The sleep poll!

[Rosbjerg]

I only sleep in wierd places ..

[Kaftan Barlast]

I only sleep in wierd places ..

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Why? Whats wrong with a bed?

[metadigital]

was he narcoleptic?

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No, just an exec trying to get ahead, with a "Sleep when I'm dead" attitude. Sounds like his sleep debt finally bankrupted him ...

[Rosbjerg]

I only sleep in wierd places ..

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Why? Whats wrong with a bed?

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I guess it's like sex .. variation is a partial key to creativity .. and locations are an easily changeable variable!

 

sleep in different rooms, sleep with different people in different places .. do something strange everyday just for the fun of it!

[metadigital]

I guess it's like sex .. variation is a partial key to creativity .. and locations are an easily changeable variable!

 

sleep in different rooms, sleep with different people in different places .. do something strange everyday just for the fun of it!

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Experience teaches that variety is no substitute for quality.

[Rosbjerg]

I guess it's like sex .. variation is a partial key to creativity .. and locations are an easily changeable variable!

 

sleep in different rooms, sleep with different people in different places .. do something strange everyday just for the fun of it!

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Experience teaches that variety is no substitute for quality.

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no you are quite right .. but I find I sleep better if I sleep different places, so for me the two things are combined!

[Lucius]

Try sleeping in wet, heavy camoflage uniform in some rain soaked forest with so little space to move that you're nearly spooning one of the other soldiers, that'll teach ya variety. Sure did in my case. :D

[Darth Incredulous]

This time of year will bring insomnia to some people around here for I live close to the arctic circle and although we dont have actual midnight sun, it goes down and then right back up again without really achieving proper night. So its daylight 20 hours a day with dusk from 23 to 03.

I'm situated directly south of the arctic circle myself. We don't have midnight sun, because of the hills to the north, but midsummer it's pretty much like broad daylight even for the 3 hours or so the sun's behind the hills.

Personally I don't find that summer influences my insomnia, it more or less comes and goes regardless of time of year (the insomnia, not the summer... " ). Though I know a lot of people around here have problems with insomnia and depressions related to daylight (the abundancy of it in summer and the lack of it in winter).

 

 

*snip* And I also have had periods where I have been an early riser over an extended time, getting up before 6am. The secret is going to bed in time to get a decent nights sleep: for a six am rally I used to be asleep for ten pm.

I have periods where I wake early in the morning every day too. This causes me to become tired earlier and thus I'll tend to go to bed earlier as well in these periods. But I find the early waking leads to the early turning in, and not the other way around, as in these circumstances I'll wake early even if I went to bed rather late.

 

The midnight sun sure would mess with things, also because snow has a refractive index of something extraordinary like 98%, meaning all the sunlight is reflected into your eyes ... must do some mad things to people.

Even though where I live we have lots of snow and (almost) midnight sun, we'd have to go quite a long way north of here, and also quite far up in the mountains to experience both at the same time of year... (Well... in fact it snowed yesterday, but that was more a freak incident and anyways it's gone now. And there was no sun at the time.) Around easter, though, in the late morning and afternoon we can get the conditions you describe. Nearly all the people then go up in the mountains to go skiing so they can absorb as much of the intensely bright light as possible. Apparently. I hate it myself.

 

There are two "awake peaks" -- late morning and late evening -- on the cycle, as well as the nadir in the early "afternoon". These are all relative to the body's "start", so when you go to the other side of the world, for example, you will take time to adjust to the local zone. (If you are so tired that you sleep through the late morning you will not wake up until the evening apogee, which is the stronger of the two anyway.)

Is this why if I don't get up when I intended, I tend to sleep a LOT longer?

 

One thing is for sure, there is a lack of understanding and a lot of misinformation about sleep. "

Quite so. And it's a bit surprising, seeing as we spend about a third of our time (subject to individual variations) doing it. Of course, it could be because we're so tired at the time...

 

 

Try sleeping in wet, heavy camoflage uniform in some rain soaked forest with so little space to move that you're nearly spooning one of the other soldiers, that'll teach ya variety. Sure did in my case. :D

I have. Well, almost. There was 20 meters between each soldier, but otherwise the conditions were pretty much the same. I did have some space to move, but I couldn't, as we were supposed to stay in cover, guarding the road behind us... " That being the case, I was also more or less resting my head on my rifle. I have no idea how long I slept either, as I didn't have a watch, but it was a bit darker when I woke up, and all the trucks that had been passing and loading/unloading supplies on the road were long gone (though I could still hear them off in the distance). I think that may qualify as the weirdest sleep I've had.

 

Being in the army really messed with my sleep, as I could never adjust to getting up at 6am and going to bed at 11pm. I was tired for half the day or more despite the fact that I slept more (not to mention alot more regularly) during those 10 months than I did before or since. (And bright light in the morning didn't help either...)

 

 

Have you ever been on a train or a bus, in an uncomfortable seat which can't be adjusted, and you're dead tired? It's noisy as hell, and alot of people around you, but your eyelids fall shut and you drift off a little, until your head slumps forward and you wake up and awkwardly jerk back upright. And then it happens again and again. Those situations are the worst.

[metadigital]

*snip* And I also have had periods where I have been an early riser over an extended time, getting up before 6am. The secret is going to bed in time to get a decent nights sleep: for a six am rally I used to be asleep for ten pm.

I have periods where I wake early in the morning every day too. This causes me to become tired earlier and thus I'll tend to go to bed earlier as well in these periods. But I find the early waking leads to the early turning in, and not the other way around, as in these circumstances I'll wake early even if I went to bed rather late.

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Yes, for this reason if you want to adjust your sleeping pattern you need to get up earlier first.

There are two "awake peaks" -- late morning and late evening -- on the cycle, as well as the nadir in the early "afternoon". These are all relative to the body's "start", so when you go to the other side of the world, for example, you will take time to adjust to the local zone. (If you are so tired that you sleep through the late morning you will not wake up until the evening apogee, which is the stronger of the two anyway.)

Is this why if I don't get up when I intended, I tend to sleep a LOT longer?

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Yes.

Try sleeping in wet, heavy camoflage uniform in some rain soaked forest with so little space to move that you're nearly spooning one of the other soldiers, that'll teach ya variety. Sure did in my case. :D

I have. Well, almost. There was 20 meters between each soldier, but otherwise the conditions were pretty much the same. I did have some space to move, but I couldn't, as we were supposed to stay in cover, guarding the road behind us... " That being the case, I was also more or less resting my head on my rifle. I have no idea how long I slept either, as I didn't have a watch, but it was a bit darker when I woke up, and all the trucks that had been passing and loading/unloading supplies on the road were long gone (though I could still hear them off in the distance). I think that may qualify as the weirdest sleep I've had.

 

Being in the army really messed with my sleep, as I could never adjust to getting up at 6am and going to bed at 11pm. I was tired for half the day or more despite the fact that I slept more (not to mention alot more regularly) during those 10 months than I did before or since. (And bright light in the morning didn't help either...)

 

Have you ever been on a train or a bus, in an uncomfortable seat which can't be adjusted, and you're dead tired? It's noisy as hell, and alot of people around you, but your eyelids fall shut and you drift off a little, until your head slumps forward and you wake up and awkwardly jerk back upright. And then it happens again and again. Those situations are the worst.

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Yes. The bright light needs to be applied for a couple fo minutes to be effective: a quick flash will just dazzle you (probably just enough to allow your brain to sneak back to slumberland " ).

 

I have slept in the most awkward positions, waking with dead arms, legs, cricks in my back or legs. That feeling when you nod off sitting in a bus, that period of somnia: that is your body clock. If you sit it out (it might take half an hour or more) then it has passed -- probably a neurochemical reation. I have also noticed that at times when I am in peak physical condition, I need less sleep and I sleep a lot lighter, often waking breifly when I cycle through stage 1.

 

I slept on a ski trip on the carpeted floor of an vacant office (it is a long story). The floor was so cold that the four of us guys had to huddle together to share body warmth or we would have died from hypothermia. (I had planned earlier in the night to stay out drinking until morning; unfortunately I got too drunk and the nightclub closed way before morning.) This awkward sleeping arrangement lasted probably one sleep cycle, because we all decided anything was better than it: so we took turns huddling over the electric hand drier in the public toilet instead, until the shop opened for breakfast.

 

I used to regularly fall asleep after lunch at work, and I couldn't control it. I though tI might have a mild, specific form of narcolepsy. I decided, since I could control it with diet, that it was down to me eating a big lunch ending with a chocolate bar and the subsequent blood used to digest it being taken from my brain, which coincided with the afternoon dip in biorythm. If I managed to fight it and stay awake, I was fine half-an-hour later.

 

I would also recommend keeping a sleep diary. It does take a bit of effort to start one "I never remember my dreams", etc. Just have a pen and pad next to the bed. When you wake up, try not to move; just try to remember what you were just dreaming about. after a couple of days you'll be able to remember more and more. Just quickly write it down -- even if you think you'll rmember it, because you won't remember the detail.

 

I did this for a while. It is a very good way to understand what is bothering you. Your dreams are full of what is annoying you, making you happy, whatever is uppermost in your life. I gave up after a few months, because my dreams had become very boring, after I had addressed all the issues that surfaced in them initially.

[LadyCrimson]

Yes, for this reason if you want to adjust your sleeping pattern you need to get up earlier first.

 

I'm not sure I agree with this. It may be true for some people, but not for everyone...and certainly not me. I can get up at 6am and still not go to sleep until 5am-9am the next morning.....often. Quite often. It's why I can never maintain an early-rise habit. Many times, I'm just not sleepy at all, until 25-30 hours have passed. It doesn't matter when I go to bed or if I quit caffeine or exercise more - I'm on a 36 hour day body clock maybe. heh

 

I also read, a long time ago mind you, that to 're-set' your body clock (for those who find their sleep habits seriously interfere w/their lives) you should get up one hour later every day for a while, until you've gone around the clock (ie wake up at 8am, then 9am, then 10am) etc. Requires severe discipline tho, like in a sleep clinic environment, and time off work.

 

But they keep changing their minds on these things all the time.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Doesnt work for me either, it doesnt matter when I go to bed, Im always braindead till about lunchtime if I rise early. The only way I can properly wake up early is if Im going on a holiday, then I can shoot out of bed at 5.30 in the morning and be jumping at it.

[metadigital]

Doesnt work for me either, it doesnt matter when I go to bed, Im always braindead till about lunchtime if I rise early. The only way I can properly wake up early is if Im going on a holiday, then I can shoot out of bed at 5.30 in the morning and be jumping at it.

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Sounds more psychological than physiological, then.

[Darth Flatus]

I find my sleep patterns vary according to my schedule. During summer vacations it was completely random due to the fact that i had no reason to get up at any specific time. So long as i got 8-10 hours sleep roughly every day i was ok.

 

Nowadays i get probably 6-7 hours on weekdays and am much more active during the day yet i have no problem with it as i fell i have adapted to the routine.

[metadigital]

I find my sleep patterns vary according to my schedule. During summer vacations it was completely random due to the fact that i had no reason to get up at any specific time. So long as i got 8-10 hours sleep roughly every day i was ok.

 

Nowadays i get probably 6-7 hours on weekdays and am much more active during the day yet i have no problem with it as i fell i have adapted to the routine.

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I find it depends on what I do with my day, too.

 

Recently I have been commuting a lot: upwards of 20 hours a week. That's driving at least 3 hours a day: some of the most fun roads in the world, the M25 and M4.

 

I found I was mentally exhausted by the end of the week. (Consider I was working at least 8 hours, plus a lunch hour, per day as well.) If I didn't spend the weekend catching up on sleep I was invariably predisposed to illness. And even working a four day week made only a minor difference. (I have also endured similar periods commuting on trains, with similar results.)

 

Basically, I was mentally exhausted (if not physically).

 

You really start to question the validity of the work-life balance if you are just falling asleep whenever you are not on the way to/from work or at work!

[LadyCrimson]

Oh, ugh, the commute thing.

Hubby drives about 1.5 hrs per day on the days he has to go to an office - and that's considered 'normal' around here.

More and more people move to the edges of cities (or out of the city) and commute further and further to work, usually for econonic reasons.

 

The housing market is insane.

 

And yes, all that driving/traffic can/does affect people's sleeping/stress etc patterns, no doubt. I've always felt bad for the long-haul truckers who work so we can grocery shop and such. :/

[Drakron]

Well look at the bright side of their job, they get to retire well before other professionals can.

 

They are better off that cabbies ...

[Reveilled]

I used to be very much an evening person, and if I had nothing important to get up for (such as during school holidays), I would sleep later and later until I was getting up in the evening and going to bed in the morning.

 

A few months ago however, that suddenly changed. I can't explain it, but somehow, my body clock went from being on 26hr days, to 23hr days. This time last year, I was going to bed at 3am and getting up at midday. Now, for some reason, I'm going to bed at ten, and waking up at 6am and considering getting up.

 

Having been an evening person all my life, actually becoming a morning person, and getting a full night's sleep on weekdays, is unbelieveably good. Were I depressed, I'd be depressed no longer. As it is, I feel like I'm on a permanant morphine high. I have it so good. I wouldn't change this for the world. :D

[Darth Flatus]

.....yeah daylight is good :D

[LadyCrimson]

No, no! Daylight causes cancer and turns you into a wrinkly leathered prune!

Stay away!

Stay away from the light!!....

 

.....Reveilled - that sounds like a great change for you - isn't it nice when life takes a positive turn like that, out of nowhere?

[metadigital]

No, no! Daylight causes cancer and turns you into a wrinkly leathered prune!

Stay away!

Stay away from the light!!....

 

.....Reveilled - that sounds like a great change for you - isn't it nice when life takes a positive turn like that, out of nowhere?

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Despite your lucifugous protestations, in moderation daylight is good. :cool:

It is essential for all life on Earth (apart from some plants and crabs in the deep abysses next to underwater volcanoes); gives us people vitamin D, obviates the need for me to wear lots of heavy clothing. Let's us see the mess in the kitchen.

 

Daylight is our friend.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Have any of you lived so far up north that you have daylight 24/7 in the summer? Its quite interesting taking an afternoon walk at 3 in the morning.

 

 

If you look at this webcam over downtown, you might see what it looks like except the pictrue is much darker because of the cam. http://www.norran.se/sektion_c.php?avdelning_1=180

[Lucius]

Looks like the weather is kinda ****ty, for spring that is.

 

On the note of sleeping, I've once been to the city with the highest suicide rate in Norway, it's located between a set of mountains causing almost perpeptual darkness.

[Darth Incredulous]

*snip* I've always felt bad for the long-haul truckers who work so we can grocery shop and such. :/

I don't know. The ones I know (quite a few) seem to be able to adjust to it pretty well. We have regulations here that forbid them to drive more than 9-10 hours a day, and they're required to have a continuous resting period (during which the truck is stationary) of 8 hours, I think. Don't know what kind of regulations there are elsewhere in the world...

 

 

Have any of you lived so far up north that you have daylight 24/7 in the summer? Its quite interesting taking an afternoon walk at 3 in the morning.

While in high school (or our equivalent to it, anyway), my friends and I used to go play basket ball at night, from like 11-12, and we'd usually play till 3 or 4.

 

 

On the note of sleeping, I've once been to the city with the highest suicide rate in Norway, it's located between a set of mountains causing almost perpeptual darkness. 

Which town was that then?

[mkreku]

I originally come from Kiruna. That's a tad bit further north than Skellefte

[Kaftan Barlast]

Kiruna? Damn, that is practicly the northpole! But I havent been here very long so Skellefte