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How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?

Posted by Cliff on from the nothing-beats-a-6-to-8-hour-shutdown dept.

not_you asks: "Clinton, Giuliani, Bloomberg, and even Martha Stewart are rumored to only get only 4 hours of sleep on a normal night. Being a student without enough time for all the socializing (and studying) I'd like to do and lacking the ability to dream lucidly, I'd like to get the minimal amount of sleep necessary to function effectively. However, I tend to make up for anything less than about 7 hours by dozing off in class! Aside from taking espressos intravenously, how I can function effectively with less sleep?" There are several factors that affect how much sleep one can away with on a given day. Diet, activity level, and other factors all will affect how long and how well one rests. I've always heard that "nothing beats a full night of rest" and to me, that always means close to 8 hours of sleep. Of course, like most things Your Mileage May Vary, still, it would be interesting to know how much sleep some of you can get by on, and what conditions you have to maintain to keep it up. Comments?

5 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Party animal :-) by ThePilgrim · · Score: 2, Funny
    A few years ago I followed this patten for 6 nights a week for allmost a year.
    1. 8am wake up
    2. 9am work with lunch break
    3. 6pm back home and evining meal
    4. 7pm Club
    5. 2am leave Club
    6. 3am sleep

    This gives me 5 hours sleep and a lot of exercise on the dance floor
    --
    Wouldn't it be nice if schools got all the money they wanted and the army had to hold jumble sales for guns
  2. More! by Dicky · · Score: 3, Funny

    I just saw myself in the mirror in the lift (elevator) on the way into work this morning. All I can say is that however much sleep I need, I'm not getting enough :-(

    --
    Paranoia isn't an infectious condition, it's a way of life
  3. Me think sleep good! by gnovos · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sleep is very very very important. I learned that once during the final finals of my college career. I stayed up for over 112 hours (roughly 4.5 days) straight though a mixture of pluck, fear, and caffiene pills. By the end of this ordeal, I was literally barking mad.

    I was seeing things that weren't there (like a staircase in my one-story flat, and various war heros standing over my shoulder giving me answers on the history test) and holding conversations with people which turned out to be completely unintelligible to both parties (with such zingers like: "Seven beer-teen and without even? You must be over. Totally joking over my and.").

    Get your sleep. It's good for you.

    --
    "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
  4. Re:It's not how long you sleep, it's when you wake by imrdkl · · Score: 1, Funny

    Good advice, but a bit of clarification if you please. Are you saying that I should wake up before or after I fall off of the cliff? Since I dont have a REM monitor, a distinct point in dream time would be helpful.

  5. not enough by tooth · · Score: 2, Funny

    How much sleep do i need?? More than I'm currently getting! :)