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Do we really need eight hours of uninterrupted sleep a night?
- drej 8y agoI'm halfway through Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep. And it's terrifying. The medical implications of insufficient sleep are rather worrisome. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/295665/why-we-sleep/9780141983769.html https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/295665/why-we-sleep/97801419...
- colechristensen 8y agoI read it, I liked it, I felt like it was not written very objectively. There did not seem to be nearly enough self-doubt or testing alternate situations. And it shouldn't be terrifying. You no longer have to worry about animals trying to eat you, finding enough food to eat yourself, dying of infection, or physically defending yourself on a day to day basis. If the worst thing that's wrong with you is sub-optimal sleep, you've got life pretty good. We're getting down to solving more and more subtle problems. Sleep, the biological contents of your digestive system, and environmental exposures look to be the big health problems on the table to solve in the next few decades.
- manmal 8y agoSub-optimal sleep can absolutely ruin you, in the long run. E.g. it's been suggested that a significant portion (a third, IIRC, have to find that article) of chronic fatigue incidents are due to non-restorative sleep. Definitely a problem worth solving if you have it. If you lie in bed awake once per week or so, you surely don't need to fret about it. It just must not become part of your lifestyle - if it does, get a checkup.
- sbarker 8y agoCalm down. We all die in the long run... Want better sleep? Stop worrying and work with your hands a bit.
- marak830 8y agoUnfortunately that doesn't always work. Sometimes due to pure amounts of work I have done over the day I just can't sleep when I get to bed. (Chef, so definitely working with my hands haha)
- lj3 8y agoHeart attacks increase by 25% When we lose that 1 hour of sleep by switching to Daylight Savings time.
- FabHK 8y agoWalker does bring quite some evidence to bear, though. I think the triad of well-being (good exercise, good nutrition, good sleep) is well established, and we're well advised to make sure we get enough sleep.
- stephengillie 8y agoMy digestion won't support 8 hours of uninterrupted anything. I'm up 2-3 times every night, as though I had a young child, but I'm single. Some nights, I'll be up for an hour or more, then return to bed for "second sleep".
- doombolt 8y agoDid you try to see a doctor?
- stephengillie 8y agoWhy would I see a doctor for a natural process? Besides, it's unhealthy to sit for 8 hours, so it's probably not healthy to lay for 8 hours. Is there a possibility for failure in seeking medical care?
- Shengbo 8y ago>Why would I see a doctor for a natural process? Waking up 2-3 times every night due to digestion issues doesn't sound healthy or natural. >it's unhealthy to sit for 8 hours, so it's probably not healthy to lay for 8 hours. It's less unhealthy than not getting that sleep.
- stephengillie 8y agoThe sleep doesn't have to be uninterrupted, just in multiples of the 45-minute sleep cycle. I get more than 6 hours almost every night.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- coldtea 8y agoCheck your eating habits (e.g. lots of difficult to process food, late), and consult a doctor.
- neonate 8y agoThis linked article by the same author is a bit better: https://theconversation.com/broken-sleep-its-a-rollercoaster-ride-1792 https://theconversation.com/broken-sleep-its-a-rollercoaster....
- unhammer 8y agoIt is important that people realize sleep cycles do exist, but this seems a bit strawman-ish. If someone says "you need about 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep" I would rather take that as meaning things like "don't get up after just 5 hours" and "don't get up and check ebay auctions in the middle of the night even if it just takes 10 minutes", not "don't panic if you naturally wake up at 4am". ----- Btw, on > Historical records also suggest that a segmented or bi-phasic sleep pattern was the norm before the industrial revolution. there's an interesting comment at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18051041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18051041
- jgtrosh 8y agos/don't panic/panic/
- unhammer 8y agoDoh! Thanks. That sentence got too complicated :)
- FabHK 8y agoGood point. The article is a bit disingenuous in calling it the "eight-hour solid sleep myth". Matthew Walker in his book on sleep (that's referenced also in the comment you link to) points out, for example, that a lot of learning tends to happen in the latest stages of sleep. So, 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep might well be better than 6 hours + 2 hours siesta.
- coldtea 8y ago>If someone says "you need about 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep" I would rather take that as meaning things like "don't get up after just 5 hours" and "don't get up and check ebay auctions in the middle of the night even if it just takes 10 minutes", not "don't panic if you naturally wake up at 4am". If you're tired when you "naturally wake up", then do panic.
- pqs 8y agoI work in Academia. I sleep after lunch every day. I have lunch in 30 minutes and then I sleep 20 minutes. I have an sleeping mat and a pillow in my office and I sleep on the floor. It really boosts my afternoon productivity, specially now that I have a baby and wake up several times during the night. During the weekends I sleep a little longer. I've been doing this for many years and I struggle a little bit when in meetings and conferences, where I can't sleep. But I'm learning to nap anywhere. ;-)
- r_singh 8y agoThis is so cool, love the pillow, mat + floor idea to nap anywhere. It might be perceived as a little weird by some colleagues at first, but once they get the utility, I guess they'll get used to it. I nap on my chair (it reclines upto 75-80 degrees) for about 18-22 minutes every day after lunch and it refreshes me like nothing else!
- pqs 8y agoI close the door. Fortunately I have my own office. They don't need to know. I live in a country where this is accepted behaviour, even though it is not common anymore in this context.
- easytiger 8y agoHas to be France
- seszett 8y agoNobody sleeps at the office in France, and his colleagues would find it very weird (weird but appealing, probably). Few people nap after lunch even at home, even in the south it's not a common practice anymore. It's a also quite uncommon these days to have your own office. Seems to me like it's more likely to be Spain.
- pqs 8y ago
- j7ake 8y agoThe amount of sleep also depends on age, obviously.
- tasticanal 8y agoOn age and your activities during the day. Insomnia and lack of sleep are really bad.
- meijer 8y agoWell, kids need more, obviously. But old people do not really less than young adults, according to "Why we sleep".
- coldtea 8y ago>Well, kids need more, obviously. Not really obvious. Babies and toddlers maybe, but kids after 5-6 seem to have much more energy.
- bitL 8y agoI've tried multiple different sleep approaches in order to maximize "awake" time, but defaulted back to exactly 8h/day - my body simply takes 8 uninterrupted hours and wakes me up precisely without any alarm clock. While experimenting, I saw energy/cognitive decline (tested) after a while, correcting when going back to 8h, so multi-phase sleep is definitely not for me.
- iamzozo 8y agoSame here. I got some energy from a mid-day/afternoon sleep, but after it also takes an hour to wake up completely. Going below the 8 hour sleep in a row and loosing focus. Even the weekends get messed up with less sleep.
- anotheryou 8y agoI'm totally fine with splitting sleep in two, but it's incompatible with most jobs and even social stuff. It's hard to find a fixed 2,5h slot that can be blocked every day. I could only do it during my high-school times.
- parski 8y agoOn the subject of Why We Sleep: I'm not sure how well it corresponds to the book, but Matthew Walker also has a Google Talks talk on the same subject that I recommend watching if you're not a book person: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXflBZXAucQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXflBZXAucQ
- Nursie 8y agoMeh. I don't really buy into this biphasic hype. If I go to sleep in the afternoon, my body still wants several hours sleep and I'll wake up groggy, disoriented and more tired than before. I can live on 6, and feel bad. 8 is good. 9 is better. 10 is common for me at weekends when I have no particular plans.
- milpool 8y agoAbsolutely the same here. And sometimes i wake up pretty early, feeling totally awake. I find that in that case, I have to get up. If i force myself to sleep 2 more hours, the day is basically ruined.
- sshagent 8y agoAt night i tend to get around 6 hours or so. I work from home and tend to find a 90 minute nap, as my (long) lunch break really works well for me. I eat my lunch whilst i work. This wouldn't work onsite, I'm sure, but it really works well for me. Gives me that little pick me up in the afternoon that i used to power through with LOTS of coffee. Down to one coffee a day now
- edoo 8y agoOne coffee a day max is a good trick. Like all addictive substances there is a seriously diminishing return and eventual swing patterns as tolerance builds. One a day gives you the full effect and has a chance to fully leave your system so you don't require coffee to function. Coffee withdrawal migraine style headaches are a real thing.
- sshagent 8y agoTook some major effort to get down to one, i suffered the horrid headaches as you mentioned. It took a while to figure out what was causing it, it was me not having any coffee. Now my coffee machine glares at me each time in the kitchen, but just one in the morning is all i do now :) I buy some lovely beans and just make sure that ONE COFFEE IS GREAT!
- edoo 8y agoI've experimented with two 3-4 hour sleep periods and it is great, two fresh starts per day... but only works if you don't have anything resembling a normal schedule.
- sgaduuw 8y agoHaving become a dad for the first time 14 months ago had quite the impact on the amount of uninterrupted sleep I have been getting since. I consider 4 hours in one stretch a good night. Averages are closer to 3 hours. My son simply is not a good sleeper. Even though my son brings a lot of fun to mine and my partner's life, I have not felt well-rested since his birth, and feel impacted both mentally and fysically due to that.
- jimmydddd 8y agoFear not! :-) I found that my lifestyle changed every six months or so when I had young children. So, baby waking four times a night? Just hang in there for six months, it will probably change. Good luck and enjoy!
- alimbada 8y agoI'm in the same boat. 3 years on and it's still extremely rare for my son not to wake up multiple times through the night and have to spend at least 20 mins (up to an hour or sometimes even up to 2 hours) getting him back to sleep. We've just had our second child and our daughter at 2.5 months old is also not a great sleeper during the night, but she will sleep through anything during the day. Combine that with both the kids staggering their sleep/wake schedules (as if they're colluding!) and I'm lucky to get a 3 hour stretch of sleep. Since I've been back at work after paternity leave I've regularly caught myself falling asleep at my desk at work and need to go and take a nap in my car at lunch time just so I can function.
- indemnity 8y agoReading this while son has just woken up mid sleep cycle and decided to wake the house... 10 month old :)
- malydok 8y agoInfants aren't born with their circadian rhythms already calibrated, it seems to take time during which the parents are in for some sleepless nights. Not sure how long the actual accustomizing period should last though.
- m1k1 8y agoOf course, we don't. We need 9 !!!
- AJRF 8y agoYou can meditate, you can chug red bull or coffee, you can use pomodoro's or live your life in a GTD system, but nothing will compare to the productivity increase of getting a good nights sleep.
- agumonkey 8y agoThere's a catch 22, I always sleep deep when I had a full day prior :)
- jason_slack 8y agoI sleep from 1am - 4am and then take 2 x 30 minute naps at 11am and 6pm. I've done this for a very long time. As a child and teenager I was often forced to try and sleep so I just lay awake. Once it was realized that I just couldn't sleep I was allowed to do quiet tasks like read or after I learned to code, code :-)
- lcall 8y agoI personally know a case of trying the "uberman" sleep schedule (aka "da vinci" sleep schedule, or ~30min sleep every four hours, permanently), having tried hard but could never completely convert to the schedule, where doing so is one of two strong possible causes of the individual now suffering very debilitating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and can no longer work regularly despite years of medical tests and efforts.
- brianwawok 8y agoThat sounds like a terrible idea
- bparsons 8y agoFrom a human performance and health point of view, yes, you need between 7-9 hrs of sleep a night. It doesn't need to be continuous or perfect, but good sleep is going to have a huge impact on your quality of life. In the short term, you can deal with the less, but your cognitive function, physical performance and metabolism are going to be impaired.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]