Discussion: Sleep Habits

#229: My System
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About two years ago I started getting up at the same time every morning.  This was work-related to begin with, since sleeping in on the weekend, I had realized, turned Mondays into decidedly 'down' days, due to not being tired enough to sleep well on Sunday nights.  I've experimented with different times for getting up, and have been willing to break my own rules if I have to, on my way to a 'system'.  Here's a run-down, using an article on science-based sleep advice.  I react to each of the five rules and assign a percentage (how important the rule is to me):

1. Only go to bed when you're really sleepy.   80%
The problem with this rule is that you don't know for sure how things will go once you lay down.  And if you wait for that "really sleepy" feeling, you may well've burned through half your night.  So, I'd say be flexible; and if you can, experiment.

2. Get up if you can't sleep.   35%
This is what the science says, but if you ask me, I'd say there are just as many times when I can fall back to sleep after the prescribed 15 minutes, than not.  So, I generally do not get up.  My dreaming is most easily remembered when just barely asleep, then awake, then drifting off again, so there's a benefit to only getting up when there's something bothering me that I can't help thinking about.  And by the way, how does one know 15 minutes has passed if part of the scientific advice is to not check the time?

3. Stay up for a predetermined length of time.  95%
While I don't usually get up to avoid sleeplessness, when I do, I usually set a time limit; otherwise, it's too easy not to even go back to bed.

4. Wake up at the same time every morning.  95%
I have 'slept in' in the past year, but only once or twice.  And, more importantly, once I decide I'm getting up, I don't let myself focus on how tired I feel.  Instead, I tell myself I want what I've decided I want, and so, spring out of bed.

5. Don't nap.  90%
I want to say 100%, but I've nodded off reading (I assume that counts as a nap).

There's more, like resolving problems during the day so I don't have to anticipate them at night.  And there's how much to sleep.  Evidently, 7-8 hours is the scientific consensus.