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I'm no expert but I thought that the whole 8 hour a night thing was not true, at least not for everyone. If I force myself to get 8 hours of sleep, by forcing

I'm no expert but I thought that the whole 8 hour a night thing was not true, at least not for everyone. If I force myself to get 8 hours of sleep, by forcing myself to stay in bed after I wake up, I get a headache. If I let myself wake up on its own without an alarm, it averages around 6.5 hours. If I get below that, then at some point I will sleep more than the 6.5 hours, and maybe even 8 hours. So from personal experience it seems like some of the things in this article do not mesh well with personal experience. I'm just confused at this point as to what to do. Am I suppose to stay sleeping for 8 hours even though I am awake? If for some reason I can't sleep at night and get less hours of sleep than expected, am I suppose to call in late to work and miss my morning meetings? You want to do the right thing here but getting 8 hours of sleep for some people just seems unpractical and there must be countless people who never get 8 hours and live long fruitful lives (I have no evidence for this but it seems like it would be true due to me not remembering anyone who told me they get 8 hours of sleep). I guess I require more evidence that 8 hours is what everyone should be getting. If maybe some people need 8 and others do not, then maybe they need to word it that way.

dyadic 8y ago
His book (Why We Sleep) is full of studies and evidence backing up what he claims. It's quite an enjoyable read and I'd recommend reading it if you have doubts or want to know more.
FreeFull 8y ago
The best thing to do is probably to sleep as much as your body tells you to, which in your case happens to be 6.5 hours (It can depend on genetics), and in my case ends up being more than 8 hours. Forcing yourself to sleep longer probably isn't a good idea.
narag 8y ago
You're asking different questions and mixing different reasons. Is it a problem of what's better for your health or what's more practical for work? The article anyway talks about 6.5 hours average and defines deprivation as less than six. If 6.5 is enough for you, good. As for you need to wake up at certain time... you still can go to sleep earlier. Yes, I know. That's difficult and you miss other things instead of work, but you should know what you're trading sleep for.
murali89 8y ago
The author mentions in the book, it is as rare as being hit by a lightning to find a person who needs less than 8 hours of sleep. I used to feel the same way before reading this book that I need only 6 hours of sleep. I was wrong. I started eating healthy and getting exercise (cardio) regularly - Bam, now I need more than 8 hours of sleep and my sleep quality improved tremendously.
zhte415 8y ago
In all kindness, the stream of thought without any structure in your comment suggests taking some time to lie back, relax, and let the world go by. Chill out for 30 minutes by doing nothing.
Rafuino 8y ago
That's what was unclear about the article for me. The recommendation is 8 hours, but under 6 hours is considered sleep deprivation. So... there seems to be a wide amount of flexibility between 6 and 8 hours, and it's likely person-dependent. Perhaps there's deleterious effects below 8 hours for everyone, but once you're at ~6 hours or below, the negative impact increases significantly.
Gatsky 8y ago
Do you drink coffee?
- jmartrican 8y ago
  Yes I do. But I have my last cup at around 2 or 3pm. I noticed that if I drink coffee after 5pm, it could affect my sleep if I do not workout. You think coffee in the early afternoon could affect sleep?
  - Gatsky 8y ago
    Just wondering if the morning headaches are caffeine withdrawal. This commonly causes headaches.

dyadic 8y ago

His book (Why We Sleep) is full of studies and evidence backing up what he claims. It's quite an enjoyable read and I'd recommend reading it if you have doubts or want to know more.

FreeFull 8y ago

The best thing to do is probably to sleep as much as your body tells you to, which in your case happens to be 6.5 hours (It can depend on genetics), and in my case ends up being more than 8 hours. Forcing yourself to sleep longer probably isn't a good idea.

narag 8y ago

You're asking different questions and mixing different reasons. Is it a problem of what's better for your health or what's more practical for work? The article anyway talks about 6.5 hours average and defines deprivation as less than six. If 6.5 is enough for you, good. As for you need to wake up at certain time... you still can go to sleep earlier. Yes, I know. That's difficult and you miss other things instead of work, but you should know what you're trading sleep for.

murali89 8y ago

The author mentions in the book, it is as rare as being hit by a lightning to find a person who needs less than 8 hours of sleep. I used to feel the same way before reading this book that I need only 6 hours of sleep. I was wrong. I started eating healthy and getting exercise (cardio) regularly - Bam, now I need more than 8 hours of sleep and my sleep quality improved tremendously.

zhte415 8y ago

In all kindness, the stream of thought without any structure in your comment suggests taking some time to lie back, relax, and let the world go by. Chill out for 30 minutes by doing nothing.

Rafuino 8y ago

That's what was unclear about the article for me. The recommendation is 8 hours, but under 6 hours is considered sleep deprivation. So... there seems to be a wide amount of flexibility between 6 and 8 hours, and it's likely person-dependent. Perhaps there's deleterious effects below 8 hours for everyone, but once you're at ~6 hours or below, the negative impact increases significantly.

Gatsky 8y ago

Do you drink coffee?

jmartrican 8y ago
Yes I do. But I have my last cup at around 2 or 3pm. I noticed that if I drink coffee after 5pm, it could affect my sleep if I do not workout. You think coffee in the early afternoon could affect sleep?
- Gatsky 8y ago
  Just wondering if the morning headaches are caffeine withdrawal. This commonly causes headaches.