much sleep is optimum?

[Morgan]

Hey everyone.

I have read Steve's article about sleeping patterns and I don't think his advice (going to sleep whenever I feel tired enough, or whenever my body feels tired enough, and waking up at set times) would work for me.

I simply don't trust my body on that one :P. I think it'd let me stay up 'til 4am when I have to wake at 6 or 7.

Could I just have a sleeping rota and stick to it and make it a habit? For example if I want to sleep 8hrs go to bed at 11pm and wake at 7am? If so what is the optimum hours to sleep, I want to feel energized for the next day.

Thanks.

[Mark Lapierre]

None of us can say what is optimum for you.

Your best bet is to trial a few different patterns and see which works best.

However, you might think you couldn't trust your body, but have you given it a chance? And sure, you might stay up till 4am if you're doing things that will keep you awake and alert, but what about doing relaxing activities when the time to sleep approaches? Have you tried turning off the TV and computer, and just reading, or writing for an hour or so before bed?

Also, I feel more sleepy if I've done something that gets both my brain and body fully involved during the day. Usually something new or complicated, like solving interesting programming problems, and learning/practicing new yoga positions or dance steps. After that, my brain and body won't let me stay awake, but otherwise I could easily be up until 4am too.

[lagunachadling]

My question does not pertain so much to optimum sleep, rather how many of you, whom have chose to wake up early, had a difficult time adjusting to that? I have become hooked on this site, and read it religiously on a daily basis. I have recently switched to waking up at a set time of 5:30 am, and I am finding it hard to wake up every morning. I have cut out my coffee/caffeine consumption, and go to bed when I am tired. Are there any tips or advice that you can share with me?

[Mark Lapierre]

What about waking up do you find hard? Do you just hit the snooze button? Do you end up feeling tired and/or groggy?

The two things that have the greatest effect on how I feel in the morning are 1) waking up with an alarm, and 2) what I'm going to do that day.

If I set an alarm to wake me up, even if it's only 30 mins before the time I'd wake up naturally, I feel drowsy and have to force myself to get up.

If I'm just going to work, and I'm feeling ambivalent about it, I'll almost always feel drowsy. If I'm looking forward to something, then I feel no resistance at all.

I use my mobile phone as an alarm clock, and to make sure I get out of bed when I have to I leave it on the other side of the room. That way I have to get up out of bed to turn it off. I find that even though I'm initially groggy, once I get moving that feeling fades pretty quickly.

So give that a shot, and also take a look at how you feel about what you're doing during the day. If you're working, are you enjoying it? Do you look forward to getting up in the morning?

[lagunachadling]

Originally Posted by Mark Lapierre

What about waking up do you find hard? Do you just hit the snooze button? Do you end up feeling tired and/or groggy?

The two things that have the greatest effect on how I feel in the morning are 1) waking up with an alarm, and 2) what I'm going to do that day.

If I set an alarm to wake me up, even if it's only 30 mins before the time I'd wake up naturally, I feel drowsy and have to force myself to get up.

If I'm just going to work, and I'm feeling ambivalent about it, I'll almost always feel drowsy. If I'm looking forward to something, then I feel no resistance at all.

I use my mobile phone as an alarm clock, and to make sure I get out of bed when I have to I leave it on the other side of the room. That way I have to get up out of bed to turn it off. I find that even though I'm initially groggy, once I get moving that feeling fades pretty quickly.

So give that a shot, and also take a look at how you feel about what you're doing during the day. If you're working, are you enjoying it? Do you look forward to getting up in the morning?

I guess it is that I do not look forward to the day ahead of me. I was recently layed-off, and it has been a chore to work on sending out resumes. I guess it is just a matter of me changing my attitude about the day ahead of me. I do tend to use the snooze button, so I might change to using my cell phone, and put it across the room so I have to get up. Thanks for the response.

[Brutha]

Quantity of sleep is not that important, Quality is.

I have read Steve's article about sleeping patterns and I don't think his advice (going to sleep whenever I feel tired enough, or whenever my body feels tired enough, and waking up at set times) would work for me.

I simply don't trust my body on that one :P. I think it'd let me stay up 'til 4am when I have to wake at 6 or 7.

Most people that stay up till 4am don't go to bed when they feel tired and ignore the tiredness.
You are also saying that you don't feel tired at the evening if you sleep only 3 hours in that sentence.
The assumption that you don't feel tired just shows that you have learn't to ignore your tiredness.

[Dani]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Quantity of sleep is not that important, Quality is.

Most people that stay up till 4am don't go to bed when they feel tired and ignore the tiredness.
You are also saying that you don't feel tired at the evening if you sleep only 3 hours in that sentence.
The assumption that you don't feel tired just shows that you have learn't to ignore your tiredness.

Yes, 'let me stay up till 4am' and 'doesn't pass out from exhaustion until 4 am' are two very different things.

I have recenty gotten into biphasic sleeping and it is working wonders. I do go to bed at 4 am and get up at 7 and I am much more awake now than when i was sleeping a full 8 hours.

I also have a nap for 90 mins around 7pm though. Thoroughly reccomended.

[escapee]

Ideally, ppl should sleep in complete darkness to maximize melatonin secretion ( A powerful anti oxidant that crosses cell membranes and the blood-brain barrier. ) . The best way to achieve this is to always sleep before mid night.

Melatonin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Normally, the production of melatonin by the pineal gland is inhibited by light and permitted by darkness. For this reason melatonin has been called "the hormone of darkness". The secretion of melatonin peaks in the middle of the night, and gradually falls during the second half of the night. Until recent history, humans in temperate climates were exposed to up to eighteen hours of darkness in the winter. In this modern world, artificial lighting typically reduces this to eight hours or less per day all year round. Even low light levels inhibit melatonin production to some extent, but over-illumination can create significant reduction in melatonin production. Reduced melatonin production has been proposed as a likely factor in the significantly higher cancer rates in night workers,[9] and the effect of modern lighting practice on endogenous melatonin has been proposed as a contributory factor to the larger overall incidence of some cancers in the developed world.[10

[Niki]

What really works for me is the little technique that Steve writes about on his post on early risers. When you get out og your bed, take a few deeeep in and-exhales of yummy fresh air. this always works for me, its the difference between getting back to bed, or staying up and be productive.