Sleeping habits

Tricord · Post by **Tricord** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 6:34 am

Well, I have horrible sleeping habits. I usually go to bed between 10pm - midnight, but I always end up laying awake for at least one or two hours before finally catching sleep. And I have trouble getting up in the morning, for the past four months I haven't really gotten up earlier than 10am, usually 11am.

So I went for some reading about sleeping habits, and I came across this link:

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/15/103358/720

It's a sleep shedule that supposedly allows you to sleep 2.5 to 3 hours per night by sleeping 20 to 30 minutes every four hours -- round the clock.

It sounds like it's a sweet deal once you've gotten used to the shedule.. Maybe someone has comments or first hand experience with this?

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 7:18 am

Some time ago, I saw a documentary on a study done to evaluate sleeping schedules like this. While the subjects were able to function, their physical, emotional, and intellectual performance were severely impaired. Sleep is a big part of the design of your body and neglecting it will cause nothing bu harm to you ... there is no such thing as a free sack lunch.

My own personal experience ... I had horrible sleeping habits. I was never consistent ... going to bed between 11PM and 2AM just depending on the games I was playing online. When I would try to go to sleep earlier I would toss and turn and not be able to get to sleep for hours. I had such a hard time trying to wake up in the morning.

Then the atom bomb hit ... my ex-wife decided to start back coking and drinking. Overnight I became a single parent and my sleeping schedule had to change. I found it incredibly difficult to be a good single parent with these sleeping habits. I was devoid of energy all of the time. I was stressed out to no end and my coping skills just weren't cutting it. When I addressed my sleeping habits that all ended. Over time I ended up with my current sleeping schedule : I turn in around 10:30 PM and I get up at 6:15 AM. I get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep, I don't remember the last time I had trouble falling asleep, and my energy level has gone through the roof. I now have enough energy to exercise fairly religiously and I have the mental and emotional capacity to be a damned good single father.

Go ahead and experiment with that stuff but I believe that in the end you will realize that it doesn't work. In the unlikely event that it does work, let me know ... I would love to not have to sleep.

Good Luck,
Ice out

roid · Post by **roid** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 7:37 am

i have an uh... "old friend" that does that. she is tuned into her body enough to feel when her body goes through this kindof "ok i want to sleep now, can i?" thing. she just nods off, for around 10-30mins at a time, every few hours.
so yeah she tells me that our bodys go through this kindof shedual that if you are ready for - you can ride the natural wave and just nod off every few hours.

she one of those psycho fireball types though, really spontaneous and all BLARGAHRGARHAG!@!!@! so it's probabaly different for different ppl.

i get around 9.5 hours of rest, i'm not entirely sure how much of that is technically sleep since i'm a super light sleeper and i'm not ever sure if i'm ever technically asleep since i seem to have the ability to memorise a lot of my family's morning conversation i overhear in the early morning while i'm technically still sleeping. can you do that while sleeping? probabaly not. yet if i get up instead of taking that rest i'm real ★■◆●ing cranky.

i've skimmed the article... ok, some tips:
sunlight for me is the ULTIMATE "GET UP ★■◆●!!" tool for cluing my body in that it's morning. as well as anything you basically just CAN'T TURN OFF, don't close the blinds or hide under your covers to avoid the sunlight - breath it in through your eyes. also set your radio to go off in the loungeroom so you can't reach over and turn it off from your bed - forcing you to get up and maybe think.

and as the article implys: sleep deprivation is indeed a GREAT method of hurrying up your REM patterns - if i havn't slept for a while i have a nasty habit of falling asleep on the loo and having multiple wild dreams all in just 30 minutes of total downtime. it really does work. but i've never tried it longterm, i think that'd feel pretty horrible

oh yeah, and eat healthy or your skin will file for divorce. skin loves sleep, (injested) water, and good food.

if you do decide to try the uberman out for at least 2 weeks. you've got to keep us all updated coz i'd LOVE to hear all about it

Flabby Chick · Post by **Flabby Chick** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 7:52 am

I got nothing to say about the link, but just wanted to say the less i sleep the better i feel during the day. I'm up at five for work and drop off at all sorts of times in the evening.

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!

roid · Post by **roid** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 8:01 am

ya sleep deprivation is kindof like mild drinking for me.

Tricord · Post by **Tricord** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 8:19 am

I'm inclined to try that shedule. It can't be any worse than what I'm doing now, I waste close to 12h per day on sleeping or trying to sleep.

I too, have noticed that getting a small amount of sleep when you haven't slept in a while is utterly refreshing (probably because you hit the REM fase a lot sooner). Last time I did this, I was running up close to 46 hours straight, I allowed myself to doze off for about three hours and I felt utterly refreshed, ready to kick ass for another entire day.

There are all sorts of things I don't have time for because I have a horrible sleeping shedule. I could be doing the dull work at night (bookkeeping, studying, correspondence), I'd have time to read the books that I like, while still have time for anything else during the day.

The only drawback is that you have to retire every four hours for a nap. If you're working a daytime job it might be a hard thing to do, but as it is for me I have absolutely no restriction whatsoever. I'm inclined to give it a try, starting thursday. I could give it the necessary time to get used to, I am graduating in two days and have time off till october.

will_kill · Post by **will_kill** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 9:19 am

From reading the previous posts' I would have to say that it's apparent that the phrase "different strokes for different folks" would apply here.
Although it is true that most people do require at least 7-8 hours of consecutive sleeping, I, for one, do not (as well as my dad, two of my uncles and one of my close friends).
IMME I believe that as we evolve, (as a species mind you, not individually) just like other facets of our being, so does the need for required sleep. With this synopsis in mind we can safely state that all "sleeping habits" are born of individual need.

Tricord · Post by **Tricord** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 6:28 pm

Well, as it stands I have slept 6 hours in the past two days, so I am sufficiently tired to sleep when it's time for a nap now. I'm starting with 1h naps, and I just took one from 1am till 2am. I'm tired, but I guess I'm OK considering..

I'll try to nap an hour every other hour during the night, and follow the 30min nap every 4 hours during the day. Then gradually diminish the naps during the night and hope I can cope

TheCope · Post by **TheCope** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 6:52 pm

When I was younger I would sleep in 4-hour shifts but the break between the first and second shift was about 2 hours (middle of the night) of awake time. That was when I wrote music like a freak... those 2 hours were actually golden most of the time maybe it was sleep depravation or the complete silence... but it worked for many years.

Now I tend to go down relatively early and wake up early. Morning is my favorite time.

Iâ??ve always needed 7-8 hours of sleep my whole life. I say the best method is to trust your body. Cutting corners will make you crazy.

rijruna1 · Post by **rijruna1** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 4:44 am

For me, it a max of 7hrs & a min of 5h30mins. If I sleep for more than the 7 hrs during a working week, its like I`m hung-over for the first couple of hrs or so, & if I dont get at least 5 1/2 I`m very light-headed & unable to concentrate fully.
Yep, its definately something to trial to find your own cycle. Being able to fine tune sleep gets you feeling the best thats possible all the time.
cheers
rij

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 7:54 am

I get pretty much 8 every night. I hit the sack, read for about 2 hours, go to sleep, and 8 hours after I stop reading pretty much my body kicks me awake and says "GET OUT OF BED."

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 8:39 am

I turned into a severe night owl during freshman year. I stay awake until at least 2 every night, and sometimes quite a bit longer (mostly thanks to Adult Swim

). If I don't have classes, sleeping in till noon or beyond isn't a problem. During the week, I can usually get by with a minimum of 5 hours, but I really prefer getting more if at all possible. On weekends, it's as long as I feel like sleeping.

Tricord · Post by **Tricord** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:14 am

Well, I just finished two daytime naps of 30min every 4 hours, and I can tell they're doing me good. I go to sleep in about 10 minutes (which is unbelieveable for me) and after 30 minutes of sleep I wake up by myself, feeling at least as good as I felt before the nap (not drowsy or sleepy or anything).

I think there's something to it, but the transition to the new shedule is harder at night. So I'll be sleeping longer blocks at night in order to get used to getting up, and gradually even out the schedule to 30 minutes every 4 hours round the clock.

I'll keep posting my findings.

13Lucky13 · Post by **13Lucky13** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 12:51 pm

I only read the first post in this thread, and all I know is that in Seinfeld, Kramer tried doing this and it didn't work. And since Seinfeld is the bible, I would not recommend trying this method of sleep.

Robo · Post by **Robo** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 3:53 pm

I don't have much of a problem. My hours are about 12:30am till about 7:15am.

Plenty of energy and I'm used to it. All is good.

Tricord · Post by **Tricord** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:51 am

Well, it seems that I can fall asleep within 10 minutes during the day, but when I take a nap at the time I normally go to sleep, I couldn't get to sleep AT ALL. I went for a nap at 10pm and at half past midnight I was still awake.

Yesterday my schedule was pretty borked after some serious alcohol abuse, so I slept a 10h block and then woke up with a hangover.. I kinda figured out this schedule wouldn't work with alcohol

I guess so far I found out that you can sleep pretty much whenever you want and in any blocks you want (half hour naps or more), but that it's cumulative and that you can not really deviate from your average daily sleep.

I've been accumulating lack of sleep and it's catching up with me. I don't think a regular person who needs 7-8 hours of sleep a day can successfully adjust to such a schedule without compensating somehow (like sleeping full weekends to recover from a week of lack of sleep). That doesn't work for me.

Bottom line of my experiment: you can freely choose when you recharge your batteries, but you can't really fiddle with the minimal recharging time..

Oh well. At least I tried it

roid · Post by **roid** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:21 pm

this reminds me of when ppl switch from QWERTY to DVORAK

Jon the Great · Post by **Jon the Great** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:08 am

13Lucky13 wrote:in Seinfeld, Kramer tried doing this and it didn't work. And since Seinfeld is the bible, I would not recommend trying this method of sleep.

LOL that was a funny episode too. He keeps wandering around in the middle of the night bored out his mind and at the end of the episode he just collapsed

btw, kramer was doing exactly what you guys are talking about.

Kiran · Post by **Kiran** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:51 am

I have this weird thing that about once or twice a month or two, there will be a night when I just cannot sleep for more than 3 hrs, and be awake and walking around as if I had 9 hrs of sleep all day the next day. It's weird.
I only get sleepy when I'm bored and I didn't get more than 6 hrs of sleep the night before. I can go at least three days with little sleep if I stay active (Hiking, dancing, etc). I know this for a fact because it has happened a few times.

However, there will also be times when I just need 12-15 hrs of sleep and I will do just that, time permitting. Also if my bed is seemly comfortable enough. My sleeping schedule will always be hectic because my schedule is always hectic no matter what time of the year it is. Sometimes I wish I am a guy instead of a girl, because for most guys, they can live on 4-6 hrs of sleep and be fine the next day.

Lobber · Post by **Lobber** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:02 pm

I don't know what guys you're talking about. I need at least 9 hours of sleep every day. If I miss any of those hours, they catch up to me on the weekends and I sleep half the time everyone else is normally awake.

Money! · Post by **Money!** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 9:20 pm

13Lucky13 wrote:I only read the first post in this thread, and all I know is that in Seinfeld, Kramer tried doing this and it didn't work. And since Seinfeld is the bible, I would not recommend trying this method of sleep.

I'm with him. Seinfeld is the best show ever, and I follow it religiously. I'd say sleep normally. Personally I don't think there is a way this can work. You can try it, but if it doesn't work for you, some bad stuff might go down. Besides, what happens when you get a job or college or school where you have to be alert for more than 3 hours at a time?

And is mango really an aphrodisiac?

BUBBALOU · Post by **BUBBALOU** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 5:38 am

I used to have the same problem going to sleep...would be in my bed 2-3 hours tossing and turning......

now i go to bed and within 2 minutes fall asleep

How.....
I just clear my mind or if the cat jumps in the bed and lays down at my feet...I just think about the cat's puring.

My problem was I was thinking about everything that would be going on in the next week or so. My mind would race and about these issues past present and future causing anxiety.

it is that simple...clear your mind and use the force luke

Kiran · Post by **Kiran** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 12:02 pm

Oh, by the way, I have discovered something a few years ago at school. I would come in to class, sleep for 5 mins, then be easily awake and alert for the next hour and 45 mins. Very effective when I didn't get much sleep the night before.