do you sleep?

[Darkshadow]

Hmm...ok chemistry geek...as the resident sleep tech (), what's your take on my situation here?

I start getting tired at 8 AM. I usually go to sleep at 10 AM. I actuallly have a hard time staying up past that point. I sleep 6 hours everyday. I don't use an alarm clock to wake up, I just wake up right around 4 PM. Every once in a while I'll sleep till 5 PM, but not very often. This is unbroken sleep, lots of dreams.

This has always been my preferred sleeping time. If I have to be awake during the day, and thus have to sleep during the night, I don't feel very rested at all. Even if I keep to that schedule, like I had to when I was going to school, I don't ever get "used" to it, and tend to oversleep massively on the weekends (12+ hours) - compensation for not having had a good sleep during the week, in my opinion. In those cases, I also revert to my "normal" schedule on my days off - up at night, sleep at day.

I do not go out into the sun often. My main reason is because it hurts my eyes (very light sensitive; even with sunglasses, bright light hurts my eyes). I'd say, then, that I have a pretty low meletonin count. But I still sleep soundly!

[Darkshadow]

Habilis - that graphic is aesthetically unpleasing. Hurts the eyes to look at it...it's too squeezed, makes you feel like you're squinting or looking at it from the wrong angle.

[toast]

Originally posted by arden
The average adolescent needs more sleep than the average adult, usually around 10 hours.

Are you sure ?
I know that, at some point, the adult is less resistant than the adolescent. Depends what you call an adolescent. For my own, I know I'm more resistant (19 yrs old) than my teachers (even the younger ones: 30 yrs-old) are !

Originally posted by habilis
On balance I'd say you're absolutely right; without quality sleep, we may not be as productive as we think...

Depends what's your own productivity. Creativity decreases, you're 100% right; intellectual work also suffers a bit, depending on how much you lack sleep. But overall, my general productivity increases, why ? Simply coz I have some more time, that's all

If you haven't (not habilis, I'm sure you have, other people), try this: on your next paper, try to work 12 more hours (ie. do NOT stop working the night before you have to hand it in). Oh, now you see what I mean: even though less productive, you can do many many things during one night...

Plus, what I love at night is, silence. Concentration. I spend all day with my girlfriend, all day, and most nights . But twice a week, I simply don't sleep and read, write, study, and I can tell from experience my marks and teachers like this rhythm ! Even though I'm conscient I can't build my life on such a rhythm. You only live once, 19 years-old is a fine age to live this way in my very humble opinion ...

BTW, it's 3:51AM in France

[Arden]

19:00 here in California...

I'm quite sure about that figure, Toast. Well, I'm not positive that it's 10 hours, but it's something like that... we need more sleep than adults. I find that, especially when I stay up late, doing certain things (reading, this) tend to put me to sleep for a little while. I may sleep 4 hours at night, then make up for it with a 2 hour nap during the day.

I've heard it said that if it takes you less than 15 minutes to go to sleep, you're not getting enough of it. I believe every word. I used to have a hard time falling asleep, before high school and all. Now I stay up late and I go out within 2 minutes or so.

[wiz]

eh!
if u dream ur not having a GREAT sleep.
But if u don't dream, and wake up the next morning, completely fresh, wow you slept!!

[toast]

I do believe every word of this last post of your, arden. Very very true that the only times I fail falling asleep in less than 15 minutes or so is when I have slept enough the nights before !

[Darkshadow]

It's actually true, toast, the older you get, the less sleep you actually need. It doesn't decrease dramatically or anything like that, but it does decrease.

[toast]

You're right, that was an illusion of mine.
I also read that only a few people are able to go under 6 hours of regular sleep.