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The myth of the eight-hour sleep
BBC ^ | 22 February 2012 | Stephanie Hegarty

Posted on 02/23/2012 5:17:34 PM PST by grundle

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To: grundle

I think sleep needs vary tremendously by individual. I have always been a light sleeper and also have always slept 9 to 10 hours a night. When I was a teen it was 10 now that I am 65 it is 9. If I only get 7, I can function but will feel awful.

My Father was really strange. He could lie down just about anywhere and immediately go soundly to sleep. I could never do that.


21 posted on 02/23/2012 5:35:18 PM PST by yarddog
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To: grundle

Very interesting.
Personally I wish I could figure out how not to sleep I would.
The sleep patterns people are talking about here are also interesting.
I go for about three weeks of sleeping about four hours, then one night I’ll sleep about ten hours. Weird, but it has been that way as long as I can remember.
Thanks for posting.


22 posted on 02/23/2012 5:35:38 PM PST by svcw (Only difference between Romney & BH is one thinks he will be god & other one thinks he already is.)
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To: grundle

Whenever I have a sustained period of time off work, my pattern is 6-7 hours at night and 1-2 hours in the afternoon. I know for a lot of people, the early afternoon (2-4) is the low point of their day, energy-wise.


23 posted on 02/23/2012 5:35:43 PM PST by rbg81 (scillian's)
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To: Ditter

I usually sleep 7 hours. If I wake up after three hours, and stay up 2 hours and then sleep four hours, I’m dead tired all day. I always feel refreshed after 7 solid hours of sleep.


24 posted on 02/23/2012 5:35:55 PM PST by sneakers (EAT YOUR PEAS!)
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To: Jonty30

I have short sleep cycles as well - I really only sleep soundly for about 3 hours each night. On weekends it’s more of a 3-2-3 sleep-wake pattern, but on workdays the second three is only a dream :)


25 posted on 02/23/2012 5:37:51 PM PST by Mygirlsmom (If 98% have used birth control at some point, how is this an accessibility issue?)
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To: mnehring

Pretty much me too.

The best sleep is the last 30 minutes.


26 posted on 02/23/2012 5:39:35 PM PST by Eaker (Remember, the enemy tends to wise up at the least convenient moments.)
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To: tet68

Power naps - that’s the secret.


27 posted on 02/23/2012 5:39:40 PM PST by Repeal The 17th (We have met the enemy and he is us.)
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To: rbg81

You are correct, in fact I think that is where the “tea” at 4 o’clock came from. Like a perk me up.


28 posted on 02/23/2012 5:40:23 PM PST by svcw (Only difference between Romney & BH is one thinks he will be god & other one thinks he already is.)
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To: svcw

I had to do that for about 9months.

I was running a 24 hour convenience store, and I only had an employee work 2 days a week.

I kept it open and learned how to meditate (so I wouldn’t sleep) for 12 hours a day, so I could work the other 12 hours.

It’s been a couple of years since I did that and my ability to sleep is still all screwed up. But I did pick up a trick of how to not sleep for extended periods.


29 posted on 02/23/2012 5:40:43 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults.)
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To: grundle
Normal sleep patterns are an interesting subject.............

And they change over our lifetimes.........

Generally lot's when we are growing, then less when we are adults. But even then it waxes and wanes....from 6 to 10 hrs a day.

Of course there are variables....but that's close.

30 posted on 02/23/2012 5:41:24 PM PST by Osage Orange (A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.)
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To: grundle

bfl


31 posted on 02/23/2012 5:41:28 PM PST by Yardstick
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To: goseminoles

seven to eight...i can get by on less but then i need to catch up

powernap sometimes too...20min in the middle of the day is a great restorative


32 posted on 02/23/2012 5:41:56 PM PST by AnTiw1
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To: yarddog
My Father was really strange. He could lie down just about anywhere and immediately go soundly to sleep. I could never do that.

I have a friend who was a Navy pilot for years and then a
commercial pilot until retirement. He never got into a sleep
pattern. He could sleep and be up on about any schedule as
long as the rest averaged out well. He could do this.

33 posted on 02/23/2012 5:45:24 PM PST by CrazyIvan (Obama's birth certificate was found stapled to Soros's receipt.)
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To: grundle

Whether I wake up between sleeps is entirely dependent on how much beer I drink.


34 posted on 02/23/2012 5:47:02 PM PST by mosaicwolf (Strength and Honor)
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To: grundle

I’ve taken to sleeping this way. Trouble is if I work too long in the middle time I sleep real late.


35 posted on 02/23/2012 5:47:12 PM PST by DaxtonBrown (http://www.futurnamics.com/reid.php)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham
worked night shifts for nearly 20 years,

While in the Army we worked swing shifts. 6 days on, 2 days off on days, then 6 days on and 2 days off on afternoons, then 6 days on and 3 days off on midnights......

I can't say that I had any problem with it, it was just something we had to accept.

36 posted on 02/23/2012 5:47:26 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (The only solution to this primary is a shoot out! Last person standing picks the candidate)
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To: grundle

Horse feathers.


37 posted on 02/23/2012 5:51:42 PM PST by Vision ("Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?" John 11:40)
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To: grundle

I had the good fortune to have a few months of free time several years back and tested my natural sleep patterns. Turned out that my ideal is 18 hours awake then 8 hours of sleep. Perhaps the human race originated on a planet with 26 hour days?


38 posted on 02/23/2012 5:51:59 PM PST by Teflonic
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

***Interesting article. I worked night shifts for nearly 20 years,***

I worked an 8 hour rotating shift for about ten years. Midnights, evenings, days. Four days off between. Talk about messing you up!

Then we went to an 8 hour forward rotation for about 15 years. Midnights, days, evenings. Much better as that was in sync with our body clocks.

Then the fools voted to have a 12 hour day rotating. 4 midnights, 1 1/2 days off, then 3 days. Then three days off, and 3 midnights, 1 1/2 days off, and 4 day shifts, 6AM to 6PM.

Thought I was gonna die! Finally I had to retire or or fall over dead as I kept falling asleep at work in a very stressful job.

The fools wanted the 12 hour rotating shift as it gave them about 20 days off in a row. The problem was so many people were calling in sick that no one ever got 20 days off.


39 posted on 02/23/2012 5:53:17 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: Jonty30

I’ve been waking after about 4 hours of sleep. Then I’m awake, usually until time for the alarm clock to go off, when I’m ready to go to sleep again. The following day just KILLS me, then I sleep all night the next night, then normal for the rest of the week. The last night of my weekend, I lather, rinse, and repeat.

Hate it.


40 posted on 02/23/2012 5:55:59 PM PST by Big Giant Head
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