The sleep thread

[windhoek]

How soon after getting up is it OK to take a nap?

Walker says it's better to have a quick nap if you need one sooner rather than later i.e. later in the morning if possible rather than the afternoon. The evidence for this recommendation is that long-haul airline pilots fair better at landing when they napped soon after takeoff rather than soon before landing time. The tests were done in simulators but from what I remember, it has roots in the real-world as well - both for better and for worse, sadly.

Fwiw, Walker goes on to say the term power-nap comes from such long-haul flights as pilots have a sleep scheduled into the flight to make sure they're fully functioning when the plane arrives at their destination. Pilots, it seemed, weren't keen on being told to take a recovery sleep - or whatever it was called as it dented their modest sense of machismo ... until that is, some genius decided to call it a power-nap. Suddenly, every long-haul pilot wanted a power-nap and so did the rest of the world!

 

[stevec67]

Walker says it's better to have a quick nap if you need one sooner rather than later i.e. later in the morning if possible rather than the afternoon. The evidence for this recommendation is that long-haul airline pilots fair better at landing when they napped soon after takeoff rather than soon before landing time.

The consequences of oversleeping are less dramatic too.

 

[Andrew C!]

Working shifts for over 17 years didn’t help. I didn’t realise how profound shift working was affecting my health and sleep until I went onto regular day shifts. Astounding difference.

The other thing I started is no caffeine after 3pm. My missus doesn’t adhere to this, and then wonders why I can fall asleep instantly when retiring to bed.

Agree with previous posters who also mentioned stress being an influencing factor.

 

[Lee T]

I'm usually in bed by 11 to 11.30 (unless I have been on here discussing anything Brexit related ) i'm awake every hour, sometimes half hour due to severe tinnitus & up at 5.30 so I need to watch this, sharpish.

 

[JTC]

5 hours. Not ideal. Sometimes make 6 hours. I take a Churchillian afternoon nap sometimes. With the amount of training I am doing I should be aiming for at least 8 hours but my life don’t make it easy...

 

[Bart]

I've always been a poor sleeper, 5 or 6 hours broken a night, and now quite often get up at 3 am or so to watch some telly. Thank God for 26 recorded Super Rugby matches. Not sleeping is annoying and frustrating but I think worrying about it only makes it worse. Some people just ain't built for 8 hours sleep. I used to think not being able to sleep was due to regarding sleep as a waste of time, or a fear of death but now I just accept it as a fact of my life. I don't think my mental powers are significantly affected. I do doze off a lot esp. after lunch but since I no longer work it's not such a problem.
P.S. I have always brought a lot of stress on myself by worrying about everything and being unable to switch off, but I don't do that so much now.

 

[windhoek]

Nearly nine o'clock so nearly time for me to off-grid. Nite nite

 

[Seeker_UK]

Probably best to stay awake until you've finished your breakfast. You don't want to wake up to cold tea.

I tend to hold on until I've parked the car and got on the train.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

5 hours. Not ideal. Sometimes make 6 hours. I take a Churchillian afternoon nap sometimes. With the amount of training I am doing I should be aiming for at least 8 hours but my life don’t make it easy...

I do wonder how much the Churchillian afternoon nap was a by product of the Churchillian whisky breakfast.

 

[windhoek]

Good news: I slept between 7.5 - 8 hours last night. Considering I usually average between 6 - 6.5 hours of sleep a night, last night's sleep was both extremely rare and welcome! Once I went off-grid, I closed all the curtains to make sure there wasn't too much light getting in while lamps were used for very dim and very soft lighting. I played some soft music as well (Das Lied von der Erde by Mahler) and as 10 o'clock was approaching I was definitely feeling tired and my brain was definitely switching off.

It just so happens I read more of Walker's book last night and the topic was alcohol. Apparently, alcohol is a sedative but it's not a sedative is the usual sense: it's an inhibitive sedative. That's why it makes people feel more outgoing because if it was a sedative like diazepam or whatever, it would simply make you drowsy right from the off. Anyway, Walker has some bad news when it comes to alcohol: alcohol negatively affects your quality of sleep - especially if you drink in the afternoon and evening - so abstinence, Walker suggests, is the way to go if you want to improve your sleep.

 

[stevec67]

Yes, alcohol is really bad news for sleep, sadly. One of the reasons it makes you feel so rough.

 

[Suffolk Tony]

Alcohol's really bad news for lots of things besides trying to get a good night's sleep. It's scary how much it dominates folks' lives.

 

[windhoek]

Another 7.5-hours sleep for me last night - could Walker's words be working for me? It certainly seems so

 

[Suffolk Tony]

It turns out listening to Bohemian Rhapsody didn't cure my insomnia after all, but now I've gone and thrown Nytol away.

 

[cutting42]

It turns out listening to Bohemian Rhapsody didn't cure my insomnia after all, but now I've gone and thrown Nytol away.

Oh dear

 

[Bart]

There ain't half been some clever insomniacs.... e.g. Einstein

 

[windhoek]

Almost time for me to go dark but I thought I'd share the latest tip from Walker: never hit the snooze button if you use an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning as doing so triggers your sympathetic nervous system into producing a fight or flight response. Although you might enjoy and need a bit more time asleep, the more you hit the snooze button the more you subject yourself to the stress of being rudely awakened. Either get up when the alarm first goes off or go back to sleep and deal with the consequences, otherwise, the cumulative effect of the stress generated by being rudely awakened will do more harm than good in the long run. Right, time to go dark...

 

[Gingerbeard]

My sleep pattern has changed considerably over the years. I used be able to sleep anywhere and through anything but not so much these days. I generally, on average would say I get about 6 hours of sleep a night, but much of this seems quite restless and not deep sleep. Occasionally I'll dream but not that often. I am considering trying some CBD oil as this has many benefits, one of which is aiding sleep and anxiety, does anyone on here have experience of using CBD and where to buy quality product. From reading online the quality varies enormously with some having such small dosages of CBD that it wouldn't be worth taking.
I don't have any electronic products i.e. TV, iPad, iPhone etc. in my bedroom, just a night radio alarm clock designed with a light so not to disturb your sleep, the darker the room the better for me. I have recently (past 2 months) moved to a new house, which is lovely and very rural, but the extremely early summer morning light and dawn chorus, are also contributing to a disturbed sleep pattern!

 

[matt j]

I find that if I have a particularly deep sleep with vivid dreams (not so often these days compared with when I was younger) then I'm knackered and yawning all day, I thought it was supposed to be the other way around?

On a side note, has anyone ever had sleep paralysis? Probably the most bizarre feeling I've ever encountered, and I've tried a few things.

 

[windhoek]

Right, so I find myself in the can't sleep-won't sleep zone. I was doing a presentation at work today - something I rarely do and as such, it taking a while for my mind to stop thinking about it. I also think I've picked up a bug off one of the attendees as more than one of them had the sniffles. Anyway, I got up out of bed as Walker suggests to make sure my mind doesn't associate my bed with wakefulness and I'll see if I can get an hour or two of sleep in an hour or two's time.