4 ms·

I currently am stuck at a six hour cycle. Any tips to turn that into eight?

globular-toast 3y ago
From someone who sleeps 8 hours almost every night: just go to sleep earlier and /or wake up later. Impossible to give any better advice without any further information. Is the problem not enough hours in the day (e.g. time wasted on stuff like commuting etc.)? Or are you just unable to stay asleep longer than 6 hours?
- densh 3y ago
  And there is a whole other problem of not being able to fall asleep. Reducing caffeine helps but not still it's very difficult for some.
  - globular-toast 3y ago
    Reading works for me. Recently I've improved that even more using an eReader. My room is completely dark when I go to sleep. I use blackout curtains and have removed any sources of light from my room. In the summer it gets light very early in the UK (~04:00) and I require ventilation so I also wear an eye mask. I use a fan to mask any background noise and, in summer, this is blowing directly on me to keep me cool. I use a wool duvet which I found the best for temperature regulation; I require a weighty covering even when it's warm. I use a Kobo which has an adjustable frontlight that can go both very low and very warm (redish). I set the Kobo's backlight to the lowest and warmest possible setting. I lie on my side with the Kobo on its side leaning on an adjacent pillow such that I don't have to hold it. Turning pages requires a light tap; there is no scrolling or swiping involved. At some point after a few pages of Iain M. Banks, or whatever I'm reading at the time (usually science fiction), I fall asleep. The Kobo automatically switches itself off after I stop turning pages and I wake in the morning with it next to me (or sometimes I've moved it but can't remember when/why). It's important not to use something like TV that you need to actively switch off at some point and, if you use an object like a book or eReader, make sure it won't fall and wake you up when you start to nod off. Definitely don't hold it up with your hands. Don't use a phone because scrolling etc. is far too active and backlit screens just don't seem conducive to sleep. An eReader is perfect because it means you can turn the lights off but the frontlit e-ink screen is more like a book than a phone. This method has been tried and tested with a partner in the same bed. You just need to make sure any objects don't fall on or get tangled up with said partner. I have a pillow system propped up by my bedside table for this purpose.
    - densh 3y ago
      This is helpful, thanks for the tips!
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
deepsquirrelnet 3y ago
I used to easily sleep 8 hours, then I had a kid with colic, followed by 6 months of back to back to back illness from daycare. Now I can’t sleep longer than 3-4 hours consecutively. For me, I think part of the problem is not having enough hours in the day to take care of myself. If you’ve gotten very busy with work or life, it’s hard to do the things you need to do to get healthy sleep.
- user_7832 3y ago
  You could look at biphasic or polyphasic sleep. If it makes you feel any better, humans would apparently sleep in 2 chunks for most of history (waking up for a few hours at midnight-3am and sleeping again). As long as the total sleep duration is adequate, some research shows that it's not necessary to get 8 consecutive hours.
  - bityard 3y ago
    > humans would apparently sleep in 2 chunks for most of history (waking up for a few hours at midnight-3am and sleeping again) I have read this claim for decades now, but I have trouble believing it. To me, a claim about pre-civilization human behavior doesn't have a whole lot of merit unless it can be explained as being evolutionarily advantageous to mammals in general or humans in particular. Humans are diurnal and I can't imagine a scenario in which "wasting" a few hour of potential sleep is worth it somehow in the middle of the night when it's dark and there's nothing to do anyway. The closest I can come is that _maybe_ some small percentage of early humans were polyphasic sleepers, which benefited the tribe by watching out for a pack of hungry wolves or enemy tribe attacking in the middle of the night or whatever.
- lawgimenez 3y ago
  Same here, since having a kid I only averaged 4 hours of sleep for over 5 years now. In the morning I’m just gonna coffee drunk myself to last the whole day and night. I think I need a plan at some point in the near future.
leokennis 3y ago
Disclaimer: I am not getting 8 hours consistently, but working on it... For me the most beneficial is to reduce the fear of missing out. Especially if you have kids, the tendency is to want to spend the evening hours when they are already in bed to "live your old life": game, watch movies, do other hobbies or activities. And then you go to bed too late. I am trying to accept that I can watch maybe 1 movie per month, watch maybe 2 series per year, and read at most 1 book per week in the time between ~20:00 and 22:00 that my kids are asleep and I can spend freely without impacting my 8 hours of sleep. So, every year 50 interesting movies come out. I'll never see 38 of them. I'll never read that interesting longread. I will never read Liu Cixin's "The Three-Body Problem".
gardenhedge 3y ago
Seems ideal if you're feeling okay. 8 is just a 'magic' number

From someone who sleeps 8 hours almost every night: just go to sleep earlier and /or wake up later. Impossible to give any better advice without any further information. Is the problem not enough hours in the day (e.g. time wasted on stuff like commuting etc.)? Or are you just unable to stay asleep longer than 6 hours?

densh 3y ago
And there is a whole other problem of not being able to fall asleep. Reducing caffeine helps but not still it's very difficult for some.
- globular-toast 3y ago
  Reading works for me. Recently I've improved that even more using an eReader. My room is completely dark when I go to sleep. I use blackout curtains and have removed any sources of light from my room. In the summer it gets light very early in the UK (~04:00) and I require ventilation so I also wear an eye mask. I use a fan to mask any background noise and, in summer, this is blowing directly on me to keep me cool. I use a wool duvet which I found the best for temperature regulation; I require a weighty covering even when it's warm. I use a Kobo which has an adjustable frontlight that can go both very low and very warm (redish). I set the Kobo's backlight to the lowest and warmest possible setting. I lie on my side with the Kobo on its side leaning on an adjacent pillow such that I don't have to hold it. Turning pages requires a light tap; there is no scrolling or swiping involved. At some point after a few pages of Iain M. Banks, or whatever I'm reading at the time (usually science fiction), I fall asleep. The Kobo automatically switches itself off after I stop turning pages and I wake in the morning with it next to me (or sometimes I've moved it but can't remember when/why). It's important not to use something like TV that you need to actively switch off at some point and, if you use an object like a book or eReader, make sure it won't fall and wake you up when you start to nod off. Definitely don't hold it up with your hands. Don't use a phone because scrolling etc. is far too active and backlit screens just don't seem conducive to sleep. An eReader is perfect because it means you can turn the lights off but the frontlit e-ink screen is more like a book than a phone. This method has been tried and tested with a partner in the same bed. You just need to make sure any objects don't fall on or get tangled up with said partner. I have a pillow system propped up by my bedside table for this purpose.
  - densh 3y ago
    This is helpful, thanks for the tips!
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

deepsquirrelnet 3y ago

I used to easily sleep 8 hours, then I had a kid with colic, followed by 6 months of back to back to back illness from daycare. Now I can’t sleep longer than 3-4 hours consecutively. For me, I think part of the problem is not having enough hours in the day to take care of myself. If you’ve gotten very busy with work or life, it’s hard to do the things you need to do to get healthy sleep.

user_7832 3y ago
You could look at biphasic or polyphasic sleep. If it makes you feel any better, humans would apparently sleep in 2 chunks for most of history (waking up for a few hours at midnight-3am and sleeping again). As long as the total sleep duration is adequate, some research shows that it's not necessary to get 8 consecutive hours.
- bityard 3y ago
  > humans would apparently sleep in 2 chunks for most of history (waking up for a few hours at midnight-3am and sleeping again) I have read this claim for decades now, but I have trouble believing it. To me, a claim about pre-civilization human behavior doesn't have a whole lot of merit unless it can be explained as being evolutionarily advantageous to mammals in general or humans in particular. Humans are diurnal and I can't imagine a scenario in which "wasting" a few hour of potential sleep is worth it somehow in the middle of the night when it's dark and there's nothing to do anyway. The closest I can come is that _maybe_ some small percentage of early humans were polyphasic sleepers, which benefited the tribe by watching out for a pack of hungry wolves or enemy tribe attacking in the middle of the night or whatever.
lawgimenez 3y ago
Same here, since having a kid I only averaged 4 hours of sleep for over 5 years now. In the morning I’m just gonna coffee drunk myself to last the whole day and night. I think I need a plan at some point in the near future.

leokennis 3y ago

Disclaimer: I am not getting 8 hours consistently, but working on it... For me the most beneficial is to reduce the fear of missing out. Especially if you have kids, the tendency is to want to spend the evening hours when they are already in bed to "live your old life": game, watch movies, do other hobbies or activities. And then you go to bed too late. I am trying to accept that I can watch maybe 1 movie per month, watch maybe 2 series per year, and read at most 1 book per week in the time between ~20:00 and 22:00 that my kids are asleep and I can spend freely without impacting my 8 hours of sleep. So, every year 50 interesting movies come out. I'll never see 38 of them. I'll never read that interesting longread. I will never read Liu Cixin's "The Three-Body Problem".

gardenhedge 3y ago

Seems ideal if you're feeling okay. 8 is just a 'magic' number