3 ms·

Is 8h sleep from 22:00 to 6:00 qualitatively equivalent to 8h sleep from 00:00 to 8:00?

by dvh 5y ago

jimt1234 5y ago
This is a question I've had for years: Does time of day matter for sleep? If I go to sleep on a "normal" schedule (wake up, start day around 7am), I need 8 hours. However, I can totally survive, and even thrive, with just 5-ish hours of sleep, if I can wake up around 11am, going to sleep just before dawn. Not a doctor, so I don't know the answer. My assumption is that it depends on the person. I'm a night-person, so naturally the waking-at-11am schedule works best for me. But staying awake until 5:30am is unthinkable for most morning people.
belkarx 5y ago
I believe if you adjust your circadian rhythm accordingly, and don't face interference from external conditions (sunlight) they are equivalent.
bot41 5y ago
For me, I have noted that it is not. Even after long periods of going to sleep at later times. I have always found earlier to bed and earlier to rise is much better. My problem is I am never tired or motivated to go to bed before 00:00 or 01:00. I don't really get sleepy or yawny. I really only go to bed because it's getting to silly o'clock.
jugg1es 5y ago
There are multiple studies that show that the time that you sleep does matter. There is a higher risk of diabetes and obesity for people who sleep during the day and are awake at night. I'm not saying this to be a buzz kill, I really wish it wasn't true. Anecdotally, I used to keep very, very late hours and sleep a lot of the day - and I did this for years. I thought I was fine. Once I established a normal day/night cycle (kids and wife do that to you), I realized that I had been grumpy most of the time and not particularly happy. Soon after establishing a more normal rhythm, I also lost a considerable amount of weight (about 15lbs).
- dathinab 5y ago
  It's less the time, and more how it interacts with the rest of your live. Like the bodies instinct related to light amount and how you allow your body to sleep getting out of sync. Or how day time tends to be more noisy and as such is more likely to disrupt your sleep. Or how meeting people fits less into your sleep cycle. Or how most people are not night active all the time, but switch between periods of night shifts and e.g. not being night active on your free days (because you e.g. can't go to the SPA at 2am). Or how bright lights, even such advertised as daylight lights, often do not replace day light properly. Etc. So, while the time doesn't matter directly in practice having a "off" cycle is much much more likely to affect your life implicitly in negative ways then a more day aligned cycle.
  - jugg1es 5y ago
    Yes, obviously it is about the day/night cycle and not about absolute time because people on the other side of the planet are just fine. But while the absolute time may not matter, the time you are awake during the day/night cycle does matter. You can try to tell yourself you can live outside this day/night cycle, but we just didn't evolve that way.
dathinab 5y ago
The time "numbers" do not matter but: - light availability matters, like how much lite you are exposed to in the morning, during the day and in the evening. - how it affects other parts of your live (e.g. how reliable you can keep the rhythm) - the body has a natural tendency to associate low, warmer light with "time to slowly go to bed", how likely are you to mess that up? - how does it fit in with fitness and food? I personally have a supper messed up sleep cycle. Through one think I know reliable is that it's hard for me to stand up at any time before 1-2h after daylight (not twilight), which living in the northern hemisphere means in winter I have a hard time standing up before 9-11am. Which messes with food intake and daily activities. At the same time it means that there is quite a long time in the evening with a constant not to bright light (room light), which messes with my body knowing when it's time to sleep. But having bight (indirect) "neutral" or "daylight" light around my work desk, "warm" light in my living room area and reducing it over time before going to sleep does help a bit. Through it also creates a light cycle detached from daylight ... which can be a problem, too. EDIT: Anyway: You are _much_ more likely to have subtle negative effects in your live implicitly caused by a less day aligned sleep cycle then you are with a day aligned sleep cycle. The more "off" your cycle is the more likely it will implicitly cause negative health effects, and the harder it gets to offset them.

Is 8h sleep from 22:00 to 6:00 qualitatively equivalent to 8h sleep from 00:00 to 8:00?

by dvh 5y ago

Is 8h sleep from 22:00 to 6:00 qualitatively equivalent to 8h sleep from 00:00 to 8:00?

This is a question I've had for years: Does time of day matter for sleep? If I go to sleep on a "normal" schedule (wake up, start day around 7am), I need 8 hours. However, I can totally survive, and even thrive, with just 5-ish hours of sleep, if I can wake up around 11am, going to sleep just before dawn. Not a doctor, so I don't know the answer. My assumption is that it depends on the person. I'm a night-person, so naturally the waking-at-11am schedule works best for me. But staying awake until 5:30am is unthinkable for most morning people.

belkarx 5y ago

I believe if you adjust your circadian rhythm accordingly, and don't face interference from external conditions (sunlight) they are equivalent.

bot41 5y ago

For me, I have noted that it is not. Even after long periods of going to sleep at later times. I have always found earlier to bed and earlier to rise is much better. My problem is I am never tired or motivated to go to bed before 00:00 or 01:00. I don't really get sleepy or yawny. I really only go to bed because it's getting to silly o'clock.

jugg1es 5y ago

There are multiple studies that show that the time that you sleep does matter. There is a higher risk of diabetes and obesity for people who sleep during the day and are awake at night. I'm not saying this to be a buzz kill, I really wish it wasn't true. Anecdotally, I used to keep very, very late hours and sleep a lot of the day - and I did this for years. I thought I was fine. Once I established a normal day/night cycle (kids and wife do that to you), I realized that I had been grumpy most of the time and not particularly happy. Soon after establishing a more normal rhythm, I also lost a considerable amount of weight (about 15lbs).

dathinab 5y ago
It's less the time, and more how it interacts with the rest of your live. Like the bodies instinct related to light amount and how you allow your body to sleep getting out of sync. Or how day time tends to be more noisy and as such is more likely to disrupt your sleep. Or how meeting people fits less into your sleep cycle. Or how most people are not night active all the time, but switch between periods of night shifts and e.g. not being night active on your free days (because you e.g. can't go to the SPA at 2am). Or how bright lights, even such advertised as daylight lights, often do not replace day light properly. Etc. So, while the time doesn't matter directly in practice having a "off" cycle is much much more likely to affect your life implicitly in negative ways then a more day aligned cycle.
- jugg1es 5y ago
  Yes, obviously it is about the day/night cycle and not about absolute time because people on the other side of the planet are just fine. But while the absolute time may not matter, the time you are awake during the day/night cycle does matter. You can try to tell yourself you can live outside this day/night cycle, but we just didn't evolve that way.

dathinab 5y ago

The time "numbers" do not matter but: - light availability matters, like how much lite you are exposed to in the morning, during the day and in the evening. - how it affects other parts of your live (e.g. how reliable you can keep the rhythm) - the body has a natural tendency to associate low, warmer light with "time to slowly go to bed", how likely are you to mess that up? - how does it fit in with fitness and food? I personally have a supper messed up sleep cycle. Through one think I know reliable is that it's hard for me to stand up at any time before 1-2h after daylight (not twilight), which living in the northern hemisphere means in winter I have a hard time standing up before 9-11am. Which messes with food intake and daily activities. At the same time it means that there is quite a long time in the evening with a constant not to bright light (room light), which messes with my body knowing when it's time to sleep. But having bight (indirect) "neutral" or "daylight" light around my work desk, "warm" light in my living room area and reducing it over time before going to sleep does help a bit. Through it also creates a light cycle detached from daylight ... which can be a problem, too. EDIT: Anyway: You are _much_ more likely to have subtle negative effects in your live implicitly caused by a less day aligned sleep cycle then you are with a day aligned sleep cycle. The more "off" your cycle is the more likely it will implicitly cause negative health effects, and the harder it gets to offset them.