How many hours of sleep do you need?

3 Dec 2013

Depends for me.
If I can get my hands on ZMA (supplement consisting of; Zinc, Magnesium, & Vitamin B6 in a specific ratio) I have no problem operating (including a 2 hour morning gym session) on 6 hours.
If i can't get my hands on ZMA, 7.5 is ideal. Anything more than that causes sleep exhaustion and I just get lazy.

13 Dec 2013

i usually get about 6 hours sleep a night

29 Dec 2013

4 hours. But I can sleep for 10, 12 hours. =)

29 Dec 2013

I sleep around 8 hours. I tend to want to sleep more !! :P

3 Jan 2014

I'm good with seven hours a day, although I need at least one "sleep-in" a week. Hubby needs eight, nine is best, or he gets cranky.

3 Jan 2014

I can get away with 6 hrs

3 Jan 2014

Five for me on an average night.

4 Jan 2014

I try to get 8 on work nights, but I can manage with less.

7 Jan 2014

I am capable of sleeping any where, any time... you name a place I can sleep there. I have slept in school bus even when it was taking us to school in the morning. I have slept at the dining table, classroom, bathtub, toilet bowl and if I don't have my faithful alarm, I can go on sleeping for over 12 hours at a stretch in my bed. And I can sleep with all of my Lushies hahahaha... omg. Well, with 7 to 8 hours of night sleep I feel comfortable in the morning evil4

8 Jan 2014

I can function on about 4 or maybe a couple power naps a day for a short while but honestly I should be getting 8-9 hours.

8 Jan 2014

I would love 8 hours sleep a night. No matter what time I go to sleep I always wake up before any alarm at five in the morning. Force of habit.

But some of the jobs I've had never allowed that much. (I worked on an oil rig, for a lumber outfit and worked at jobs where my hours would be changed every week.) The longest I've gone without sleep was just over 4 days once when I was sick and a little more than that once in the Navy when my duty section was not scheduled for any sleep for a week. I fell asleep at the helm so I know I was the last guy to fall asleep in the crew and I was also the first to wake up as when I lost my balance the first thing I did was look at the compass and saw I was 70 degrees off course. There is no way I could get away with that from the engine room to the bridge if anyone was awake. I must had slept at least a half hour on my feet. It took me the rest of my watch to get the ship back on course one and two degrees at a time to keep from waking anyone. Just at the end of the watch, at 4. a.m. when it was time to wake the crew I heard people moving around on the bridge and I was on course.

We had had bad weather the first three days so it was hard to sleep even when you were allowed, but just before I went on watch at midnight on the fourth day the seas got clam and everyone relaxed and fell asleep. As it turned out the scare kept me awake for another day or more and then I remember after being relieved from watch going to my work station on the fantail and putting on the phones and looking at the false sunrise. The next thing I knew I was hearing a loud voice in the phone and after looking around and rubbing my eyes because it was so dark I couldn't see my hand realized they were talking to me. I found out I was in a different part of the ship and asked the bridge who was yelling at me what our duty condition was. A very stupid question, but the guy just cussed me and told me and I found out I was in the right spot. I looked at my watch and it was almost midnight. I had walked in my sleep from before sunrise till then. That kept me awake till the last day when my petty officer looked at me and said go cold body which meant go find some spot to lay down and when I need a warm body I'll kick you up.

I've also blacked out three times after going with very little sleep. Blacking out means that you go dead to the world and no one can wake you no matter what they do to you till your body lets you.

It wasn't unusual to go two full days or more without sleep in the service. After I got out my jobs would require me to get up at times during the night or to get up very early and of course any free time I got I didn't want to waste sleeping so I went out. The job I have now has regular hours and days and is great.

But if I do get 8 hours I find I feel great.

7 Feb 2014

I need 6, I frequently get about 5 during the week, and I love the 8 hour catchup one day on the weekend

7 Feb 2014

8 is my ideal, but I can get by on less. I've gone for days with less than 5 hours of sleep a night, but eventually it gets to you.

7 Feb 2014

On a daily basis I would have to say 5 hours asleep.

8 Feb 2014

I need 8 hours every night, otherwise I'm cranky.. In the weekend If time permits I would sleep in so I would go up to 10 hours..

8 Feb 2014

Definitely 8 hours.

8 Feb 2014

6

My Stories

No Ordinary Gal

Fucked and Taken

That Special Evening

8 Feb 2014

When I was in college I worked two full time jobs and went to school full time. I learned to do quite well on 4. Besides, I figured doing that effectivly added 72 days to my year wiith 20 hour days.

And, yeah, ABSOLUTELY NO social life. In 4 1/2 years or so I got two degrees with four majors.

Now I'm 71 and I'm up to 4 1/2 to 5 a day. So for the last 50 or so years I've added 3,600 days or about 10 effective years to my life. I've had a lot of sex in those 10 years. Worth every second of it.

I am always a gentleman.

9 Feb 2014

Quote by SereneProdigy

Damnit, I envy people here so much. I really feel like a slug if I don't get my 8 hours of sleep.

I don't feel you should envy people who do not sleep much. In my opinion they think they are OK. I used to sleep about 5 hours and I was like a zombie, coffee (several) was a requirement. A red flag right there. Now I sleep about 7 and is way better and I feel I should probably keep you company at 8. I truly started to function at my best around 2 or 3 pm, before that my mental and physical effort were fueled artificially.

Having a regular sleeping habit is also more productive. It sucks, but waking up at the same time when you off from work is essential for a good sleep pattern.

Good little poster to hang somewhere.

Choose n Practice Happiness

Life is simple; we are what we eat and what we read. Talk is superfluous.

9 Feb 2014

I need 8 or more I like sleeping.

9 Feb 2014

I am good to go on 4-5 hours of sleep. Always have been a light sleeper..

16 Feb 2014

I need a minimum of 8 hours; 9 preferred. I feel quite drained on less than that, as I'm very active and used to feeling full of energy. To be honest, I suspect that some people just feel sluggish all the time and couldn't tell the difference. I have to be careful not to oversleep though, because it can easily make me not fall asleep the next night and mess up my sleeping pattern, which is kind of sensitive to disturbances.

16 Feb 2014

Very rarely that I need more than 5 hours of sleep.

16 Feb 2014

Quote by leucine
I need a minimum of 8 hours; 9 preferred. I feel quite drained on less than that, as I'm very active and used to feeling full of energy. To be honest, I suspect that some people just feel sluggish all the time and couldn't tell the difference. I have to be careful not to oversleep though, because it can easily make me not fall asleep the next night and mess up my sleeping pattern, which is kind of sensitive to disturbances.

I agree with you here. Some people might not mind being sluggish all day (and might not even realize they are), but when you have to go through an active day at work and then have an intense workout in the evening, it certainly sucks when you already feel tired waking up.

The recommended sleep period for active adults is generally 8 hours, so I'm surprised that many people here only sleep 5-6 hours and still feel good.

18 Feb 2014

Quote by SereneProdigy

The recommended sleep period for active adults is generally 8 hours, so I'm surprised that many people here only sleep 5-6 hours and still feel good.

Obviously you are not a parent.

Most parents "have to" thrive on much less than the ideal, for a variety of reasons, such as:

a) nursing babies (or fathers sharing bottle duty)
b) children having difficulties sleeping, being unwell (it always happens at 2 am), etc.
c) trying to cram into the hours AFTER baby/children are in bed - the cleaning, answering emails, doing laundry, preparations for tomorrow's lunches/activities, etc. (and the list does go on and on and on)
d) etc, etc (such as work / family expectations / obligations)

..... and then, one will ask .... sex or sleep?? .... sleep is very necessary and damn, if a parent could only get a few more hours of sleep they MIGHT be INTERESTED in more sex!!!

Most parents will say .... fuck it .... I feel great ... cuz if they actually admit they are not driving on optimum, they'd fucking crash hard and long.

Eventually though, like age and gravity .... it catches up to everyone, but for some, it has become a way of life that they cannot change. Sleeping less, doing more, becomes a habit.

18 Feb 2014

4-5 depending. PTSD and years of working the midnight to 8 AM shift have left me with an best disjointed "sleep pattern".

18 Feb 2014

4 to 5 hrs is about all i get sometimes less. I feel like I need more to be at my best, 8 would be great.

18 Feb 2014

Depends who is in bed with me and what means she employs to convince me I don't really need that much sleep!!
Now there are a few contenders for whom I would sacrifice sleep but I do need a few hours...
To regenerate my senses and energy, I need about two hours, facing a hard day, about 6 hours

22 Feb 2014

Quote by PersonalAssistant
Obviously you are not a parent.

Most parents "have to" thrive on much less than the ideal, for a variety of reasons, such as:

a) nursing babies (or fathers sharing bottle duty)
b) children having difficulties sleeping, being unwell (it always happens at 2 am), etc.
c) trying to cram into the hours AFTER baby/children are in bed - the cleaning, answering emails, doing laundry, preparations for tomorrow's lunches/activities, etc. (and the list does go on and on and on)
d) etc, etc (such as work / family expectations / obligations)

..... and then, one will ask .... sex or sleep?? .... sleep is very necessary and damn, if a parent could only get a few more hours of sleep they MIGHT be INTERESTED in more sex!!!

Most parents will say .... fuck it .... I feel great ... cuz if they actually admit they are not driving on optimum, they'd fucking crash hard and long.

Eventually though, like age and gravity .... it catches up to everyone, but for some, it has become a way of life that they cannot change. Sleeping less, doing more, becomes a habit.

I saw your post before and thought about responding, but didn't have much time then and intended to come back later to offer a response. I almost forgot about it...

I agree with most of what you said, that is, that some people have indeed a busy schedule and simply don't have much time to sleep (may that be related to children, family, career, etc.). Some others suffer from insomnia too.

But there are also a lot of people who don't sleep much simply by choice. I've been in work/college environments with people my age, and while we had the exact same schedule I was sleeping 8 hours per night while they were only getting 5 hours of sleep. A lot of these were very sluggish during the day, and some of them were almost dangerous in work environments.

During some periods in my life, my daily schedule during the week was pretty much : work, eat, workout, sleep, repeat. My only leisure time was watching episodes of The Clone Wars for half an hour while eating my pre-bedtime meal. To me, having a good night of sleep has always been much more important than watching America's Got Talent, Jersey Shore or hockey games.

So yes, I believe it's still a choice for many people.

23 Feb 2014

Quote by SereneProdigy

I saw your post before and thought about responding, but didn't have much time then and intended to come back later to offer a response. I almost forgot about it...

I agree with most of what you said, that is, that some people have indeed a busy schedule and simply don't have much time to sleep (may that be related to children, family, career, etc.). Some others suffer from insomnia too.

But there are also a lot of people who don't sleep much simply by choice. I've been in work/college environments with people my age, and while we had the exact same schedule I was sleeping 8 hours per night while they were only getting 5 hours of sleep. A lot of these were very sluggish during the day, and some of them were almost dangerous in work environments.

During some periods in my life, my daily schedule during the week was pretty much : work, eat, workout, sleep, repeat. My only leisure time was watching episodes of The Clone Wars for half an hour while eating my pre-bedtime meal. To me, having a good night of sleep has always been much more important than watching America's Got Talent, Jersey Shore or hockey games.

So yes, it's still a choice for many people.

Yep. I would in fact argue that unless you're a breastfeeding mother, it's a matter of prioritising in pretty much ANY life situation you're in. Unless I'm having a bout of insomnia, there's actually nothing that would make me stay up for any longer than I intented to, because I consider it critical for my overall well-being, and arrange my daily schedule accordingly. Not everybody does that however, because they fail to plan ahead due to not considering getting sufficient sleep as a top priority.

I also don't want to tell anyone how to raise their children, but if you don't want them always being 'unwell' at 2am, then you should make it very clear to them that nights are for sleeping - and that it's not negotiable. Else, it's easy to see why it could become a habit.