I get 6.5-7 hours of sleep a night usually. I started a routine to help wind myself done. One thing that has helped me are blue blocking glasses, not too many lights on ( usually watching tv) a couple hours before bed. Also I try to not solve any problems a couple hours before laying down. Yea sleep when we die right? On my days off from work I sleep less because I stay up late thinking I’ll sleep later but my brain won’t let me sleep past 6 am. First world problems.
I have an opinion on “snooze time”.
What’s the point? If you are going to interrupt your sleep with an alarm, knowing that you can get up later, in one or several 9 minute increments, then why don’t you just set your alarm for the time you actually have to get up, and use those wasted minutes to get some more quality sleep? Then, when your alarm goes off, you just get out of bed.
13 Likes
If I get 8 hours sleep it’s a sign that something is seriously wrong. I average about 5 a night. It is really noticeable how much better I function if I get 6 hours sleep in a night, but any more than that and it is usually a sign that I am ill. 8 hours would equate to something seriously wrong.
People talk about 8 hours being the ideal, but the reality is that different people have different ‘perfect doses’ of sleep. I’ve learnt to not stress about it. Create the best possible environment and conditions to get what is the optimal level of sleep for you personally.
4 Likes
Well this thread is reassuring! I wake up at least 5 times a night, and rarely get 8 hours.
1 Like
So true.
1 Like
I recently read an article that mentioned this. It then went on to discuss the concept of first sleep and second sleep. It was basically going to bed around 8 or 9 sleeping 2 to 3 hours then waking up for 1-3 hours then sleeping until sunrise.
2 Likes
I’ve got a 3 and a half year old and five months old kids. I have fixed the sleep problem by going to sleep after I’ve got the older one to sleep and my wife takes care of the younger one. This way I can sleep 8-9 hours per night.
1 Like
5 year old and 2 year old. The only time we didnt get enough sleep is during the first year for night feeding or when they’re sick. Otherwise we basically sleep when they sleep. In bed around 8-9pm, up at 5-6am, Boom, 8 hours.
1 Like
i think it is as good or bad as your wearable records your sleep!
For me Garmin isn’t useable, since they changed to the new Sleep Tracking on FR945, so i moved to Apple Watch 7 where i use sleep++ App and everything is fine with my sleep!
Well my n=1, I settle for giving myself the best chance of 8 hours, so being in bed long enough. Whether my garmin is a true reflection of actual sleep, it does seem to confirm how I actually feel (as does the “performance condition” on my 530 tbh)
fwiw mine are now teenagers, and the problem is getting them to bed (and then up before afternoon when they’re not in school). Outside of term, the biggest blocker to my weekday sleep is staying awake to confirm their devices are away!
I agree, a far better book that I recommend is below. Helped me deal with the sleep I want versus the sleep my body needs. I want 8-10 hours and have plenty of free time to get it, but my body only desires 6:30-7:00.
3 Likes
100% agree.
I think the biggest thing for me was confirmation of things we probably already know, and the impact of poor sleep over a lifetime (as opposed to a few nights here and there). Acknowledgement that a defined set of hours for sleep is less important than the quality of that sleep, and some of the things that can be done (or avoided) to improve that sleep quality. If nothing else, the book was sobering (to me) to take sleep seriously.
Just like The Endurance Diet, Why We Sleep doesn’t really outline a specific plan or set of actions everyone must take to achieve optimal sleep, but it does highlight the concepts and provides research-based insights into how it all works (as far as they understand it today).
Absolutely agree that it isn’t prescriptive - but I found it insightful!
1 Like
100% agree; “The Sleep Solution” is an outstanding book. The audio book version is narrated by the author and makes for an enjoyable and informative listen, too.
1 Like
Matthew Walker’s take on it in Why We Sleep:
Personally disagree. Thought it was really good… it definitely had a big impact in terms of hammering home how important it is to get enough sleep. If you’ve already read other books on the subject it might not be too useful though.
1 Like
Here is the most up-to-date expert consensus on sleep for athletes: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/7/356
1 Like
I’ve felt this way about a lot of books in the health, wellness, and diet space. Most of these books could be a pamphlet with 10 pages of actionable material and the author could have skipped the 290 pages of background material.
3 Likes
“Sleep more, eat cleaner”
“Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about Joe. Joe is from Kenya, and he runs a lot…”. 
3 Likes
8 just happens to be the average for job public… just like 2000 Calories or so a day.
I have read (I’ll try and remember where, but I’m tired) if you don’t do much, 7 hr is fine, and if you are athletic or have a stressful life better to shoot for 9 hrs. 8 is just the average.
Also read many Elites get 10 hours plus, and some sleep in the afternoon as well, Paula Radcliffe springs to mind… some more than just a nap… double release of hormones apparently.
1 Like
I just read a great overview of “The Sleep Solution” here:
For anyone who hasn’t read either of these books, this is a great introduction to the topic.
I’m curious about one section from the article that says, “ You can determine your prime wake-up time by counting five-and-a-half hours backwards from that time to determine when you’d need to go to sleep. For example, if your wake-up time is 6:30, that would put you going to sleep at 1:00 am. If that doesn’t sound like a great sleep schedule, then adjust either your bedtime or wake-up time accordingly. You can keep adjusting until you feel you’ve stopped experiencing sleepiness through the day.
Most people need between six and eight hours of sleep a day to function properly, so play around with your schedule until you’ve determined exactly what feels right to you.”
For anyone who’s actually read the book, is that correct? Five and a half hours?
Depends if you find the 290 pages of background interesting or not though right… Kinda like Chad’s deep dives, which some people like and some people complain about since they just want some bullet points…
3 Likes