Light-hearted question compared to most of the stuff on here:
I’m 20 years old and a real sleepyhead. I usually sleep from 11:30-8:45, before going to university from 10:00-6:00. I feel great most of the time that I’m awake, which is a plus, but I kinda feel like I’m going to end up sleeping my life away maintaining this schedule lol. Did the amount of sleep you need to function properly decrease into your 20s and 30s?
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I don’t notice any difference sleeping for more than 6 hours. I usually wake up after about 5 hours of sleep no matter what I do.
I would love to get 8+ hours but at 58 it just doesn’t happen. Bladder breaks combined with not being able to sleep past 7:30 mean I’m happy if I get 7.
You never lose the need, but you will almost definitely lose the ability
I get up very early for work (start at 4;30am) and before that I worked nights for a decade
I’ve functioned fine on 6-7 hours of sleep a day for almost my entire adult life
I love my sleep. Given the opportunity I’d take naps and get 8+ hours a night.
But, given the nature of my job (on call for the most of the last 13 years) and children that’s just not really on the table anymore. I might get 8 hours one day and be up for a couple days the next. It’s kind of all over the place.
You can function on a lot less than you think; but, it doesn’t mean that it’s all that great.
I’d say get all the sleep that your schedule/life/obligations allows.
I haven’t been able to sleep 8 hours consistently since I was a kid. I average around 6 or 6.5 and that has been true for a long time.
Never had the need. Not what you asked but wanted to give a different perspective.
I need 6-8. Can’t do more than 8 now. I used to be able to sleep for 12
I didn’t lose the need, just the opportunity.
20 minute power naps sustain me if needed.
I used to need 8+ to function like a normal person. Now I get six hours. If something comes up (stress) and my insomnia is crazy for a while, I’ll have to catch up and I’ll do a crazy 14-16 hour night.
That’s like close to 8 hours, which to be honest your sleep schedule reminds me of whenever I was in college and had 10:30 classes.
With that being said as a 30M, and being in my 8-5 for close to 7 years now. I get by with 7 hours and on weekends I found myself not sleeping 8 hours but 7 and I function fine.
Dunno, I only ever needed 7-8 hours of sleep for as long as I can remember.
Yes, after a few years you’ll be fine if you get 6ish or more, based on my experience, but I never needed 9+. Have you looked into why you need that much sleep to ensure nothing is off balance?
I don’t think I’ve ever slept 9 hours when I wasn’t sick.
The only time I have ever slept 9 or more hours is when I’ve been up for more than 24. I’m very happy that I can now get 6-8 hours of sleep on a regular basis. When I was a teenager 4 hours was a good night sleep.
I’ve slept about 5 hours a night since I was about 18.
I found that the more I slept the tireder I felt. So I sleep about 5 hours now.
About to turn 37 and I barely get even six hours a night. When I get the odd 8 hours I feel amazing, but at the moment I don’t necessarily need or want to get 8+ hours a night.
I was talking about this shit with my roommate, I’m 34 he’s 31…we noticed that in our 20s our bodies needed more sleep idk why. But now in our 30s, sleeping 6 hours a night is just fine idk why lol. I slept a shit ton in my mid 20s, which is weird because that’s when our bodies are the strongest.
35 and I’m happy with 7 hours of sleep, if I sleep less than 6 I have a crap day. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I sleep more than 9 hours a year.
I average around 5 hours since I graduated college 20 years ago.
Yes, when I was especially younger I was regularly sleeping past 9 hours. I’d wake up feeling sleepy but so fresh and energetic, but was slightly annoying at how much time you lost to sleep. I definitely needed less sleep as I got older but that magic feeling after a long night of sleep is getting rarer now.
I’m 59 and in my 49th year of going to bed at 1:00AM and getting up at 7:00AM excepting the presence of excessive blood alcohol. For some reason it’s all I’ve ever needed.
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I still need 9 hours a day. Granted I wake up a lot to pee, but I like 9 hours from when I shut off the lights to when I get up in the morning. A recent sleep study was published that showed 7-9 hours is most healthy. I would be on the upper end of that.