OV9

Sleep is important. But.....

I think I generally get enough sleep, I do sometimes wake in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep if work is stressful or I've got something on my mind that's bothering me. Most times a bit of reading sorts me out, but not always.

Usually give myself the chance to get 8hrs, out of that I think I'd usually get around 7 actually asleep.

Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker

This was a game changer, lots of little changes took me from 2 hours a night for months on end to getting 6 or 7 hours regularly.

Lots of rubbish debunked like banking sleep and making it up etc.

One thing which lets me sleep far easier was doing projects, so I’d build a table in real time and it would send me to sleep. So if I would need to sand for 2 hours I’d mentally do it at that speed, it worked 90% of the time.

Dave!

I'd rather get a bit more but I don't tend to have difficulty sleeping. Don't like catching up at weekends by lying in because it just means I don't wake up fresh on Mondays.

I used to work with this mad Irish guy and his catchphrase for the correct amount of sleep was "Six for a man, seven for a woman, eight for a fool" which I quite enjoyed.

duncs500 wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:34 am I used to work with this mad Irish guy and his catchphrase for the correct amount of sleep was "Six for a man, seven for a woman, eight for a fool" which I quite enjoyed.

I liked Bill Hicks's quote...

"I get about 8 hours sleep a day... and another 6 at night!"

I used to have chronic Insomnia, sometimes getting only an hour or two of sleep between 04:00 and 06:00. I ended up loosing a shit-tonne of weight and nearly having a breakdown. Solved the anxiety which solved the sleep. Put on a load of weight afterwords but much better mental state.

As an aside, Zuckerberg must have heard me talking about all things 80's music and told his mates at Spotify because Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome" popped up on my suggestions. The title track is still a cracking tune and probably their* Best.

(*) - Trevor Horn's best

Jobbo wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:21 am I'd rather get a bit more but I don't tend to have difficulty sleeping. Don't like catching up at weekends by lying in because it just means I don't wake up fresh on Mondays.

All of this. Although I've recently found I sleep much better when we've been away, when allt he beds have been super-kingsize. Hence we're now looking to see if we can squeeze a super-king in our bedroom.

I get a good amount during the week and then less at the weekends. Sun-Thurs I have more control over what time I hit the sack, then on Fri or Sat social events mean I might go to bed later. My internal body clock automatically wakes me at 6.30-7am if I haven't set an alarm.

Getting enough sleep most nights (8 - 8.5 hours a night) is a game changer in terms of my energy and mood. I'm also a big fan of Matthew Walker, he introduced me to how quality of sleep has such an enormous impact on our physical health, mental health and resistance to illness. This podcast is a great overview of his work https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t ... 0533063379

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:27 am Hence we're now looking to see if we can squeeze a super-king in our bedroom.

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:27 am

Jobbo wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:21 am I'd rather get a bit more but I don't tend to have difficulty sleeping. Don't like catching up at weekends by lying in because it just means I don't wake up fresh on Mondays.

All of this. Although I've recently found I sleep much better when we've been away, when allt he beds have been super-kingsize. Hence we're now looking to see if we can squeeze a super-king in our bedroom.

We got a superking a few years ago for home. Absolutely ruins holiday cottages when you are used to it - turning up and finding a 5ft wide king-size bed or, worse, a 4'6" double, is such a disappointment Also, putting on duvet covers is more awkward (much more so than switching from double to king) and you need extra wide pillows (100x50cm, not the standard 80x50) which limits your bed linen choices and pillow choices. And if you go cheap on pillows, the filling has more space to spread into either side of your head. So there are downsides.

Matthew Walker knows his stuff.

I used to do option 3. Now I end up waking up about an hour later than normal so I guess I’m now in option 2

Jobbo wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 11:24 am

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:27 am

Jobbo wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:21 am I'd rather get a bit more but I don't tend to have difficulty sleeping. Don't like catching up at weekends by lying in because it just means I don't wake up fresh on Mondays.

All of this. Although I've recently found I sleep much better when we've been away, when allt he beds have been super-kingsize. Hence we're now looking to see if we can squeeze a super-king in our bedroom.

We got a superking a few years ago for home. Absolutely ruins holiday cottages when you are used to it - turning up and finding a 5ft wide king-size bed or, worse, a 4'6" double, is such a disappointment Also, putting on duvet covers is more awkward (much more so than switching from double to king) and you need extra wide pillows (100x50cm, not the standard 80x50) which limits your bed linen choices and pillow choices. And if you go cheap on pillows, the filling has more space to spread into either side of your head. So there are downsides.

I've had superkings at home for 15 years now. The pillow answer for us is to use 3 normal pillows across the width, which fit perfectly for us. Paricularly because...

...the nipper is still in with us. It's been difficult to kick him out the bed into his own so having an SK is a lifesaver right now.

My brother mentioned to me the other day about how important the hours sleep before midnight are compared to those after and he's not wrong. I've noticed how much better it is to get to bed about 9 ish when I've had a hard day. The problem is that I can't sleep unless I have my airpods in and Netflix playing something (that I've already watched) just as noise, because otherwise the silence in the bedroom is deafening.

6 hours sleep is ideal for me. During the week I go to bed at 1am, weekends 2am if there's something good to watch.
During uni I found there just wasn't enough time for 8 hours sleep and to do all my other things so that's how I got used to 6.
Usually always have my window cracked open a little for background noise, if I'm somewhere quiet then I'll have a fan on.

I had insomnia last year, probably only got a weeks good sleep from spring to autumn. PTSD apparently. Started up again this summer for a bit but I figured out ways to manage it a bit better.