Each
of us probably knows how it feels like to get up early in the morning – for
many people this is one of the biggest challenges they have to take up every
day. It becomes even more painful in autumn and winter when the sun rises later and it is cold outside. You do not
need to be an expert to experience how important it is
to have enough sleep every day. Let’s have a look at some facts related to this
topic.
Source: https://static.pexels.com/photos/101523/pexels-photo-101523.jpeg
For a long time it was believed that sleep is a passive process. Thanks
to the development of science and technology now
we know that our brains become highly active and emit special patterns of waves during this restful time.
Interestingly, the exact form of sleep can vary significantly among species
inhabiting our planet. Some of them sleep in more like a “human way” while
others have x-hours activity cycles or do not sleep at all. Another curious kind
of sleep is unihemispheric slow-wave sleep when only
one half of the brain (one hemisphere) sleeps while the second one is still
awake. Such a sleep is popular among several
species, including birds (like common swift, domestic chicken) or aquatic mammals
(e.g. bottlenose dolphin, South American sea lion).
How much sleep your body needs is a very
individual matter. Type of work performed, its length, day-to-day activities
and duties or even genetics are only some of the aspects influencing how many
hours of sleep one needs to regenerate oneself. However, the most substantial
factor is age. The main principle is quite simple: the younger you are, the
more sleep you need. For instance, it is hard to resist the impression that when
a newborn or infant is not eating at the moment,
it is sleeping.
Now we can ask ourselves what would happen if we did not sleep
as long as we should? Getting enough sleep is essential for human well-being,
it affects how you feel and how you concentrate. These effects are indeed
important, but feeling uncomfortable is only a tip
of the iceberg. Sleep deprivation is a serious
problem and in the long run it can lead to significant disorders in one's mental
state. In extreme cases it may cause weakening of the immune system, hallucinations
or even death. A study conducted at the University of New South Wales indicates
that sleep deprivation has similar effects as being drunk.
How long do you sleep on average?
Do you have a fixed bedtime?
Do you have a fixed bedtime?
Sources:
http://www.howsleepworks.com/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1739867/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1739867/
Comments
I have a fixed bedtime, and I know that I shouldn't. Sometimes I wake up at 6 am, and sometimes at 1 pm, so it's very fixed bedtime.
Once I have gone without sleep about 24 hours. It wasn't good idea. At first, after about 20 hours I was exhausted and very tired, but then when I reached about 24 hours, I felt a great energy shot and I was able to run, dance and enjoy everything but it quickly passed through and I was tired twice more. I do not recommend this kind of experiments.
I know that sleep is very important and enviorment where you sleep - if its quiet or loud, if there is some light or no and some other factors. Sometimes we downplays it, but if your sleeping circumstances were bad you will definitely feel it, even for some more days.
Sleep is very important for me - because of the above, when I feel like I need to go to bed, that is already near the critical moment of my brain simply being too tired to focus. Thanks to that it's not a problem for me to stay a little longer than usually (20-24 hours without sleeping is OK), but anything past that turns me into a zombie that can't do anything productive and it's wasting it's time instead of going to bed in order to regenerate. Therefore, while my sleep schedule is never fixed and always moves over time, I try to not skip my bed time too much - doing so might have dramatic effects in long-run when in conjuction with my usual flexible sleeping schedule.
Now, I spend whole time to study, but some time ago I also worked. Then I used to sleep for about 6 hours a day. It was enough for me. My organism worked in a rhythm. According to detailed day schedule - time for sleeping, eating, working and relax. Every single activity at a specific time. It wasn't hard.
Now, I lost my rhythm. As you said at the beginning, I have a big challenge every day - I have to get up at normal time ;)
On average I sleep from 6 to 8 hours. I am one of these people who prefer to sleep well and long enough, so in the weekends I sleep longer, approximately 9 hours. I try to have a fixed bedtime so the rhythm of my daily routine is not changing so much, so I can function with energy and power.
Regarding the lack of sleep, I feel terrible when I don't get my sleep time. I need it in order to function correctly, do my chores and all of the activities as I usually do. If I am tired I cannot really focus on anything and I am a bit discracted, which makes me irritated.
http://psychcentral.com/lib/12-ways-to-shut-off-your-brain-before-bedtime/
Most of them seem to be reasonable and useful.
I hardly ever have a fixed bedtime, unfortunately. Maybe because I prefer to work at night. Sometimes I can stay up until 4 or 4:30 am.
I can’t imagine my life without being able to sleep and let my mind rest.
My personal record without sleep is 28 hours. It was during 24h hackaton. Everything was quite good when I was doing something, but when I stopped for few minutes my eyes were immediately trying to close. When I finally went to bed, I fell asleep in seconds. I don't recommend this to anyone.
Computers and smartphones are causing many problems with sleep. When we look at bright screen before sleeping our brain thinks, that it's the sunlight and does its best in order to keep as awake. That's why I recommend using an app called Flux ( https://justgetflux.com ) which makes your screen a bit more yellow during nighttime. It feels much friendlier to your eye, and improves sleep quality!
Going on without too much sleep slows me down a lot, coffe or even guarana doesn't work for me - so there's a big problem if I'm sleepy :)
I usually have to keep up to my schedule. Weekends are no rule for that, but when going at the shooting range outside the city I still have to be awake at 6:00 am.
I don't know how people can sleep for 3-4 hours and feel okay. When I hear that person didn't sleep all night long and still can be active and think clear its amazes me.
I can't be a normal productive person without sleeping. Some time before it really annoyed me because I thought so much sleeping is a waste of time, but now I just live with it and try to be productive during the day to have enough sleep during the night.
I fell good sleeping only 6 hours and that is the most important. :)
I think that it is important to feel good because you are more effective then.
I always try to sleep 8 hours per day. In that way, there is no need for me to have an afternoon naps to maintain focus on my current tasks in that day.
Do you have a fixed bedtime?
I prefer to keep my bedtime regular also I’ve stopped drinking alcohol in great numbers because it causes depravation of sleep and I don’t like that “day after” feeling. I’m not talking about hangover but about lower activity of brain.
How long can you go without sleep and how does it affect you?
I can go around 30 hours without any sleep. I can go longer on 30 minutes’ naps every 6 hours. But it’s finishing off for me. It affects me with lack of focus and I feel like I don’t care about anything that’s happening around me.
Great article with very nice picture comparing age to avg. sleep hours.