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Is Eight Hours of Sleep Wrong?

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  • Is Eight Hours of Sleep Wrong?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783

    Basically, this article says that we are probably supposed to have two sleeping periods at night, instead of one. It's an interesting read, and one I wonder if it could maybe help somehow.

  • #2
    Psh, I already do this. I get off work at 11pm and end up going to sleep around midnight, get up at 3 to do the paper route, and am back in bed either by 5 or 7, depending on if I go to the gym after the route that day or not, during which point I sleep another 4-5 hours or so (unless it's Sunday and I'm working maintenance, since I have to be up no later than 8:30 am...I hate Sundays).

    It's a crazy sleep schedule, but I'm so used to it, that if I get a freak amount of time off and try to sleep for 8 hours straight, I can't. Four hours is typically the max I can stay asleep at once. I can wake up after four, and then fall back asleep for a couple more hours, but I can't stay asleep the whole time.
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

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    • #3
      During holidays when I don't have to work or go to school I find myself doing this.
      The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away.

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      • #4
        I love the concept, because it's very Medieval and I read about it a long time ago for research into a worldbuilding project. However I cannot follow it because I do not have nine-ten hours to spare for my sleeping period; I can barely manage eight, and I need to get enough sleep because of my epilepsy.
        "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

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        • #5
          I want eight hours. I NEED eight hours. I don't consider a brief wake-up somewhere in the middle to mean I'm getting two separate sleep periods. Mind you, by brief I mean a few minutes. I rarely wake up and stay that way for 1-2 hours and then fall asleep again...but when I do, I always feel tired during the day, and sometimes have a headache for much of the day. So I'm really not convinced that this two-sleep periods idea is correct.

          A while back I read something that said many people need less than eight hours; many need more. A lot depends on age, sex, health, etc. It also said that it's healthier for you to wake up naturally (without an alarm clock) because that means you've had enough sleep. Unfortunately, in this culture, it's hard to allow for that because most of us are on a schedule.
          Last edited by MoonCat; 02-23-2012, 11:49 PM.
          When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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          • #6
            Quoth Pedersen View Post
            http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783

            Basically, this article says that we are probably supposed to have two sleeping periods at night, instead of one. It's an interesting read, and one I wonder if it could maybe help somehow.
            I do segmented sleep, have done it all my life. I have never slept a straight night unless I was on some sort of med knocking me out [pain meds, or sedatives while in hospital. I loved being woken up to give me a damned sleeping pill.

            I can call my sleep periods almost to the minute - I did it when I did my sleep study a couple years ago.

            It took me about 45 minutes arguing with my cardiologist to prove to him that not only did I not need another sleep study, I did not have sleep apnea, have never had sleep apnea, have had segmented sleep all my life and it was not unnatural and I was not going to go on some sort of sleep aid just to bash me into sleeping all night when for me it is not natural to sleep all night.
            EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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            • #7
              Quoth MoonCat View Post
              So I'm really not convinced that this two-sleep periods idea is correct.
              It may be correct for some/many people, while a single block of sleep works best for others. As you said, it may also depend on (and change with) circumstances or the point in the person's lifespan; personally, I'm finding myself changing over to something closer to a segmented sleep pattern nowadays, while ten years ago I'd conk out and snooze without even moving!

              I was getting worried about it but maybe now I'll just keep some simple knitting or something by the bed, and go with it for a while. See what happens

              I looked up the author they interviewed in that article, and I have his book on order at the library. Sounds interesting!

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              • #8
                I've been on a weird sleep schedule for nearly 6 years now, since working nights.

                I don't think it's healthy to be up and asleep, then up and asleep, but it's what my body is used to nowadays. And, if/when I try to change it, it usually doesn't work or I end up getting over-tired or sleeping far too much.
                You really need to see a neurologist. - Wagegoth

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                • #9
                  Quoth Pedersen View Post
                  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783

                  Basically, this article says that we are probably supposed to have two sleeping periods at night, instead of one. It's an interesting read, and one I wonder if it could maybe help somehow.
                  This is how I slept while on third shift. My shifts were 10:30 to 7 the next morning. I'd get to bed around 8 or 8:30, up at 11:30 or noon, then back to bed at 3 or 4 until 7 or 8.

                  It totally didn't work. I never felt like I was getting enough sleep and my days off never felt like days off. Even now when I have to work overnight for one week each year it's a sleep-deprived week.
                  Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

                  "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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                  • #10
                    I'm with you, Irv. I do all 12s during my work week, but what I try to do on my first day off is sleep most of the day, or if I have to be up for errands or appointments, go to sleep as soon as I get back home and sleep well into the evening, then be up for part of the night, and then go back to bed between 1 and 3 am so I can get some "normal person hours" of sleep.

                    It kind of helps assure that the rest of my weekend, I can be up for most, if not all of the day, and sleep for most of the night.
                    You really need to see a neurologist. - Wagegoth

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                    • #11
                      I work a job that runs from 4am to usually 11:00 to noon, so I have to be up at about 2:45 each morning. Usually I go to bed early (7ish) to get my sleep before the early morning BUT if I have plans in the evening (when I would usually be sleeping), I will take a nap after I come home from work (usually from 1-4 pm, something like that), then sleep again when I get home that night (usually 10pmish until 2:45). I've had to do this a number of times and it always seems to work out. I've never found myself exceptionally tired the day after one of these splits.
                      "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

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                      • #12
                        A while back I read something that said many people need less than eight hours; many need more. A lot depends on age, sex, health, etc. It also said that it's healthier for you to wake up naturally (without an alarm clock) because that means you've had enough sleep. Unfortunately, in this culture, it's hard to allow for that because most of us are on a schedule.
                        this.

                        sure, it felt super leisurely to do this last sunday... i got up, had breakfast and then went back to bed for 2-3 hours before work. but it's not something i always have time for.

                        and normally i get 5-6 hours unless i use an alarm clock

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