How much sleep do you feel you need in order to feel great function effectively? (and NO, not the obvious ‘as much as possible’ answer you are thinking)
I am my own worst enemy, but personally, I blame our couch. It’s not like I stare at the television the whole night, I’m usually blogging or tweeting or crocheting or talking or something. But for some reason I do not make it to bed before 22h30 every night. And back up at 05h30 on school mornings. Ok, make that 05h40 after a quick snuggle. So about 7 hours on a really good night.
Now that I’m eating better and drinking less coffee I don’t feel exhausted in the mornings, but come Fridays I’m downright finished. Especially if there were child-shaped shadows looming in our bedroom or coughing or a dog barking in the middle of the night. I’m still amazed at how your body adapts to sleep deprivation caused by sick/teething children and crying babies. Well, other people’s bodies. I don’t cope very well without sleep, ask every single one of the extra kilo’s I’m carrying around with me.
So, now that there is a (touchwood) chance of a better night’s sleep I’m starting to wonder how much sleep
- You feel you need to function on and
- You actually get.
Let me know?
I need at least 7 to 8 hours to feel like a normal human being. I can take 4 or 5 hours a night for a few days, but then I hit a wall and my depression becomes all consuming. And the migranes try to take over the planet.
Last night I manged only about 3 hours of broken sleep and I feel weepy and have a headache coming on. Fun! I have to attend a 3yo’s birthday party this afternoon. More FUN! *weep*
We actually get very little sleep – I am sure you might have read some of the situation, but I do well on 7 to 8 hours. I think it is 4 years of sleep deprivation taking it’s toll.
Apparently 5 hours 🙂 Jack sleeps well but we get on average 5 hours solid sleep a night and so far I am ok BUT by the time its weekend I am also flat and need a small time out to recharge!
In order to function effectively I need a full 8 hours. I REALLY battled with the broken sleep when my kids were little and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
I was recently getting an average of 6 hours (I am part insomniac) but now that I’ve taken steps to address that I’m getting my full 8 hours.
Four hours – that is the absolute minimum I need to function. If I can’t get four solid hours of unbroken sleep in – I won’t allow myself to sleep at all. I know this sounds dramatic, but after years of feeding newborns, and sick kids and all that motherhood has to throw at you – this is the baseline I’ve come up with. Anything less than four solid hours, and I am a drooling, gritty-eyed zombie. Anything more than four solid hours… I can function fairly okay! I don’t think I’ve slept a proper eight hours aka what the books say, for several years.