How much sleep is enough?

Personally, I think the amount of sleep required is all about what you believe you need. I'm sure there are various scientific studies that may tell you a certain number of hours is healthy.

I rarely get more than 5 hours per night between my business and my family life. I have done this for quite some time that I am now quite used to it and function great on little sleep. I'm also quite healthy and have a good immune system. I am very driven by my business which I think KEEPS me healthy.

When I was employee who hated his job I slept 8 hours a night and always felt tired...what does that tell you?

Sleep cycles are a very personalized thing. Some people can easily get by with 4-5 hours of sleep a night without any negative effects, others need to sleep 11 hours to function effectively.

Just about anyone get by one night with little/no sleep, but the long term effects are not good. Sleep is actually an important part of your success. If you are chronically tired, you mind is not as sharp as it would be on the right amount of sleep.

I completely understand the need to go to bed late and get up early, so that you can get more done and get more cash in the bank account. But, in reality, if you are finding that you are tired all day you will not get as much done in the day as you would with the proper amount of sleep.

Just listen to your body, eat healthy, avoid alcohol and caffeine in excess and exercise regularly. Your sleep will be more productive and so will you.

Now mind you, this is a do as I say and not as I do speech. I am just about the opposite of everything I just said. But it is the best way, regardless of how likely we are going to go it.

-Scott Voss

I have to say I agree with Scott. I always envy those who can get by on 5 hours sleep, but I just can't do it. I need 8 hours minimum, though of course the occasional late night/ very early morning is fine.

I also think it helps to get into a very good routine. Try to go to bed/ wake up at the same time each day and it'll get easier.

If you're trying to rise a little earlier, then it'll take time for your body to get used to it. Do it gradually.

I know a person who's a coder n lots of good websites owner. He makes hell lots of money a month. But he never sleeps. only couple of hours for like 2 days.

My 9-5 job's boss, sometimes i receive his email at 3am. They do not have the time to think about sleepy. They just want to get things done.

I love sleeping! =) more than 10hours on weekend, 7hours on weekdays. Therefore I'm still poor..lol

Most people function best with 7 hours minimum of sleep. Many people do fine with 5 hours, some don't do well without 9-10 its really different for different people.

It depends upon your physiological needs. I have learned one perfect rule: "Always consider the needs of your organism". If it asks you to water the mouth that means you go and drink, if it asks you to sleep one more hour that means it really needs this. Sometimes you cannot even explain your desires, but your body understands everything.

I like to sleep 6-7 hours a night and then a 1 hour power nap in the early afternoon.

I average 4-5 hours and usually end up crashing for a good 10 hours or so about once a month.

Most people need 7-10 hours sleep, and it's really up to yourself. Personally, if I had something needs to be done in mind, I always wanted to finish it and did not feel tired at all when I was doing it.

Eight hours sleep is usually enough for most people but everyone is different so you might need much more or less. I usually need 10 hours sleep.

I personally sleep about 4-5 hours, although I sometimes think it's not enough for me. The more you're tired the more you may need time sleeping I think.

Oh thought I would add, I don't know about everyone else, but sometimes I feel more tired if I get too much sleep. I think I've heard of other people experiencing it. So it's just as important not to oversleep as it is to get enough sleep.

It depends on the person really. Some people can function very well on four hours sleep, while others need a good ten hours.

There's a number of self-help/improvement "gurus" who advocate only sleeping three or four hours a day so that you have more time to work, however if you feel like a zombie for the entire day because you haven't gotten enough sleep and therefore aren't very productive, what's the point?

Find what works best for you.

Most scientific studies state 6-8hrs these days. Very important parts of the human body & mind occur during sleep, so make sure you are getting what you need. Jump online and take a sleep profile test for a little indication.

That being said, while i was at university, and didnt really need to be up until lunch time to go to class in the afternoon, i typically slept 4am-10/11am.

Nowadays by business gets me up at 8am. Regardless of whether i go to bed at 11pm or 4am, i still get up at 8am. This has gone on for 3yrs now. I never planned on being someone who woke up that early, but now i wake up then even on my weekends/days off when i have nothing to do.

The BIGGEST factor i feel in getting up is this; "Does you subconscious have a driving force to wake you up?" Is there a big enough reason to wake you up at 5am. Just wanting to cause you think you should is not sufficient.

Every one has a different need but generally 6-8 hours..... the key thing here is to have enough sleep so that your day will be productive!! No point sleeping 5 hours thinking that you have extra 3 hours but ended up being not effective the next whole day due to tiredness

I can't remain awake after 11-11.15 pm.
But wake up at 6 am.

Best time to do concentrated - focussed work.

Sleep - 6-7 hours : More than sufficient

I sleep a ghastly 9 hours and always get sick if I don't get at least 6.

Sleep isn't something to mess around with. If you truly feel well-rested with 5 hours (and aren't just sucking down caffeine and living off stress hormones) then go for it. Usually it's the youngsters that think it's okay. But many diseases begin with lack of sleep and only show up later in life.

Your body is not built to keep this up for long. The hormones that are produced to "keep you going" and the substances like caffeine that trick it are dangerous to your health. While you feel fine your body is slowly being attacked by substances produced when you are stressed. And yes, lack of sleep is stress. Being excited and happy and "pumped up" is stress. I like the idea of 8 hours of sleep and a day of total rest. But alas, some people just can't manage it.

I took care of those people for 35 years. Helped them walk, bathe, eat, gave them pills dressed their heart surgery wounds. All I'm saying is, don't think no sleep is a status symbol or is being tough. Be kind to yourself, relax, and enjoy a good night's sleep.

Okay, now all you people who don't sleep a lot can throw rocks at me.

It varies so much from person to person. I can do fine on 6 hours consistently. Rarely do I sleep much more than that, even if I think I want to.

I also think the healthier you are, eating right, exercise, and vitamins, all help cut down on the amount of sleep your body feels it needs.

I read an article that people need at least 9 hours of sleep! Dam, I usually am getting only 5-7 hours. Gotta get in bed earlier too

I think the a healthy person could take sleep about 7-8 hours. I personally sleep about 4-5 hours, and sometimes I think that it's not enough for me.

I think hitting bed earlier is more important than long sleep.

I only need 5 hours of sleep and I'm good to go.

Researchers say that atleast 5 to 6 hours of Deep relaxed sleep is enough to rejunuvate and give freshness to the whole body to function actively throughtout the day

While spending a summer in Germany, I met a Biology/Chemistry teacher at the Gymnasium. He owned a 15,000-volume library (all of which he had read); in a home he designed and built himself (which was gorgeous); and had a 1000-bottle wine cellar (from which he brought a $450 bottle of wine to share with me one night).
I asked him how he had read all 15,000 books. He said, "I only sleep 3-4 hours per night."
I asked, "What IS The Secret for THAT?"
He said, "I eat a lot of bread and cheese. And lots and lots of red wine."
Personally, if I don't 8 hours, I get ugly.

I usually get by with about 3-5 hours (with a few 15-minute power naps throughout the day). Totals to an average of about 5 hours of a day.

I've heard that most people have brainway activities that go in a pattern. If you can wake up after increments of 3 hours (6,9,12 if you NEED that much), you may have an easier time waking up.

But really it's all about the person.... Sorry I can't give more precise info about that >.<

Have you seen the movie "Inception" ?? It is fiction off course, but research has proven that in a certain stage of your sleep cycle you have massive brain activity. I think you it's best to sleep in until you wake up by yourself. Definitely when you are a publisher who needs inspiration to write things!

for me, the quality of sleep is more important than quantity.
i usually sleep at 11 or 12 PM and wake-up at 6-7 AM

I used to thrive on 4-5 hours of sleep but recently I had to force myself to get more sleep. Now I make sure I get around 8 hours and I catch naps whenever I can. I realized I was sleep deprived and trying to make up for it with caffeine, and it just wasn't working anymore. I saw a huge difference instantly.

i usually sleep 8 to 10 hours

I always go to bed at 11 pm and get up 7 am in the morning.Besides i will take afternoon nap about half an hour.I think it is enough for me.

I personally think that around when 6 to 7 hours of sleep for me a night is just enough. Any less and I'm not rested enough and any more and I still sluggish.

your body needs at least 6 fully uninterrrupted hours, 8 is plenty, but at least 6 is enough... and power naps in between is very alkalizing and refreshingly energizing for the mind & body alike!



Tidbitz,


V.Y.C.~

6 is good enough but lately my sleeping schedule has been super crazy. I only get 3 - 4 hours most a day o_O

I sleep about 6 hours a night and I love a good nap too!

I agree that you can't get anything done, or done well, if you are too tired.

I don't think there is a magic number for sleep. I know people that can get by with 3 hours a night. Me, I can't fundtion with that little sleep. I need 6-7 hours.

I never sleep more than 6 hours.. And it's enough for me..

6 hours is enough for me.. Trying to condition myself with sleeping 4-5 hours..

I usually work from 6.30am till 9pm - unless a client has an urgent request... which frequently happens!

The amount of sleep is dependent on the person and similar to marketing principles you have to weigh up the quantity vs. quality factor... you might work less than others but the quality will be much better.

4 hours is best for me but unfortuntely I usually sleep more which makes me more tired. Less than that does not work in the long run.

Sleep time is pretty irrelevant. I know most will say 7-9 hours is ideal, but that's really just an arbitrary number and doesn't take into account the most important aspect of sleep: SLEEP QUALITY.

As a matter of fact, people who practice meditation at a higher level (think Buddhist monks, Zen practitioners, etc) sleep on average about 4 hours a day. However most of them have cognitive abilities (in terms of brain activity) and physical stamina and restedness that is far beyond the average persons who sleeps 8 hours a day.

Work on your sleep QUALITY and you will be able to sleep 6 hours a day and still feel far greater energy than when you were poorly sleeping 8 hours a day.

7 to 8 hours is ideal for me. Less and I'm tired. More and I'm tired. lol.

6-8 hours should do it for most people. It all depends on the quality of your sleep patters though. If you're being kept from deep sleep by stress, noise, pain etc your REM sleep can be cut in half or more and you'll wake up tired. You need to be able to sleep deeply and effectively to get away with 5-6 hours and be ok. Otherwise you'll need 8 or more

As per wikipedia:

Age and condition Average amount of sleep per day
Newborn up to 18 hours
1–12 months 14–18 hours
1–3 years 12–15 hours
3–5 years 11–13 hours
5–12 years 9–11 hours
Adolescents 9–10 hours[29]
Adults, including elderly 7–8(+) hours
Pregnant women 8(+) hours

Our natural sleep cycles have been disturbed by fake light and alarm clocks. Our natural sleep habit (from genetics) is to go to bed when it gets dark and to wake up when the sun comes up. Our pineal gland, and it's hormone, melatonin, regulate our sleep cycles naturally. The optimal amount of sleep should differ from summer to winter when the days are longer and shorter, respectively.

In the long run, staying up past dark and using alarm clocks may and probably does have long term effects on our health. Yes, some people can get by on 2-5 hours a sleep at night, but this is not optimal for anyone. There are some many bodily processes and hormones that are regulated by the sleep-wake cycle that cannot be caught up by "catching up on sleep".

If you are interested in learning more about sleep cycles and human's optimal sleep times and how diet and sleep affects your overall energy and longevity, I recommend reading Amazon.com: Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and... .

If no one has recommended it yet, read "I can make you sleep, by Paul Mckenna"

It's a super duper short read and it has a lot of great sleep info and techniques. Helped me a lot!

7-8(@weekends) 5 on weekdays For me But i tend to get up VERY early to start the day around 5-5.30 to get started on IM Then getting organised for school @ 7.30 or 8 and Then Back Home at 4! I Have an Addiction to internet marketing now even though i might be going no Where xD

Do hard work

I only get about 5 a night - does me well.

Everyone is different. I posted before. But inspired by the idea, I've been experimenting with some ideas. I am doing fine on 5 hours/night since then. I'm finding that my daily routine (my morning "wake-up routine" of coffee, devotions, exerciese, reading and planning) is what makes the difference.
And now I have 3 more hours per day, every day.
No re-examining my hobbies before committing that new three hours to a new routine of rituals. (But the fine cigar and single-malt scotch every day at 3pm has been awesome. Thinking that ritual may stick.) ;-)

Everyone is definitely different. You'll probably need different amounts of sleep depending on what you do that day as well. If you chill all day at home you will probably need less than if you worked all day then went to the gym and lifted weights for 3 hours.

Also I heard somewhere that you only feel as tired or energetic as how much sleep you got 2 nights before. Seems to be true. Can't back this up with facts though.

I usually try for six hours. I feel a little sleepy, but more alert than when I get 8 or more.

Edison was said to not sleep very much at all, but was known to curl up and take cat naps when he felt the need. His lab people who kept to a normal schedule could not keep pace with him.

I've read many people who suggested that a 15 to 30 minute snooze break during the day will energize you for the remainder of the day.

On the other hand, not enought REM (deepest) sleep will prevent you from processing the days events and producing that "masterpiece" your working on.

So, there is no magic number of hours.

P.S. My favorite way of resetting my clock is to not slleep one night and then go to
bed when I want to set my new bed time. for a 6 hour sleep and up at 6 a.m., i
go to bed at midnight.


Good Luck and Prosperity to All

8 Hours is the bog standard - I think it depends what you did before you slept :-)

I don't know how much sleep is enough, but it is NOT the amount I'll get tonight. One of the beauties of my day job is that often I can finish in under 8 hours and have time for MY business. But, every now and then, and tonight is one of those nights.... the opposite happens and I get bitten in the butt by a hard deadline for the day job ... which is a lot less fun than a hard deadline for a pursuit of your own. Ah well... there is always tomorrow... oh, except that tomorrow is already today.

Guess my lack of sleep is showing huh.... well back to real job, I was taking a break.

When I was employee who hated his job I slept 8 hours a night and always felt tired...what does that tell you? #2

This is a beautiful point and so true! I think it lies in harmony with your sense of purpose. The human brain is incredibly plastic. For example, when I was younger I got two temp jobs at christmas -- for december. I was working at Phones 4 U in the day time, and Sainsburys at night, and I had worked it so that I'd never be doing one straight after the other.

Or so I thought...

Mid-way through december I noticed a clash on my dates so, on principle, I decided to endure my way though 48 hours of work with little naps in between. Now while I was tired the second night at sainsburies (because I was shelf stacking!) as long as I was 'up and running' I was fine. It was when I stopped, that tiredness crept in.

I also knew that this would be a one off experience and would probably set a precedent for me that would later result in an achievement that I wouldnt have otherwise achieved

No matter what time I go to bed, my internal alarm clock goes off at 5:30 to 6 am. I usually like 5 to 6 hours is enough. When I sleep to long, then I wake up cranky or tired.

Like a lot of other people have said, I think it depends on the person.

I like the idea of staying up late working and do it fairly often, but my productivity definitely goes down fast after about 10-11pm.

Lately I've been getting about 5-6 hours a night with a 45min-1 hour nap in the afternoon

I do not know whether this is scientifically confirmed, but I think that the amount of sleep depends on the organism and from person to person. Therefore, I think it is best to experiment with different sleep times and find most comfortable...

Enough doesn't always mean a specific amount of hours. As long your body feels rested and your mind feels refreshed

If you don't get enough sleep you will gain weight. There is a chemical that is released in the body, usually between hours 6 to 7 of sleep. This chemical will help you determine when you feel full through out the day.

If you don't get enough sleep, the chemical isn't released and you end up eating lots more.

So if you don't want to gain weight, try and sleep at least 7 hours. If you are sleepy during the day or while driving, you probably need to sleep more.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes a Man Healthy Wealthy and Wise!!!

I average 4-5 hours nightly when the effect of my shot sleep have not catch up on me but respond to my body when it demand it seriously o maintain my health. so it absoluely depend on your body.

sometimes, i go 2 days without sleeping when there is a project or a goal to achieve or a deadline to keep to and sleep long hours after o just reading sometime.

Study your body and know what is good for you and stay in your body range of health. Do not copy anyone in this regard.

Fine

at least you must sleep upto 6 hr

I think it depends on your age.

i think 6 or 7 hours enough

5 to 8 hours at the minimum.

We really don't need to sleep. Sleep is basically the soul taking a break from the stress of our bodies. The ultimate creator built us to live forever and never need sleep, but we have figured out ways to corrupt our bodies and mind. I myself need to sleep cause I'm trying to get my body use to this new way of life.

Now let's flip the script and talk about NOW! Since we are not highly evolved humans yet, and we are growing I believe that the body needs at least 7 hours of sleep. As in having time for work and life I believe most folks use excuses. You don't need to work 24/7 on your business. If you read Tim ferris 4 hour work week you can see that you never need to work that many hours. The problem is folks don't want to let there baby walk, and they think there business needs them or it fails. Sorry but if you implement the proper systems your biz will do fine. So make sure your body does get it's proper rest for now at least. Much Love.

I usually need around 7-8 hours sleep. But it varies. If a good idea strikes me and I feel motivated, I can go for a few days with 5 hours sleep on pure enthusiasm alone. On bad days when I can't solve or handle certain problems I might need 9-10 hours of sleep. I try to get the average hours of sleep I need and adapt as the need arises otherwise.

I usually sleep for about 5 hours daily. It has become a habit. If I wake up later than that I will feel so bad and restless throughout the day.

I only sleep 6 - 7 hours a day ever since I was little. I love waking up early knowing how much I can get done today. Read an article while back that studies say people who sleep 5 - 7 hours live longer while people who sleep over 8 hours.

Its not the length of time you sleep that matters its how relax you are when you sleep that's counts the most...


Bruce Drago
online marketing

A sound sleep of 6-7 hours will do.

I sleep between 9-10 hours a night but you can easily cope with 6-7 hours a night,I'm
just a little lazy these days.

Every person is different. There are those rare individuals that get almost no sleep. Studies suggest 7-8 hours. I find that 6-7 works for me. Teens brains are still forming that is why they sleep for days on end.

As far as getting up early, you can always get to bed a little earlier. I know that family time is important, but so is your health and efficiency.

Wanna know how much sleep you need? Easy.

Pick a day when you don't have to do anything or wake up early, like the weekend. Don't set the alarm. Before sleeping, don't do any intensive things that require brainpower. Take note of the time before getting into bed, and remember it.

Sleep until you first gain consciousness, i.e. the first moment that you wake up from that deep slumber. Quickly take note of the time.

The difference will be the exact number of hours your body will need for optimal conditioning. Try it!

I try to get 8 hours, if i get less than that then after a few days i feel tired. always depends on the person though.

And if you have a job/life you dont enjoy, why would you want to get up?

I think the number is at least 6 hours a night to keep you going without you going crazy and yawning all day. It is really up to your conditioning of what you are used to. For the past decade I've been able to go to bed at midnight an wake up (via alarm clock) at 6:30-7ish. I am not a Morning person and would rather get in 10 hours which never happens. Funny, my son comes in and says, "Dad the sun is up so you have to get up!". I can only grin and try not to roll over.

Jason

8 hours sleep is enough, make sure to take 20 minutes nap and you will be awesome

Hmm I sleep 5 hours but I wish I could sleep more...
I think atleast 6 hours.

I just hate to awake up over a Alarm.

I just sleep till I feel good to take on the day

usually it's 7 to 8 hours, on a day of more physical work -- up to 9 hours.

I like the words of Jim Rohn, make rest a necessity, not a goal.

I think it boils down to something along these lines... if you're not rested you need more sleep. If you're a diligent worker and still not getting what you know you need to get done, you probably need less sleep.

sometimes when I oversleep I'm more tired then when I undersleep, but a good amount of daily sleep should be around 6-7 hours

is sleep can effect to our success?? :confused::confused:

we need 7-8 hours of sleep

8 hours of sleep a night, maybe more depending on if im sick or hungover.

The bottomline here is not the number of hours. Each person has their own respective sleeping patterns. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa. A person's sleeping pattern depends on their immune system. It doesn't matter how many hours you sleep as long as you stay healthy and fit.

6 to 8 hour sleep enough for me..

7 hours. Well, if you want to decrease then I think you've to work out on other factors like diet and how you control stress. And, see how you feel by having 5-6 hours sleep.

I'm with Scott and Ruth - 7 hours is a good amount of sleep to get. I use to complain about getting up early until I started going to be earlier too.

Any garbage TV show I missed by getting to bed sooner I made up for in the extra work I could get done the next morning.

I found that diet can have a big effect on how much you sleep you need. Become a raw foodist I now need 7-7.5 hours, before I needed 9-10, even 11hours to feel good during the day. What you eat can have a dramatic effect on how much sleep you'll need. Also the time you sleep pays an important factor.

I used to work a rather tough job which would require me up at 4a.m. and for about 3 years I would sleep from 12-4 and that was it. I got used to it so now getting 4-5 hours of sleep is enough for me and when I get 7-8 hours I feel tired all day long.

For me it's not the hours of sleep, but how long I can stay asleep at a time. I have a bad habbit of laying in bed/waking up in the middle of the night with an idea and sending out an email. So where as I might be in bed for 7-9 hours probably only 6 of it is from sleep. It's rare I get a deep sleep anymore and I can feel it in my body. It's no fun!

For me normally I need 8 hours sleep. It just a self discipline. If you really want to do it then you can achieve it. That's the normal/healthy sleep of a person.

6 hours but ideally 10 or 11

When your body is at its peak you dont even need an alrm clock. About six hours of restfull sleep is more than enough. KEY WORD...RESTFULL !! This means no falling asleep to T.V and clearing your mind before bed. Relaxing music or meditation often works well. It is so often NOT the amount of sleep we get as is the QUALITY of sleepthat matters. Good Luck !

Sometimes i get 5hrs maximum sleep a day and that's enough for me.
But a proper healthy sleep should be 8-10 hours of sleep a day.
Depends on the age but for a busy person like me 5hours is always healthy enough.
At least you can have a proper rest for your body to recover from a stressful day.

I think it's more of a psychological thing for me.

If I know if have to get up early for work/school/appointment, I wake up like crap no matter what. I've gone to bed as early as 8pm and still woke up like crap at 6am.

Over the weekends when I know I don't have to get up early or if I'm super excited for something the next morning (plane trips, travels, etc), I wake up great. I've gone to bed at 4am and got up great at 7am feeling motivated to go on a trip.

I tend to sleep 6-7 hours on work days and 9-10 hours on weekends. I guess I would say an absolute minimum of 6 hours and my priorities affect whether I get up great or not.

I'm missing a lot of sleep. last night I sleep very late.

i think it is very personal how much sleep you need .I personal sleep too much

I can sleep 11hrs or 13 hours if i am permitted

I think 5 hrs sleep is healthy . I now sleep 5-7 hours a day

You need to find out what is good for you

Is better to have a power nap in the afternoon ?

or does sleeping early at night make you more productive ?

i usually 5 hours

Personally, I suspect the amount of sleep needed depends on programming of our minds.

Here's the reason: A scientist had workmen in a lab/workshop where they couldn't tell if it was day or night and they had no watches. He found they only averaged about 4hrs sleep each and churned work normally. I believe this was Benjamin Franklin...His quote was" there will be enough sleeping in the grave"

I guess this couldn't be repeated today with Human rights laws and all that.

I find when i'm working out regularly and keep busy, I usually don't need more than 4hrs of sleep . During these times I do not need an alarm clock.I wake alert and ready to go. However, when I don't workout I tend to feel tired more. I guess there's a connection there.

I agree with a few people here.

If I have a focused day and have it planned I need very little sleep as the determination and focus some how just seems to keep you alert from the word go.

If how ever I wake up on the odd occasion where nothing is planned (happens once every now and again on Sundays) Im very de motivated and almost lazy!

I love what I do so can get by on very little sleep, If I didnt maybe this would change?

I heard that 6 hours is fine, but I think it depends on person, for me it is 8 hours no less.

A good old rule says till when you wake up by yourself in the morning without any alarm clock that is the amount of hours you need.

But in order to live by this you need to keep a healthy diet with everything your body need.

If you get up to later you have to go to bed earlier.

Pretty much your body tells you everything it is just up to you to be able to listen to it.

Past few weeks I've been sleeping at latest 7am, and now it's 4.03am and usually just learning IM and deciding what to do later that same day. I wake up latest at 5pm lol. I hate waking in the early morning, just a very bad biological time that I've never liked...

well according to time magazine: "Studies show that people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night, as they report, live the longest. And people who sleep 8 hr. or more, or less than 6.5 hr., they don't live quite as long."

I'm not an expert on the science of sleep but I think 7 hours is optimal.

There are a number of problems linked with sleeping less such as weight control and other health issues. Cardiovascular disease being a major one.

One study showed that people who consistently slept only five hours a night at a mortality rate 1.7 times higher than people who slept seven hours.

I am also interested though in the idea of polyphasic sleep schedules though. Everytime I used wordpress I think about how matt mullenweg used it and the kind of freedom not being tied to sleep would give you.

If you are unaware of what polyphasic sleep is, it the practice of sleeping in naps mutlitple times during the day rather than in a solid block of sleep as is the normal practice. This can reduce total sleep time to as little as a couple of hours a day.

See the wikipedia reference here

Polyphasic sleep - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and Steve Pavlina (personal development blogger) own sleep diary here:

Polyphasic Sleep

I was in between day jobs for a while. It was pretty bad but the great thing was that I stopped drinking caffeine and started sleeping naturally.

I'd go to bed with no reading materials, laptop etc. I'd keep my room 100% dark - no light in (this produces more melatonin release in your system) and then I'd fall asleep.

I'd wake up when I was awake.

I'd take a nap every now and again in place of coffee.

Within a week I was only sleeping 7hrs at night and feeling great. No coffee, no sugar drinks to amp me up.

Now I'm back to 9-5 and my sleep is off again!

I hate sleep, its a waste of time and life. I try do strategic sleeping mainly in the week days where i sleep for 4-5 hours, then sleep for 9 hours on a single weekend day.

Its down to how people view it, yes our bodies need sleep to recharge and heal, but time wasted is to precious to allow.

My mentality is:
4 hours x 6 days + 9 hours = 33 hours per week (give or take an hour)
So 33 hours sleep a week as opposed to.
8 hours x 7 days = 56 hours per week.

I gain 23 hours (almost a full day back) thats 52 days a year i get back of my life in essance... what would you do with 52 days ?

I think 6 hour are enough for anyone to remain fit physically,mentally and scientifically as well.

You know, this is an interesting question. I think it not only depends on your body as to how much sleep you need, but sometimes that varies. I just went through a period of sleeping only four hours a night because I couldn't sleep. Some days I was exhausted, some days I was fine. I think enough sleep is determined by feeling rested.

As other people have mentioned, the amount of sleep you need isn't necessarily the same as what someone else might need. The range is massive, so finding out what others need might not be super helpful in terms of finding out what you need to function well.

If you're trying to achieve a certain wake-up time for productivity reasons, you might want to try forcing yourself out of bed at the time you'd like to wake up one morning (e.g. 5:30AM) and simply going to sleep when you're tired that night - even if it's at 8PM or so. Rinse and repeat nightly, but make sure you always, always get up at the same time, even if the times you go to sleep differ a lot each night.

Here's an article that outlines the reasoning behind this more comprehensively: How to Become an Early Riser

I love Steve Pavlina's stuff. However, word of warning: his site is a labyrinth - tons of awesome material that can and has sucked me in for hours on end. Watch out if you've got anything productive planned! ;-)

Hope that helps!

Draining yourself on little sleep does NOT work consistently...maybe once per quarter on a tight project timeline or something. I think that it's harder to take the time and effort to go to bed early and get enough sleep. The hardest part of getting enough sleep is getting to bed at the right time.

Ideally, I'd get up at 6:00 sharp but the problem is getting to bed at 10:00-10:30pm to get 8 hours. Who's going to do that? I just can't seem to do it. So I sleep from 11-11:30 to 7:00-7:30.

There's some $99 machine and app thingy at Best Buy where you can monitor your sleep stages and how much time you get at each, and tell you the quality of your sleep as well as help you find the right time.

The poor man's way, according to a book I read on the topic, would be to experiment with different schedules and lengths of sleep for a week at a time and see how each goes.

Also, I can't seem to take naps but doing some kind of destress/relaxation exercise halfway through the day, or late afternoon, makes a HUGE difference.

For me 5 to 6 hours of sleep seems to be an adequate
amount to be sharp and have energy during the day.
Some exercise also helps to attain a good balance.

I function best on 8-9 hours of sleep. Every time I get less during the week, I end up regretting my deficit in a subsequent day. Interestingly enough, the day I under-sleep I may feel fine, but the following day the sleep deficit hits me heavily whether I get enough hours or not. My optimum performance comes when I get consistent sleep, ideally in the aforementioned range.

I also find that naps help immensely, when I can squeeze them in. Personally, I would lobby for a mandated "siesta" in the United States, where the idea of a workday nap is taboo. I'm confident that employees would be far more productive if this were instituted. The post-nap boost is massive -- try it if you get a chance.

I wish I could function with a lot less sleep that I currently get. Even 9-10 hours and I still don't have energy. Might as well not sleep if I'm still going to feel blahhhhhh.

Straight answer 5 hours is enough for me.

I've never done well with naps at all -- I just end up more tired than when I started.

For a good year or two, I regularly functioned fine (more or less) at three to six hours' sleep per night, because of my job. It came with scary side-effects, though. For instance, one night I "blacked out" at around midnight and couldn't remember anything I'd typed on MSN for the next half hour (checked my chat logs later) or even climbing up the ladder (I had a loft bed at the time) to go to bed after that.

It's taken me quite a while, but I've finally mostly readjusted. I go to bed between 10:30 and 12:30 most nights, and rarely set an alarm (only when I have morning classes and stayed up too late, though I still usually wake up on time). I let my body wake me up when it's ready.

As Ruth pointed out on page 1, too much sleep can be as harmful as too little, so I don't sleep in on weekends unless I've stayed up late, and I can rarely manage that, either. I get up when my body wakes me up and I feel like I can get out of bed without feeling tired. If I wake up too early and realize I'm still tired, I'll go back to sleep and, without fail, my body will wake me when it's ready to get up.

That's been working quite well for me since the summer, so I'm going to keep it up.

it has been very difficult for me to maintain 4-5 hrs of sleep but found it very difficult to observe it. what is my own problem?

7-10 hours is the rule of thumb amongst sleep experts, bodybuilding, and, fitness junkies. However, if you average it out for the week it comes out to around 8 hours a day.

it really depends on how good your body is, believe or not the better your body, the less sleep you need

Different people need different amounts of sleep. Some need naps in the daytime (which are really healthy) and others do not. To answer your question for yourself, try this:

For one week, fall asleep when you are tired and wake up without an alarm clock. Each day, count the number of hours you slept the night before. What you're likely to notice is that, no matter what time you go to sleep or rise, you've slept the same number of hours. This is the amount of sleep that your body naturally needs. Also, if you need a nap during the day, do the same...make note of how long you sleep without forcing yourself awake.

I sleep a good 6 hours max. due to the holidays now weekends maybe a little more!

I rarely sleep 8 hours at a time. Since I work the 3 am shift I take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. Later on I will sleep 5 or 6 hours. It seems to work for me.

The bare minimum would probably be six hours from my personal experience. Anything less than that and sleepiness starts taking its toll the next day.

With my schedule, I can sleep 5-6 hours daily. But with proper diet and exercise, I believe you can still maintain a healthy body.

Six to Eight hours is enough for me. So far I have been successful in sleeping for 6 hours but I failed to sleep before 12AM. It is really hard to sleep when your mind is busy planning for your business. Its like time should stop so you can make the most out of each day.

Ryuchi

At least 6-7 hours sleep is necessary ...

5 I think is bare minimum, correct me if I am wrong here. I get about 5-7 depending on the day and time.

I've been sleeping 4 to 6 hours a day, 24/7

I need 7 hours minimum. But I bet that if I improve my eating and exercise habits, the need for more sleep will decrease.

Everyone is different.
They say 8hrs, but it also depend on your health, and quality of sleep.
Just listen to your body.
If you're still tired you need a bit more...easy

damn some days ill be awake for over 24 hours and then maybe sleep 3 and awake again, other times ill sleep nearly 12 hours awake 12 it varies really, but i think i perform better with more sleep rather than less, i get cranky when up too long

I think 4-6 hours of sleep is enough for adults! :p

i think you should get enough rest because that can make you smarter
remember work smarter not harder

I am an insomniac, but I use it to my advantage. There is no 'work time' when you are an online marketer.

i like to sleep a lot , sometimes too much

Sleep is NOT an option as I used to think in my college fraternity days. It truly makes a world of difference is actual work quality and quantity.

I've been sleeping 6 to 7 hours a day

7 Hours with 2 to 3 hours nap will give you good rest for the day

i think 10hours...

roughly 3 hours per day! If I could show you how you could too (and feel good), would you want me to share my secret?

According to some health experts, a person should have at least 7-8 hours of sleep a day. But for some people who are very dedicated to their work, unfortunately don't get this very relaxing sleep.