"so much to do, there's plenty on the farm"

[jazzfish]

I've got a thirty-eight special up on the shelf
(I'll sleep when I'm dead)
If I start acting stupid I'll shoot myself
(And I'll sleep when I'm dead)
--WZ, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead"

After a conversation with uilos last night, it occurred to me to wonder: are my sleeping habits really that extraordinary? I've been running off of five to six hours of sleep a night (except for weekends). This is kinda weird for me; before I moved here I wouldn't have thought I'd be able to run on anything less than seven for any length of time.

Fortunately, I can ask the Internets what they think.

[Poll #789080]

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I have not filled out your poll, but it acts as though I already have. Have polls been made completely pay-only, such that freebies can't fill them out anymore?

[ndkid.livejournal.com]

...because LJ randomly logged me out. That'd do it.

[lizthefair.livejournal.com]

I used to get about 8 hours a night, 9 if I could get it and would still be pretty tired. I assumed I just needed a lot of sleep.

Now I'm getting between 6-7 and am actually less tired during the day.

It makes me wonder if there really is something to the idea that one can sleep too much....

[jazzfish]

I'd believe it. I'm told that waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle is Bad, and cycles vary between one and three hours. So if you find the sweet spot there . . .

[ndkid.livejournal.com]

My sleep cycle has, for a long time now, always included at least one instance of fully waking up for a duration of about a minute. Usually only the one, and usually about halfway through my sleep cycle. I often use this oppertunity to drink some water. But I always wonder if this habit adversely affects my feeling rested in the morning.

[wheeerdball.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. The longer one spends asleep, the longer the period of REM sleep lasts per cycle. And the REM phase of the cycle being the most important means having one long slumber is much more refreshing. If you can get it.

[laughin.livejournal.com]

See, it is not the length so much as the quality for me. I can get 8 hours a night, but it is not enough for me if I am waking up to tend to child, have to go pee, or whatever.

[ancientsong.livejournal.com]

Um, er, my real answer to question 1 is about five hours, but since I often can't sleep because the clown actually *will* get me, I wanted to be completely honest.

I rarely sleep as much my body probably needs to sleep, but I get by on very little sleep and I can't sleep when it's light out. So, if I stay up past 1 or 2 am and I'll be up by 6am 'cause that's when the sun rises, well, then I've made my bet, as it were.

[jazzfish]

Okay, that was pretty much the awesomest thing I read all day. :)

Yeah. That seems to be what's happening with me. Sometimes, if I'm really seriously tired, I can go back to sleep, but I'm pretty much guaranteed to wake up once enough light is coming in.

[lilac-breeze.livejournal.com]

My answers are kinda messed up right now because I'm still unemployed and as such I've been sleeping waaaaay too much. That will change when (if?) I finally get a job. I can function on about five or six hours of sleep if I have to, but it doesn't make me very happy, and I can only do it for a few days in a row before I turn cranky and start hurting people.

Yes, sleep deprivation is one of the only ways I'll turn violent and angry, as my family and close friends know. I'm scary when I haven't slept.

[jazzfish]

I was kinda wondering. :) I /do/ recommend going ahead and setting up a more normal sleep schedule. You'll be less tired and groggy. Eventually.

Huh. Sleep-dep just causes me to get even more withdrawn and cautious about not inconveniencing people. Okay, until they do something to make me mad, and then I snap at them a lot.