# Can't maintain a consistent sleeping schedule



## CrimsonTrigger (Jun 28, 2011)

I've had a big problem with this for years. 

Last December my sleeping schedule got severely messed up because of ear congestion. This led to me waking up early feeling like half my head was missing. It was an extremely annoying feeling, and it screwed me up by making go to bed much later than I wanted to. Since all of my classes were morning classes next semester, I had no choice but to adapt and go to bed a little later each day. Was it the healthiest option? Probably not, but it worked for me. 

The problem is that I can never maintain a consistent schedule. For the past 4 months, I haven't done too badly. I'd go to bed at around 6, at least 7 in the evening, but because of projects, depression and procrastination, I had to stay up much later to get some of these projects done.

I have a really hard time going to bed earlier, and for the summer, I'm going to have to change up my schedule again. So I thought about going to bed 10-15 minutes later each night/day. I know people will tell me to go to bed earlier, but I just have a hard time doing that. I have no idea is this is severely unhealthy or not, but if there is something I can do to adapt to this, that would be helpful. I just have to get my body ready for the summer since I plan on job hunting, and I doubt anybody is going to want to hire me with my ridiculous schedule. It's almost 5:00 am and that's when I plan on going to bed. 

So tell me, am I crazy? Am I slowly killing myself? Is this unbelievably unhealthy? Or is there someway that I can make this work and adapt? Let me know. Just so you know, I have done this before without major problems, but I'm not going to try to shift my schedule in such a dramatic way this time. When I first started doing it, I'd wait about an hour to go to bed each day. I'll probably adjust more naturally with a shorter duration.


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## thatonefool (Apr 20, 2013)

Physiologically, the brain only needs 20 minutes to an hour to reset.

Most military's around the world mandate at least 4 hours of sleep, 6-8 hours for pilots.

Many prominent figures throughout history have lived by the, "sleep when your dead" philosophy, using catnaps only when needed.

I think you'd benefit emotionally from a consistent sleep schedule of at least 4 hours.

Personally, I sleep from 1-5 AM or 2-6 AM. These leaves me plenty of time to stay up late and dick around, and also be up with the sun so I don't miss out on the day.

Also if I can't fall asleep, I'll just stay up for 24-36 then crash out.


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## Sacrieur (Jan 14, 2013)

thatonefool said:


> Physiologically, the brain only needs 20 minutes to an hour to reset.


Do you have a source for this?



> Most military's around the world mandate at least 4 hours of sleep, 6-8 hours for pilots.


And this, actually.



> Many prominent figures throughout history have lived by the, "sleep when your dead" philosophy, using catnaps only when needed.


I do not doubt they sleep deprived themselves. Whether or not this was a good idea is a different matter.

---

All of the medical literature I've read shows that getting less sleep than you need (typically 8 hours) not only creates a sleep debt but can lead to some very serious health problems.

There is still much to be learned about sleep, but without any hormone therapy or medication it doesn't seem possible to survive on such little amounts of sleep.


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## CrimsonTrigger (Jun 28, 2011)

I tend to get around 9 hours of sleep a night. It has been like this since I was a teenager. Supposedly my dad was very similar and was sleeping constantly when he was young, so there may be a genetic component to it.

But I tried my plan last night. I woke up at 2:00 and I feel great. I drank some water and ate, so maybe it's not that bad after all. 

I'm also not sure if I agree with the 4 hour thing. I've tried it before and it doesn't help me too much. I could probably manage 5-6 hours if I tried, but I'll have to research it some more. I just don't want to intentionally jeopardize my health by having a poor sleeping schedule. I'm a night owl and I can't really help that. Too bad the world hates people like us.


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## thatonefool (Apr 20, 2013)

My source for the 20 minutes is the fact that that is how long it takes the brain to cycle through REM sleep.

My source about military/government recommendations for 4 hours sleep is the fact I spent 5 years in the military and myself have seen the documentation - the US Department of Defense routinely does studies on sleep deprivation and cognitive function. 4 hours is their baseline. Also spoke with troops from CDF (Canada), Australia, New Zealand, and England. They say the same.


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