Always had a shite sleep pattern, normal night would be 4-5 hrs of restless sleep.😴

I really feel it if I don’t get enough sleep.
With a todddler and 6week old I get 8 1/2 hours of fairly broken sleep. Fell tired most of the time. Wonder if say 6hrs of solid sleep is better than 8or9 broken…

I am vastly improved from a very bad place, ruined by 2 children. I have found it is the quality of the sleep is far more important than the length. I’ve been using my garmin to track and it shows deep / light sleep. If I get less than an indicated 1.5hrs deep sleep in a night I feel terrible next day (often massive headache, need to take pain killers first thing). If I get around 3 – 3.5 hrs deep sleep, even with only 5-6 hours total sleep I feel great the next day

The combination of lack of deep sleep and constantly broken sleep for the last 2 years has caused me a good deal of mental and physical health issues I believe I’m only just getting over. That combined with the fact the kids now mostly sleep through the night so disturbances are now a couple of times a week as opposed to entire nights with zero sleep and then trying to work the next day….

I’ve cut caffeine to 2 cups in the morning, I exercise most days but for an hour or less and only at a moderate intensity, lots of stretching and yoga, generally in bed by 10am and up somewhere between 6 and 7. Doing my best to stop focusing on the future and worry more about the here and now and just living. Garmin says this week 7:23 average, 3hr 8min deep 6min awake which I’m happy with. I do find though, as I’ve a low heart rate it often picks out that I’m ‘asleep’ when chilling on the sofa watching telly.

Funnily enough I was thinking about this recently. I had a couple of weeks off the booze and found I was feeling much more refreshed on less sleep. I was getting about 7-8 hours of not great quality sleep, but woke up feeling pretty good.
But even having one beer seems to mess that up

Usually 6 hours.

The other day I read an article saying that one long sleep was a fairly recent thing since the industrial revolution. Prior to that 2 shorter sleeps was the norm.

Can’t remember where I saw it, but no doubt someone here has also seen it.

Funnily enough I was thinking about this recently. I had a couple of weeks off the booze and found I was feeling much more refreshed on less sleep. I was getting about 7-8 hours of not great quality sleep, but woke up feeling pretty good.
But even having one beer seems to mess that up

Depressingly enough that’s also my experience of going mostly alcohol free this month – I’m a lot less tired generally.

bigblackshed

What Drumon said.

I’ve noticed my pattern is in 90 minute blocks

Everyone does, roughly speaking. This is just one, interesting fact.

I read Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep” last year and it is astonishing. Aside from the soundbites which, in and of themselves are pretty interesting, the volume of scientific research on sleep is staggering and conclusive; for just about every ailment or illness not only are you more likely to contract it if your don’t sleep enough and your outcomes are likely to be worse too.

Add to this the very sever psychological issues that even moderate sleep disruption can cause, and the combined physical and mental necessity for sleep is huge.

Cannot recommend the book enough.

I’ve always been a 5-6hrs a night person. It’s something I wish I could change because I don’t think it’s healthy. I gave up caffeine a couple of years ago (on account of being wired enough naturally) and went three months without alcohol last year, which definitely helped quality of sleep hugely. So, I’ll stop alcohol for longer this year (except for special occasions), be more disciplined with screentime and see how that goes. I can’t change work stress much sadly.

I saw the same report that we used to have two sleeps a day, which is apparently a more natural schedule. We also used to sleep in separate bedrooms from our partners, it was only poor people who shared a bed.

7hrs a night, clockwork, bed at 11, out like light, up at 6 or soon after. If exercising particularly strenuously, more like 8hrs.

Unless offspring decide their own bedroom is too scary / need a wee / have woken up early and want to play lego.

Mrsm would sleep for 10hrs every night, if possible.

Broken sleep really breaks me; walking wounded, without 7hrs.

We also used to sleep in separate bedrooms from our partners, it was only poor people who shared a bed.

Think you’ll find it was only the rich who didn’t share a bed.

Digga, I’ve ordered the book today. Decided that as the small bits that I’ve picked up from the podcast has helped so much that the book is a must.
It was the links to health conditions that made me make a change. As even though I knew being tired was affecting certain aspects of my life, I decided that the my time in the evening after the kids were in bed was more important than a few hours extra sleep. Turns out I couldn’t be more wrong.

muggomagic

Digga, I’ve ordered the book today.
Decided that as the small bits that I’ve picked up from the podcast has helped so much that the book is a must.

It was the links to health conditions that made me make a change. As even though I knew being tired was affecting certain aspects of my life, I decided that the my time in the evening after the kids were in bed was more important than a few hours extra sleep. Turns out I couldn’t be more wrong.

Agreed. I think this is kind of why the book is so good; it’s the sum total of all of the small bits of knowledge and research and, the corresponding advantages people can get from proper sleep that makes it so worthwhile.

Normally 6-7 hours, but rarely sleep right through, so more like 5-6.

Reckon I need 7, so I lose about an hour a night, or one night per week. If it builds up like that for too long, or I have a run of really bad nights, that’s when I come down with every passing bug in the vicinity.

Binary sleeper, on or off. Consistent 7-7.5 hours a night. Seldom have trouble falling asleep and I’m also instantly awake when I do wake up too. Prefer an earlier bed time, but normally hear today in parliament in bed before lights off and sleeping.

11.30 – 8 on weekdays. 11.30 – between 7.30 (if I’m biking, which is most Sundays) and 10.30 on weekends.

Still don’t feel like getting up at those times, though. When I was an undergraduate I would regularly sleep until 4 in the afternoon.

JP

According to Garmin, 8.5 – 9.0hrs over the last few weeks

In my experience Garmin is unreliable. Admittedly I have a bad habit of reading in bed though but have had occasions when working from home have spun up the computer and it hasnt noticed for a while.

Digga, I’ve ordered the book today

I am reading it at the moment and it is definitely interesting. I was already trying to improve number of hours sleeping and it has made me think I really need to try harder. It isnt the best in terms of active ways to improve it though.

I read Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep” last year and it is astonishing

I’m reading it and bought it for family at xmas too, it’s very good indeed, though terrifying as someone who has had a lifetime of serious insomnia.