Sleep habits... with a poll!

[civvver]

I have a bunch of questions about your sleep. Answer if you care to. Here are the questions in bold with my responses below.

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?
7

What time do you go to sleep and what time do you wake up?
11:30pm - 6:30am. My daughter just began kindergarten and it's killing me. Bus comes at 7:45. I am so tired despite getting 7 hours. In the summer I was going to be at 1 or 2 and getting up at 8 or 9, same amount but felt much less tired.

How much variation is in your sleep schedule (ie days off vs work nights)?
Maybe an hour later start on weekends, but kids get conditioned. She is up at 7:30 on weekends now.

Do you take naps?
No. Even if my schedule allowed I wouldn't be tired at night and stay up too late.

How many times do you wake up during sleep or have it interrupted?
1 usually. Which is probably not good, but I drink a lot of water and night and wake up to pee pretty much every night.

How would you rate the quality of your sleep (ignoring duration, quality only)?
Great except for waking up to pee part. I have a great bed and fall asleep fast.

Are you satisfied with the amount of time you sleep?
Kind of. 7 hours is ok but I would much, much rather sleep like 2-9am than what I do now. I would like to get 8 hours, but going to bed at 10pm would mean no time to do anything fun (like play civ).

Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep?
Yes

 

[Synobun]

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?
7-8 (based on a clock, actually sleep far less)

What time do you go to sleep and what time do you wake up?
Lately, 3 AM. 10 to 11 AM 'wake up'.

How much variation is in your sleep schedule (ie days off vs work nights)?
Depends on how many bad days I have. Usually my sleep time ranges from between 11 PM to 3 AM, with wake up time ranging from 8 to 11 AM.

Do you take naps?
No.

How many times do you wake up during sleep or have it interrupted?
At least once every hour.

How would you rate the quality of your sleep (ignoring duration, quality only)?
Bad.

Are you satisfied with the amount of time you sleep?
No.

Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep?
No.

 

[Hrothbern]

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?
8

What time do you go to sleep and what time do you wake up?
24.00 - 0.800

How much variation is in your sleep schedule (ie days off vs work nights)?
None

Do you take naps?
Half an hour nap. Only if I made it late the night before, had wine etc, and there is time for.

How many times do you wake up during sleep or have it interrupted?
Not

How would you rate the quality of your sleep (ignoring duration, quality only)?
I guess ok. Feel fit every morning.

Are you satisfied with the amount of time you sleep?
Had to relearn sleeping at regular times since I retired and aim for 9 hours.
Was used to irregular 4-6 hours, seemingly dreamless. Since I sleep more I have again dreams I remember.


Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep?
Yes. I (remember to) dream again multiple times each night, giving me the comfort that my brain goes through her normal cycle and can do the normal maintenance.

 

[luiz]

1 am - 8 am usually for me. Based on the clock, in reality I sleep way less than that specially if I have business crap polluting my mind.

On the weekends I sleep way more.

 

[Lexicus]

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?

6.5ish on the weekdays. More on the weekends.

What time do you go to sleep and what time do you wake up?

Weekdays: Go to sleep between midnight and 1am, get up around 7.
Weekends: Go to sleep between 1am and 2am, wake up around 9 and then go back to sleep until 10-11

Do you take naps?

Only on the weekends. Many weekends, my sleep schedule resembles a cat's.

How many times do you wake up during sleep or have it interrupted?

Only very occasionally, if there is a particularly loud siren outside my house or if I really have to pee, or if I'm having digestive troubles

How would you rate the quality of your sleep (ignoring duration, quality only)?

Pretty good, I guess. Nothing to complain about.

Are you satisfied with the amount of time you sleep?

Yep, basically.

Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep?

Yeah, the only time I'm not is when I drink too much and pass out.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I don't have any kind of normal schedule. I sleep when I'm tired, but do try to be awake when my TV shows are on, or if I'm expecting a parcel delivery.

What this means in reality is anywhere from 3 hours to 6 hours of sleep, then I wake up, and sometime later I'll have a 2-3 hour nap.

I haven't been remembering many dreams lately, but wouldn't you know, the last one was a nightmare about that tenant who tried forcing his way into my suite back in July. Yes, he still lives in the building, and I've been really hoping he uses up his last "strike" which will allow TPTB to evict him.

 

[MilesGregarius]

I split time between a rural Lao village with no electricity and First World cities/suburbs. My sleep schedule is very different depending on where I am.

In Lao, I crash around 20:30 and get up around 4:30, with maybe a bathroom break about 2:00. Nice, deep slumber with vivid dreams. Another Yank I brought out there was amused that it was as dark with his eyes open as with them closed. The crickets can be noisy as hell, but I find them soothing.

In the modern world, I can never get on a regular sleep schedule, and the quality of the sleep is suboptimal, to say the least. Even if I resist the urge to waste time with electronic distractions, the nearly unavoidable light pollution reduces the quality of sleep to the point that I often fall asleep in the afternoon, thus sabotaging my efforts to regulate my sleep cycle. If I seal myself off from any outside light, it's often too quiet for me to get to sleep without tossing and turning for a while.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The last time it was properly dark here was during the wind storm earlier this summer, when the power was knocked out. There's a lot of light pollution here, and thank goodness one of the parking lot lights at my end of the building doesn't work. I actually told the maintenance people, "Please do not ever fix that, or it'll be shining right into my bedroom and I won't be able to sleep at all."

So I've developed the ability to sleep in either daytime or night, and it does help to have a quietly ticking clock in the room and a purring cat on the bed.

 

[MilesGregarius]

A purring feline is always a plus.

 

[Akka]

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?
I stay in bed between 6 and 8 hours. How much of it is "sleep" vary a bit, but it's about 1 or 2 hours less than the time spent in bed. The distinction is important for later

What time do you go to sleep and what time do you wake up?
From midnight/1:30 to 7:50. My ideal is to be sleeping at midnight, but I tend to prepare to go to bed around 00:00 to 00:15 already, and usually watch a vid or read a bit before really shutting the light off.

How much variation is in your sleep schedule (ie days off vs work nights)?
I go to bed between two and three or more hours later in days off (so 02:00 to 03:30), and my morning clock is set at 9:30.

Do you take naps?
No. Even if my schedule allowed I wouldn't be tired at night and stay up too late.
(thanks for writing it for me ^^)

How many times do you wake up during sleep or have it interrupted?
0 to 2. A slight majority of the time I sleep uninterrupted, but it's pretty common that I wake up (fully or partially) during the night.
The main point here is that I'm EXTREMELY sensitive to noise, so I can get woken up VERY easily by the slightest change in environment. Like someone coughing or walking heavily in the floor below, or some dog barking on the other side of the block, or people talking in the street, or whatever (also play a big role in how long it takes to fall asleep to begin with, I HATE with passion noisy people).

How would you rate the quality of your sleep (ignoring duration, quality only)?
Average. IF I can manage a full night, I'm well-rested. The problem being...

Are you satisfied with the amount of time you sleep?
Definitely no. I take forever to fall asleep and I often wake up too soon. Not only it means I always feels rather tired, it also means that going to bed is a drag because it means "waiting for at least one hour before sleeping", which is such a waste of time.

Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep?
Not really, but it's hard to decouple from the amount of sleep itself. I'd like to be able to fall asleep instantly, which would make all this management much less of a headache. And being able to feel refreshed in the morning is pretty great too, so I'd like for it to happen on a regular basis for a change.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?

Between 5 and .. anything

What time do you go to sleep and what time do you wake up?

Weekdays: Go to sleep at ~3AM, get up at ~10:30
Weekend: Go to sleep at ~5:30, get up at ~11 or 12

How much variation is in your sleep schedule (ie days off vs work nights)?

Very little. Whenever I don't have work/uni work the next day, I suppose Weekdays goes up from ~3AM to 4 or 5.

Do you take naps?

Not my style

How many times do you wake up during sleep or have it interrupted?

Never. Extremely solid sleep.

How would you rate the quality of your sleep (ignoring duration, quality only)?

Great, nothing to complain about. My parents have been doing this for decades now (going to bed at ~4AM, getting up at 9 or 10) and they are all-around healthy. It's weird like that.

Are you satisfied with the amount of time you sleep?

Yes, I fall asleep quite quickly.

Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep?

Yes, however I practice very good sleep hygiene. Always try to exercise/move at least a wee bit every day and never read, eat, watch series.. in bed. It's only for love and sleeping, as it should be.

 

[tjs282]

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?

~7 per night

What time do you go to sleep and what time do you wake up?

Sun-Thurs: Go to sleep at ~23:30-01:00, get up at ~07:00-07:30
Fri-Sat: Go to sleep at ~01:00-03:00 (usually 'cos I'm playing Civ!), get up at ~08:30-09:30

How much variation is in your sleep schedule (ie days off vs work nights)?

See above. Occasionally stay up later on school-nights, but it's usually a bad idea: the loss of sleep catches up with me over the next couple of days, and my work suffers.

Do you take naps?

Not habitually. Spontaneous and unplanned 1-2 hour Sunday-afternoon zonks occur from time to time -- almost invariably after I've stayed up until (near-)dawn 2 nights running (one... more... turn...). But that evening, I probably won't be able to fall asleep at the 'proper' time, either.

How many times do you wake up during sleep or have it interrupted?

Rarely. I'm a fairly deep sleeper -- which drives my wife nuts, because she isn't. I usually sleep through the clock-alarm (set for 06:15 weekdays, and 07:15 weekends).

How would you rate the quality of your sleep (ignoring duration, quality only)?

Good while it's happening.

Are you satisfied with the amount of time you sleep?

Not really, I tend to wake up slowly, usually feeling like I haven't slept long enough, even when I have. But not satisfied with the amount of time I have awake, either. Sometimes kind of wish that the Earth had a 28-hour rotational period, a ~20:8 wake:sleep split would probably work for me...

Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep?

Not sure how this is different from rating the quality of my sleep...?

And shouldn't your poll have a 'Sleep is for the weak!" option...?

 

[PhroX]

How many hours of sleep do you usually get?
5-6

What time do you go to sleep and what time do you wake up?
I go to bed around 11. I usually fall asleep between 12 and 12:30. I wake up between 5 and 6. I don't need to wake up until after 7, but that doesn't seem to matter to whatever is controlling my sleep.

How much variation is in your sleep schedule (ie days off vs work nights)?
Same regardless of whether I'm working or not.

Do you take naps?
Nope, can't fall asleep unless it's night time

How many times do you wake up during sleep or have it interrupted?
Usually none

How would you rate the quality of your sleep (ignoring duration, quality only)?
Well, I wake up tired every day, so probably pretty bad

Are you satisfied with the amount of time you sleep?
Hell no

Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep?
Nope

 

[civvver]

I feel better already. I was expecting a lot more people to come in as early to bed and early to rise like going to sleep at 10pm and getting up at 7 for a full 9 hours. But I guess we all suck equally.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

never read, eat, watch series.. in bed. It's only for love and sleeping, as it should be.

Whoever originally said that obviously never used the "bedtime story" method of falling asleep. I keep a crossword puzzle/word puzzle book and pen beside the bed and either do a couple of short puzzles or part of a long one before going to sleep. If I'm still awake, I'll add reading a few pages of whatever novel or anthology I'm reading (currently the first book in the Outlander series; I've already seen the first 2 seasons on TV and just wanted to know what was changed from the novel).

This is part of my ritual for another reason: It helps the cat relax as well. She knows that once I'm in bed and pick up whatever book I've picked up, that's the time for her to jump up, do whatever cat things make sense to her (may include washing my face; apparently soap and water don't do the job well enough). After that she settles down to sleep. Usually 5-10 minutes later, so do I.

As mentioned, a softly-ticking clock helps as well.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Not saying doing things in bed is not beautiful and relaxing, it's just not good for your sleep at all. You say that doing crosswords, for example helps you sleep. However, this is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy: Maybe, if you used your bed only for sleeping, you wouldn't even need an aide for falling asleep. But because you do it and it gets you tired, you think it 'works'.

I occasionally read in bed, too, because it's just so comfy. If your sleep is good anyway it can be very soothing occasionally, especially on rainy or snowy days.

 

[Synobun]

Not saying doing things in bed is not beautiful and relaxing, it's just not good for your sleep at all. You say that doing crosswords, for example helps you sleep. However, this is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy: Maybe, if you used your bed only for sleeping, you wouldn't even need an aide for falling asleep. But because you do it and it gets you tired, you think it 'works'.

Potentially true, although this does assume that one begins doing something in bed and then starts having issues sleeping. If you already have issues sleeping and you start doing something as an aide (which reduces those issues), it seems strange to suggest that it's the aide giving you problems to begin with.

 

[Akka]

Not saying doing things in bed is not beautiful and relaxing, it's just not good for your sleep at all. You say that doing crosswords, for example helps you sleep. However, this is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy: Maybe, if you used your bed only for sleeping, you wouldn't even need an aide for falling asleep. But because you do it and it gets you tired, you think it 'works'.

I occasionally read in bed, too, because it's just so comfy. If your sleep is good anyway it can be very soothing occasionally, especially on rainy or snowy days.

You're blessed with the ability to fall asleep just by the virtue of being in bed. From someone who isn't in this case, trust me : it's not universal.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

You're blessed with the ability to fall asleep just by the virtue of being in bed. From someone who isn't in this case, trust me : it's not universal.

I'm aware. It hasn't been this way for me forever though, I used to have light insomnia.

 

[PhroX]

Reading in bed inevitably ends up with me getting too engrossed in the book and thus even less able to sleep....