I'm sure most of us are familiar with the idea that eight hours of sleep is optimal. The latest scientific research seems to support this idea, with some researchers even going to the extreme end and suggesting that any less than eight hours per night might lead to all kinds of health problems, including an increased risk of dementia and a general weakening of the immune system due to body stress which makes the risk of both cancer and heart disease higher.
Yicks!
All this aside, I'm fairly sure most of us don't get eight hours per night. I mean, I think we'd all love to get more sleep, but unless we find ourselves in a position where we are wealthy enough not to work a 9-5 job, we probably find ourselves pushing on one side of our day or even both, waking earlier than we should and/or staying up too late either trying to do money making things or trying to squeeze in something to help alleviate the stress from our day, like gaming until midnight or binge watching a TV series and so on.
All that in mind, I'm curious how much sleep you guys get. I'm making a poll on this page, but it may not show up unless you are looking at the Peakd version of this page. If you don't see the poll, just leave your answer in a comment.
Me, I probably get between 6 and 8 hours per night, depending on the day. Sometimes less, but rarely more. Mon - Sat I have to get up to work. The kids are getting up for school or club activities on those days anyway, so that would probably wake me up early even if I didn't want to. At night I usually try to go to bed around 8 hours before but I often stay up later doing Hive related activity, paperwork for my business, or related. Then I always do 20 minutes of zazen before bed. On Sunday, however, I typically sleep in till 8 or 9, so if I am strict enough with myself to get to bed at a decent time, I can catch up on sleep a little on that day.
I'm not one of those people who stresses about hitting that 8 hour target though. I mean, I have no reason to doubt the research that shows what it shows about that target, but I also don't think stressing about it is going to do me much good. That in mind, I generally follow the idea that if I'm tired, I should go to bed even if it seems like a ridiculous early time, and that if I'm not tired, I can stay up and do more, even if doing so means I won't get a full eight hours.
I don't know, maybe I will regret this attitude when I get older and get dementia, but if so... well, I'll have dementia, so I won't really care, so that's kind of a win, right?
Joking aside, I think stress is more dangerous than not enough sleep, so I try not to worry about it too much.
Anyway, vote in the poll or give me a comment. How much sleep do you tend to get per night?
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David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Mastodon. |
I usually go to bed around 10, up by 6am, so I think I is goods.
hahaha
That sounds pretty good! I try to get to bed by that time at the latest, but it seems to work less often then I hope. Kids always throw a wrench into my plans.
@tipu curate
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I actually always try to get 8 hours, but at least 7 hours of sleep. But even that is difficult, even though I'm alone and don't have any children.
Yep, it's hard to make the time all too often.
I think I usually get right around 7 hours of sleep per night. Now that I have my CPAP machine, it tracks all of that for me and I get charts every day and a score that shows me how I have done. I think my nightly average is between 7 and 8 hours. Actually, my average for this week so far is 8 hours 3 minutes...
Sounds like you are doing pretty good this week!
I can say that I have a pretty similar approach. I try to be in bed at time to complete at least 7h30 hours of sleep... since I have "alarm clock" for working time compromisses, like you pointed out. But I can say that fairly I fell more or less rested when I wake up. Off course that are some particular days that I feel that I could rest couple of more minutes, and I try to compensate going to bed earlier the next evening, even that it is "awkwardly early for a ground up"... 😅
Couple of weeks ago, I summed up some fatigue during the week, and in the weekend, I manage to sleep for 9h plus hours! That I find the "perfect way" to communicate with my body. Not having the compromisse to "hit" the 8 hour sleep time everyday, but "listening" to my body and respect his needs.
I can say that when I have the will to cut off caffeine for more then two weeks, my sleep quality and duration increases undoubtedly. Recently I made a 5 months period without caffeine in any form (beverage, pills, etc), and I felt great! But I had to return to the magic beverage due to some extra work that I was dealing with. Let's see if I can implement another long period "off caffeine".. Fingers crossed!
Have a great week!
Wow! This is an interesting topic to research. Personally, my ideal sleep schedule is around 6–8 hours, like you, but I can’t always achieve it. I don’t think ancient people had the same sleeping habits as we do today. They had to keep the fire going, go hunting early in the morning, or adapt to other survival needs.
I also heard that the concept of three meals a day was created during the industrial era. In the past, having fewer meals was likely more common, I think. Interestingly, my DNA test shows that 8 hours of sleep is the most comfortable schedule for me.