What's the Earliest You've gone to Sleep?

[Eaglesfan27]

Last night, I stayed up late playing Dungeon Siege 2. I then worked 8:00 to 5:00 after just a few hours of sleep. When working 8 to 5, the earliest I think I've gone to sleep is around 10 PM. Now, I'm exhausted and find myself contemplating going to sleep for the night in the next half hour. Am I getting old?

What is the earliest you've gone to bed while working an 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (or some close approximation of this) job?

[digamma]

I routinely fall asleep while my wife is watching some dreadful program on E! before 10PM. I don't usually go to bed until closer to 11.

[duckman]

After 9/11, we were on 12 hour shifts for launching and recovering AWACS to protect the skies over Washington. I would work from 6pm to 6am. I would get home in time to eat and I would be in bed from 7:30am until 5pm the next day. It would be the equivalent of working the opposite shift and going to bed at 7:30pm. Pretty grueling.

[sabotai]

The earliest? I have had some wierd sleep patterns through the years. There was one week where I was going to sleep at 4pm and waking up at midnight. Then there was the week at school when we didn't have classes (or work) and I went to sleep at 8am and woke at around 4-5pm (became nocturnal essentially)

[jeff061]

I'm pretty anal about when I go to bed, don't know why, but I always picked a time and don't stray from it, one of my many oddities. I never get enough sleep though.

Right now I go to bed at 11 and get up at 5 to prepare for an eight hour work day with a two hour commute(both ways). Occasionally I need to sleep for about 26 hours over the weekend to "charge up" or I'll be a zombie all week.

Not sure if I could handle Duckman's schedule, I need my unwind time.

[duckman]

Not sure if I could handle Duckman's schedule, I need my unwind time.
Good thing it's been years since I've done that schedule, or I may have gone insane. :D

Instead, I've been keeping regular sleeping hours since I was discharged form the Air Force. Of course, I traded weird sleep patterns for sleep deprivation now that I'm in college. :)

[Joe]

when i worked 6-2:30 I would go to bed around 4pm

[Philliesfan980]

Pretty much need a standard 7-8 hour sleep a night. Get up at 5:30 so I'm normally in bed around 10:00 - 10:30. I just find the day goes that much smoother the next day if you get a good night sleep. Generally speaking the extra hour or hour and a half that you could squeeze out of the day isn't worth the trouble the next day.

[Galaxy]

I always been curious, do you really need 8 hours of sleep a night? I heard you do, then heard you don't.

[sabotai]

I always been curious, do you really need 8 hours of sleep a night? I heard you do, then heard you don't.
If you did, I'd be dead by now. :)

[Philliesfan980]

I always been curious, do you really need 8 hours of sleep a night? I heard you do, then heard you don't.

I think studies have shown that people generally do perform better when you get 8 hours of sleep, but of course thats generally speaking and there's always going to be exceptions.

[jbmagic]

does lack of sleep make you age faster?

[Philliesfan980]

does lack of sleep make you age faster?

Probably, but who knows to what degree.

[Dutch]

I find my memory is sharper when I have more sleep. My focus is better also.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

The suspense is killing me. EaglesFan... did you go to sleep early? I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep if I don't find out. I could be up all night...

[cthomer5000]

I went to bed at 7PM on saturday after a long Friday night (friend's bachelor party). Still I got about 6 hours of sleep Friday night, so it doesn't explain the ridiculously early bedtime.

But i figured "I'm tired... so I'm going to bed."

[ColtCrazy]

Christmas 1995 I was in an airport for 6 hours waiting for a delayed flight to London on my way to New Delhi. Got on the plane, never slept, got to London in the morning, dozed a little, and got back on a plane that night for an overnight flight to New Delhi. Never slept, got to New Delhi and fell asleep while eating dinner at 6:30, didn't wake up till the next morning.

[Fidatelo]

For years, probably from about 18-25, I would very typically go 3-4 weeks getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night, then I'd just hit a point where I'd come home from work or school at 4-5 one day and crash. Sometimes I'd get up for dinner, sometimes not, but if I did that was it. Eat, then hit the bed again. I wouldn't wake up until 8 or so the next morning.

There is almost nothing I enjoy more than a good 12+ hour sleep, it feels amazing.

[ice4277]

I usually go to bed around 10:30pm then have to wake up at 3:30am. Not the most enjoyable schedule.

Thankfully that will be stopping next week sometime :)

[Coder]

Just Sunday night I started reading a book at midnight.. and kept reading.. and reading.. and finally realized I had to get at least 2 hours of sleep before going to work so I turned off the lights at 4:30 a.m.

The book I was reading? A Game of Thrones, George R R Martin

[Breeze]

When I worked in radio - I had to be at the station at 3:30 to prepare for the 5:30 news - I would go to bed routinely before 8 P.M. - especially on days following City Council, County Commision or School Board meetings - which always seemed to run past midnight.

[Marc Vaughan]

Last night, I stayed up late playing Dungeon Siege 2. I then worked 8:00 to 5:00 after just a few hours of sleep. When working 8 to 5, the earliest I think I've gone to sleep is around 10 PM. Now, I'm exhausted and find myself contemplating going to sleep for the night in the next half hour. Am I getting old?

What is the earliest you've gone to bed while working an 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (or some close approximation of this) job?

Earliest I've gone to be is around 11am ... after working a 72 hour shift (release of CM3) ... slept straight through until around 7am the next morning.

(most nights I go to sleep between 12pm - 1am regardless - any more than 6-7 hours sleep a night and I feel like I've got a hang over, not sure why .. ever since my student days I've been like that)

[Raiders Army]

Not counting naps, the earliest I've fallen asleep was about 6:30 PM. I woke up at 5:00 AM refreshed and ready to conquer the world!!! (not really)

[Wolfpack]

I don't think I've ever been able to get to sleep much earlier than 10-11. I've always been an afternoon-evening person. I like my current work schedule (9-6) because I don't have to fight myself getting up in the morning. I have never been a morning person. Also, with everyone else gone by 5, I'm pretty much able to do as I please, whether it be concentrating on work without interruptions or wasting a bit of time on here.

[Eaglesfan27]

The suspense is killing me. EaglesFan... did you go to sleep early? I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep if I don't find out. I could be up all night...I went to sleep last night around 8:30 PM and slept til 9:30 AM this morning! :eek:

I had been depriving myself of sleep for a few days and I think I needed to catch up.

I also think that some people need 8 hours of sleep and some don't. For me, I feel like I need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep for my brain to be working at optimal efficiency. However, I didn't think that was true even a few years ago when residency and internship demanded that I receive less sleep.

(My Tuesday contract is still caught up in the red tape of Baton Rouge. If I hear 2-3 more weeks one more time when I check on the status I'll scream.) I like having Tuesdays off, but I like getting paid even more.

[Eaglesfan27]

Just Sunday night I started reading a book at midnight.. and kept reading.. and reading.. and finally realized I had to get at least 2 hours of sleep before going to work so I turned off the lights at 4:30 a.m.

The book I was reading? A Game of Thrones, George R R Martin
I just started reading that book during downtime at work. Very good book.

[Icy]

I usually go to bed at 1 or 2 AM and wake up at 8AM, the last time i went to bed before 11pm i was like 8 years old, but it's the usual in Spain because the sun and weather, we wake up later then the north europeans or USA and go to bed later. On Saturdays is usual to go out to bars until the morning.

[hukarez]

My parents still hit the hay by 7pm-ish. I used to follow suit, but lately, I've been aiming for a 10pm drop off. Unfortunately, playing too many PC games until 11:30pm or so has been a bit taxing.

On a side note, a couple of friends and I had a discussion about sleep patterns. I'm told that you're able to 'wake up' easier in 3 hour intervals. So essentially, it'd be easier to wake up after 6 hrs of sleep as opposed to 8 -- in essence, not quite as 'groggy'. I thought it was an interesting point, coming from an EMT who worked tremendously awkward hours.

[Eaglesfan27]

My parents still hit the hay by 7pm-ish. I used to follow suit, but lately, I've been aiming for a 10pm drop off. Unfortunately, playing too many PC games until 11:30pm or so has been a bit taxing.

On a side note, a couple of friends and I had a discussion about sleep patterns. I'm told that you're able to 'wake up' easier in 3 hour intervals. So essentially, it'd be easier to wake up after 6 hrs of sleep as opposed to 8 -- in essence, not quite as 'groggy'. I thought it was an interesting point, coming from an EMT who worked tremendously awkward hours.
Actually, most neurologists agree that the sleep cycle is generally 90 minutes long (although there is up to a 30 minute variance in either direction for people.) Therefore, depending upon the person it is best to sleep in 1:30 to 2 hour intervals. For me, I think mine is about 1hr and 45 minutes.


Edit: I meant a multiple of a 1:30 to 2 hr interval (for me I go for 7 to 8 hours as my target sleep.)

If I'm going to take a nap, I go for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

[Eaglesfan27]

Another really interesting thing (to me anyway) is that conditions such as depression really mess up the normal pattern of the sleep cycle and alter that ideal waking time.

[Galaxy]

So 6 hours is just as good as 8 hours?

[MrBigglesworth]

My earliest was 12:01 AM. You can't get much earlier in the day than that, or else you are just going to bed late.

[Eaglesfan27]

So 6 hours is just as good as 8 hours?No. That is not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that IF your sleep cycle is 2 hours long, it will be easier to wake up after 6 hours of sleep than 7 hours of sleep and you might feel better throughout the day. However, if you are someone that needs 8 hours of sleep, 8 will be better than 6 or 7.

Edit: Studies have shown that most people do best with 4 complete sleep cycles per night. If your sleep cycle is only 1 1/2 hours long than 6 hours is your ideal time. 7 hours if your sleep cycle is 1 hrs and 45 minutes, and 8 hours if you have a 2 hour sleep cycle. It is rare, but some people have sleep cycles that are shorter than 90 minutes.

2nd edit: However, as I'm saying above, it is generally believed that if you can't get 4 full sleep cycles it is better to get 3 full cycles than it is to get 3 1/2 sleep cycles.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Very good book.
This is a horrible understatement. You are lucky if you've just started. Depending on how fast you read, you could have Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings, and Storm of Swords all read before A Feast for Crows comes out. You will not have to suffer while waiting for the next book FOR FIVE YEARS like the rest of us.

[Eaglesfan27]

This is a horrible understatement. You are lucky if you've just started. Depending on how fast you read, you could have Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings, and Storm of Swords all read before A Feast for Crows comes out. You will not have to suffer while waiting for the next book FOR FIVE YEARS like the rest of us.

I read fairly quickly, but am trying to savor this book. I'm halfway through it so far and will probably finish it by the end of the week :(

I'll likely go through the 2nd and 3rd book over the next two or so weeks. When is the 4th book due?

[hukarez]

Actually, most neurologists agree that the sleep cycle is generally 90 minutes long (although there is up to a 30 minute variance in either direction for people.) Therefore, depending upon the person it is best to sleep in 1:30 to 2 hour intervals. For me, I think mine is about 1hr and 45 minutes.


Edit: I meant a multiple of a 1:30 to 2 hr interval (for me I go for 7 to 8 hours as my target sleep.)

If I'm going to take a nap, I go for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Good info to know. It's been awhile since my buddies and I talked about this sort of stuff, and I forget the exact details. I 'drifted' a bit when they started chatting about REM's and other things.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I read fairly quickly, but am trying to savor this book. I'm halfway through it so far and will probably finish it by the end of the week :(

I'll likely go through the 2nd and 3rd book over the next two or so weeks. When is the 4th book due?
It's due out in the U.S. on November 8. A month and a half is nothing...

[Eaglesfan27]

It's due out in the U.S. on November 8. A month and a half is nothing...
Excellent. The first three will still be fresh in my mind. :)

[lurker]

No. That is not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that IF your sleep cycle is 2 hours long, it will be easier to wake up after 6 hours of sleep than 7 hours of sleep and you might feel better throughout the day. However, if you are someone that needs 8 hours of sleep, 8 will be better than 6 or 7.

Edit: Studies have shown that most people do best with 4 complete sleep cycles per night. If your sleep cycle is only 1 1/2 hours long than 6 hours is your ideal time. 7 hours if your sleep cycle is 1 hrs and 45 minutes, and 8 hours if you have a 2 hour sleep cycle. It is rare, but some people have sleep cycles that are shorter than 90 minutes.

2nd edit: However, as I'm saying above, it is generally believed that if you can't get 4 full sleep cycles it is better to get 3 full cycles than it is to get 3 1/2 sleep cycles.

Is there a way to figure out how long your sleep cycle is without just testing how tired you are after 1 1/2 hours versus 2 hours (and all the times in between)?

[Eaglesfan27]

Is there a way to figure out how long your sleep cycle is without just testing how tired you are after 1 1/2 hours versus 2 hours (and all the times in between)?

There is no precise method without a sleep study. However, a good way to get a ball park figure is to get your "normal" amount of sleep for about a week or so. Then, go to bed when you are tired enought to fall asleep within 10 minutes. Wake up without an alarm and without any disruptions causing you to wake. That total amount of sleep will usually be a multiple of your sleep cycle time. Of course, it can be difficult to sleep without being woken by any disruptions which is critical to that method.

[Galaxy]

A somewhat older thread, but some questions I have:

I usually have a weird sleeping cycle, being a "night owl" (around 2:30-3:00 is my sleeping time). Is it hard to get myself on an earlier sleeping pattern?

Does your sleeping requirement and habits change as you get older?

[Fonzie]

A somewhat older thread, but some questions I have:

I usually have a weird sleeping cycle, being a "night owl" (around 2:30-3:00 is my sleeping time). Is it hard to get myself on an earlier sleeping pattern?

Does your sleeping requirement and habits change as you get older?
Shifting one's sleep schedule isn't very difficult to pull off for most folks (that is, most folks who truly try to change their sleep habits). There are two basic ways to do this: 1) go to bed slightly earlier (say, by 10-20 minutes or so) each night for as long as it takes to get to the desired bedtime (this "early to bed" strategy can be aided by increasing physically exhausting activities during the day); or 2) stay up progressively later hours (say, go to bed at 4am tomorrow, 6am the next day, etc.) over the course of a week or so until you reach the desired bedtime.

The early to bed strategy is, of course, much easier in a practical sense, as most of us have commitments that preclude a strict adherence to the staying up strategy, but staying up late is a good bet for those more difficult cases of sleep schedule alterations. It is, generally speaking, far easier for people to stay up late (and thus do strategy #2) than it is to go to sleep early (#1), so your mileage may vary.

Sleep patterns and quality do change somewhat with age. You will get the soundest sleep of your life (characterized by substantial stage 3 and stage 4 - or "deep" - sleep) during childhood and up until your early 20's. From about 25-30 until the mid-50's sleep requirements and quality stay fairly stable at 7.5-8 hrs per night for most folks, and those folks report feeling rested with that amount of sleep. As we get into our late 50's and 60's our sleep quality and quantity start to decline, with a gradual loss of "deep" (stages 3 and 4) sleep and increasing episodes of waking during the night. It is these deep stages of sleep that seem to have the greatest recuperative properties, and so with their loss we begin to feel increasingly fatigued as we age. There is wide variability in terms of the hours of sleep folks get after 60, but overall # of hours per sleep definitely declines with each advancing decade of life past 60. Some of this decline can be attributed to increasing medical problems and/or medications that have an effect on sleep, but some of it is purely an age-related change in sleep.

One other bit of advice: I highly recommend avoiding sleeping pills. They're addictive and the kind of problem you're describing can be easily treated behaviorally.

Good luck, and I hope this information proves helpful!

[Eaglesfan27]

Shifting one's sleep schedule isn't very difficult to pull off for most folks (that is, most folks who truly try to change their sleep habits). There are two basic ways to do this: 1) go to bed slightly earlier (say, by 10-20 minutes or so) each night for as long as it takes to get to the desired bedtime (this "early to bed" strategy can be aided by increasing physically exhausting activities during the day); or 2) stay up progressively later hours (say, go to bed at 4am tomorrow, 6am the next day, etc.) over the course of a week or so until you reach the desired bedtime.

The early to bed strategy is, of course, much easier in a practical sense, as most of us have commitments that preclude a strict adherence to the staying up strategy, but staying up late is a good bet for those more difficult cases of sleep schedule alterations. It is, generally speaking, far easier for people to stay up late (and thus do strategy #2) than it is to go to sleep early (#1), so your mileage may vary.

Sleep patterns and quality do change somewhat with age. You will get the soundest sleep of your life (characterized by substantial stage 3 and stage 4 - or "deep" - sleep) during childhood and up until your early 20's. From about 25-30 until the mid-50's sleep requirements and quality stay fairly stable at 7.5-8 hrs per night for most folks, and those folks report feeling rested with that amount of sleep. As we get into our late 50's and 60's our sleep quality and quantity start to decline, with a gradual loss of "deep" (stages 3 and 4) sleep and increasing episodes of waking during the night. It is these deep stages of sleep that seem to have the greatest recuperative properties, and so with their loss we begin to feel increasingly fatigued as we age. There is wide variability in terms of the hours of sleep folks get after 60, but overall # of hours per sleep definitely declines with each advancing decade of life past 60. Some of this decline can be attributed to increasing medical problems and/or medications that have an effect on sleep, but some of it is purely an age-related change in sleep.

One other bit of advice: I highly recommend avoiding sleeping pills. They're addictive and the kind of problem you're describing can be easily treated behaviorally.

Good luck, and I hope this information proves helpful!

Very well said, Fonzie.

[Galaxy]

Shifting one's sleep schedule isn't very difficult to pull off for most folks (that is, most folks who truly try to change their sleep habits). There are two basic ways to do this: 1) go to bed slightly earlier (say, by 10-20 minutes or so) each night for as long as it takes to get to the desired bedtime (this "early to bed" strategy can be aided by increasing physically exhausting activities during the day); or 2) stay up progressively later hours (say, go to bed at 4am tomorrow, 6am the next day, etc.) over the course of a week or so until you reach the desired bedtime.

The early to bed strategy is, of course, much easier in a practical sense, as most of us have commitments that preclude a strict adherence to the staying up strategy, but staying up late is a good bet for those more difficult cases of sleep schedule alterations. It is, generally speaking, far easier for people to stay up late (and thus do strategy #2) than it is to go to sleep early (#1), so your mileage may vary.

Sleep patterns and quality do change somewhat with age. You will get the soundest sleep of your life (characterized by substantial stage 3 and stage 4 - or "deep" - sleep) during childhood and up until your early 20's. From about 25-30 until the mid-50's sleep requirements and quality stay fairly stable at 7.5-8 hrs per night for most folks, and those folks report feeling rested with that amount of sleep. As we get into our late 50's and 60's our sleep quality and quantity start to decline, with a gradual loss of "deep" (stages 3 and 4) sleep and increasing episodes of waking during the night. It is these deep stages of sleep that seem to have the greatest recuperative properties, and so with their loss we begin to feel increasingly fatigued as we age. There is wide variability in terms of the hours of sleep folks get after 60, but overall # of hours per sleep definitely declines with each advancing decade of life past 60. Some of this decline can be attributed to increasing medical problems and/or medications that have an effect on sleep, but some of it is purely an age-related change in sleep.

One other bit of advice: I highly recommend avoiding sleeping pills. They're addictive and the kind of problem you're describing can be easily treated behaviorally.

Good luck, and I hope this information proves helpful!

Thanks, I wish I had better scheduling to do this for....(My MWF class is at 9, and I don't have class until 12:40 TTH)...Once I get better scheduling, I will attempt to do this. Plus, I have a trachestomy, so it affects my sleeping habits.

[tucker342]

Then there was the week at school when we didn't have classes (or work) and I went to sleep at 8am and woke at around 4-5pm (became nocturnal essentially)
Oh man I've been there before.... usually it's because I stayed up the whole night before partying though not for a job or school :)

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

After mid terms last week I was asleep at 8pm.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tomorrow, I have to get up around 5:30 AM to drive probably 2 to 2 1/2 hours to work in Baton Rouge (that is the average time I've heard with the currently heavy traffic from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.) Then, I have to go to meetings/work from 8:30 AM to 7:00 PM, then drive back home (hopefully traffic will be lighter and I can make it in about 1 1/2 hours or so. I wish I could make myself go to bed early tonight :(

[streetballer22]

Usually 11:30ish but I've fallen asleep around 8:30 though.

[INDalltheway]

After a tough week of school/sports there are nights when I will fall asleep at 7:30 then wake up around midnight which messes up my whole sleeping patterns... But last night I was up playing Halo online with my boys until 5 AM. :D

[sabotai]

Does your sleeping requirement and habits change as you get older?
When I was in college, I could make it through the day easily on 2-3 hours of sleep a night. Some nights I wouldn't sleep and the next was moderately hard, but doable as long as I had a few hours the night before.

Now, I need at least 4 hours a night or I'm completely dead the next day (Good thing I don't have to be at work until 10am :) )

[Marc Vaughan]

A somewhat older thread, but some questions I have:

I usually have a weird sleeping cycle, being a "night owl" (around 2:30-3:00 is my sleeping time). Is it hard to get myself on an earlier sleeping pattern?

I can forcibly shift my sleeping pattern if I need to (generally after a 'crunch' period when I want to get back onto a more normal pattern, as during crunch my sleep period can get shifted around stupidly) ... what I generally do is simply have less sleep one night so I'm absolutely knackered and then force myself to stay awake until the time I want to be my new 'normal' sleep time and crash.

Then when I wake up I'm vaguely sane and my body is starting to get used to the idea of going to sleep at that time.

Please note I'm sure my handling of my body isn't according to its manual and at some point in the future I really should take it in for a respray and service ;)

Does your sleeping requirement and habits change as you get older?

Mine have increased slightly, in my early 20's I could go without sleep for a few nights without too much hassle and only really needed a max of around 5 hours sleep a night (more than 7 and I'd feel hung-over).

I'm 34 now (thanks for reminding me ;) ) and am starting to find it harder to handle lack of sleep (can manage one all-nighter with a decent recovery period afterwards, but doing 72 hours straight at work isn't something which would be practical these days) and probably need around 6 hours sleep a night ...

Not sure why this would be, probably to do with the change in my metabolism (as a kid I could eat anything and not put on weight, these days I just look at a menu and gain a stone).

[SackAttack]

My freshman year at Missouri, I got seriously sick at the start of the second semester, and to this day I don't know what it was.

What I DO know is that for a period of about a month I'd almost routinely lay down for a nap at 4 in the afternoon and wake up at 7 pm the next day. Threw my sleep patterns out of whack for almost two years, to the point where the earliest I get sleep-tired anymore is about 1 am.

[Tara]

At the moment i work at the lab 8:00am-4:00 pm, but i wake up at 6 am. I go to bed after 00:00am. But before exams or when sometimes are too tired to sleep only less than 6 hours i go to bed at 10:30. But even if i try it's very hard to me to fall asleep before 11:30.

[Wolfpack]

I currently have a night-owlish sleeping pattern that my wife doesn't care for very much (she's usually trying to get the girl down to sleep between 9-10 and usually ends up staying in bed afterwards, while I'm up usually until after midnight...my work schedule is 9-6). She wants me home earlier in the evenings, which means earlier work hours. I'm currently considering not adjusting to the upcoming daylight/standard time shift and just getting up an hour earlier, which to my body won't be any different. However, even if my body doesn't know it, my mind will because all the programming on TV and all the clocks will be an hour earlier. Is this sort of thing tricky to do? Failing that, I may employ the tactic Fonzie outlined and begin drifting my hours back a little at a time.