Sleep, or a lack of

[Jon]

My fitbit shows that I only had 5hrs 28m of sleep last night. I normally need about 8, although I usually get about 7hr 30m on average.

How much sleep do you need? Do you normally get what you need? How do you feel when deprived?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I operated on 5 1/2 hours of sleep when I was working the Navy job and the two jobs before that. In fact, even into my college days I was a short session sleeper. Since I have retired, however, my average has crept up to over six 1/2 hours. When I haven't had enough sleep even by my standards, I'm initially sluggish and that permeates my physical as well as mental activity. My waking profile is that as the day gets later, I get more and more alert. It was for that reason that I programmed my main Navy system to send me e-mails about any events that were detected during the previous evening. I didn't have to go looking because my machine told me what went on. I didn't have to guess or search for anything.

 

[Bee]

I can go for weeks on as little as 4-5 hours sleep a night. I work best on 6 hours.

I feel awful if I have more than 7.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

My activity profile was that I did my best work after dark. When I started my hobbyist writing, I was able to churn out a couple of chapters in one night when the ideas were there. Then I would spend a few days polishing up what I wrote, having put the basic ideas in print. (Well, in digital print.)

 

[fatmt]

8 hours is the ideal time for me - I have had some issues staying asleep lately. I wake up in the middle of the night and then I struggle going back to sleep.

When I do manage to get back to sleep, I wake up again too early. Annoying - most of the day I'm left with this hangover-like feeling.

Yesterday I got some melatonin tablets and took one last night. Seems like it worked. Not perfectly, I still woke up a bit early, but I definitely felt more refreshed than usual this morning.

 

[Jon]

I had my worst nights sleep last night in perhaps 7 months. Only got about 3 hours of it. I had a 2 hour nap this afternoon that helped a bit. I was worrying about work related stuff.

 

[fatmt]

I had my worst nights sleep last night in perhaps 7 months.

Sorry to hear that. Either work or personal life can lead to anxiety and interfere with sleep. I'm taking the second tablet tonight. If it works for me, perhaps it's something you may want to consider.

 

[Jon]

I have tried them before. I think getting control of wild thoughts is hard. I do my ten minutes of meditation per day to rewire my brain. If I had more time, perhaps I would do more. Or if I did more, then perhaps I would have better sleep and save time. Oh how complex the world is!