Post: #26

I recently stumbled upon this idea quite accidentally.

A few weeks ago I only managed to get about two hours of sleep so I was understandably exhausted the next day at work. Anyway, I finished work at 2pm, forced myself to the gym, cooked a late lunch and went straight to bed. After waking up about midnight I got up and spent a few hours reading and doing some chores before heading back to bed at 4am for 2 hours sleep. I woke up completely refreshed whereas I am usually a zombie in the morning.

The next day after gym and eating, I once again felt sleepy so I did the same thing - woke up naturally around midnight and had a final couple of hours sleep.

I've been doing this pretty much every day now for the past few weeks, having a 4 hour sleep starting early evening and the a couple of hours before getting up for work, and I've never felt better sleep-wise. I've had sleeping problems for as long as I can remember, but this has completely taken the anxiety out of getting to sleep. And the bonus is that I am especially creative and productive after my first sleep.

And it doesn't necessarily have to impact on my social life. If I am meeting friends or a girl in the evening, I can tweak it by having a short first sleep before getting up to go out. The times I've gone back to a girl's house, even if we stay up late, I don't need to worry about lack of sleep before work because I can leave in the early hours of the morning to go home and have a few final hours of sleep.

Post: #27

Some of these strategies sound good, but I've never been able to nap. If I know that my sleep is limited to less than two hours, it isn't happening. Would fix this if I could.

Post: #28

Yeah - I can't nap.

If I get to bed and have less than 4-5 hours before I have to wake up my brain panics and won't let me sleep properly.

Post: #29

(06-08-2013 01:23 PM)cardguy Wrote:  The dreams you have when you are in such a deep sleep are great.

You do realize that dreaming occurs during the lighter stages of sleep? If you dream recurrently that means you are getting light sleep every night (i.e. if you take naps during the day). Deep sleep doesn't result in dreams.
.

Post: #30

As some commenters have already suggested, our screwed up sleep cycles have a lot to do with all the artificial light we bath in throughout the day. I've always instinctively avoided artificial light. It is often unavoidable but I do my best.

Post: #31

I always sleep about 6-7 hours, within an irregular sleep pattern (as in week vs weekends). Never had much trouble with it. On weekdays I go to bed around 1 a 1.30 at night, in weekends at 4-5 or so.

Also drink alcohol often, and to me it makes me sleep better (especially red wine).

Post: #32

I find that my sleep requirements depend largely on what sort of activities I'm doing. When I was working at the gold mine, we worked 12 hour days, relatively physical work and would typically hit the gym after work for an hour. Not a lot of mental work involved. I would get by just fine with 6.5 hours a night. Now, I'm back in grad school and I work on a computer all day and have a very mentally demanding job. I find that I need 8 or 9 hours of sleep to feel refreshed.

Post: #33

I need a solid 8-9 hours a day to feel fully rested. Conversely, my mum, her siblings and pretty much her entire maternal family require 4 hours of a sleep a day maximum.

I really wonder how people in committed LTRs or those with children manage to get sufficient sleep. Sleep is vital though I do often wish I could do away with it altogether. Imagine having 8 hours (or even just 4-5 more, as my mum does) in a day.

Post: #34

Working shifts seems to be one of the worst thing regarding sleep. My dad worked 4 on 4 off for years(12 hour shifts, two days two nights), and he sleep patterns are really messed up. He sleeps best between 1 and 4 PM. I have a potential career lined up but it would involve shift work. I'm not sure if willing to risk my health for my job.

Post: #35

Sleep is a weird one for me. I think I probably oversleep more often than anything. 4-6 is hard to get out of bed I find but once I do I have a ton of energy, I generally only do this one when I was working 9-5 (I'm a night owl so would stay up to 2-4am regularly) or when I travel. When I get 6-8 I'm kind of in no mans land, sometimes I'm productive and sometimes just lethargic. When I get 8+ I find myself being very lethargic throughout the day, like I never really join the living.

I genuinely find that being active and getting less sleep actually works better for my energy levels. I think part of it is that the activity forces me into a better sleep and I'm naturally a 4-6 hour sleeper that's just really good at falling asleep so can and will sleep longer.

I've also found that siestas are super powerful. A quick 30-45m nap in the afternoon is better than any amount of caffeine for me. When I was party traveling I basically used to go until 5am or later, sleep 4 hours, do a day activity, nap for 30 minutes around 4pm and could power on, I could go weeks on this schedule feeling fresh as a daisy (you know, relatively given the drinking that goes along with it!).

Sleep is one of those fascinating areas that I think one day they will work it all out and we'll all have been doing it wildly wrong...

Post: #36

There might be something to this as I have realised myself that when I wake up at around 8am then go back to sleep at 10 am I have this weird deep sleep that feels super real.

Post: #37

From what I've read and researched, sleep works in cycles of 90ish minutes. When you wake up in the middle of one of those cycles, you will be groggy, tired, and will likely want to sleep more. When waking up at the end of these cycles, you will feel refreshed, and will not need to sleep anymore, even if it was only for 3 hours. Now, one thing that I really want to try in 2018 are the polyphasic sleeping schedules, the everyman sleep schedule looks like it could be interesting. Sleeping 4.5 hours at night, with a nap or two during the day could allow for huge productivity spikes.

Anything that is mainstream knowledge (ie. 8 hours minimum) seems to be less than healthy. Something that is so personalized like diet, sleep, exercise, or what have you shouldn't be generalized advice.

Post: #38

It’s cool to see it made a difference for you Horus.

Post: #39

(12-30-2017 03:08 AM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  It’s cool to see it made a difference for you Horus.

Ha. That's a distant memory. I remember it worked out very well for a few weeks before I relapsed back into chronic insomnia.

Post: #40

I'll take 6 hours of sleep and a hour workout then 8 hours of sleep with no workout anytime of the week. Sleep is overrated, working out is underrated.

Post: #41

I saw a study and documentary on the effects of alcohol on sleep. It was done by measuring the brain waves while you sleep showing how much deep restful sleep you actually get when you drink.

It's true that alchohol makes you fall asleep faster, quicker and easier.

The problem is your quality of sleep is worse, you generally get less, and you get less high quality rest. I didn't know this before watching but I have confirmed that with my own experiences. No idea where I saw that documentary though.

Post: #42

I've been doing Dymaxion sleep for years. Four 30-minute naps equally spaced throughout the day.

https://www.polyphasicsociety.com/polyph...overviews/

Tons of free time and no negative side effects, other than the screams of a thousand demons in my head and the overwhelming urge to set my car on fire and then drive off a cliff.

Not serious, but that website has some absurd suggestions for alternative sleep schedules that are worth reading.