Do you Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep?

[Orb]

I read online that no one really knows the proper amount of sleep, they can only give a recommendation of 7-9 hours.

 

Yet many successful people actually don't sleep that much. 

 

Is it possible for me to sleep less than 7 hours and live an awesome life? 

 

I mean holy shit it'd be great to sleep at 11pm and wake up at 5am. 

 

I'd be in heaven if I could maintain that!

[MazE]

I sleep less because of work. I was sleep deprived for some years then i was lucky enough to rest for a whole year and believe me it took me the whole year to feel good again. Sleep should be the no1 priority to remain healthy. Sure you can get by but it's bad for your health long term. 

[Orb]

@MazE I'm just applying some skepticism to the commonly held beliefs centering around sleep.

 

For example, what if the reason people say we need 8 hours of sleep is because society actually encourages unhealthy forms of diet/lifestyle habits, and our worn out bodies need 8 hours of sleep.

 

What if we can sleep less when we allow the body to heal?

 

Mind you, the average person who claims to need 8 hours of sleep is usually eating refined carbs &sugar, sedentary, not meditating, etc.

[MazE]

@Orb ok yeah i get it you are right. What i have to say is that your body always knows how much sleep is needed. Alarm clocks are dreadful. If you sleep early enough you could wake up without an alarm clock. Easier said than done i know. Most of us have a job that forces us to wake up at a certain time. Having a steady sleep hours is key. I work in shifts and i can't have one. There are also supplements to experiment with. Most likely you probably need at least 7 hours of sleep. I read that there is 3% or something that can go by with less. I am not one of them i just survive with less but i harm my health. Better sleep more than less. If you optimize your diet or health in any way and you wake up without an alarm clock after 5 hours let's say, then i guess it's fine. It could be possible but let your body decide how much sleep it needs.

 

[Mandy]

If you are doing what you really, really want to be doing, you don't need as much sleep in my experience. There are certain shifts you might go through that fill you with intense energy. I wouldn't try to cut my sleep to make this happen to join some club of successful people, I would just find my own alignment and bliss. I sleep more in the winter than in the summer, I suppose because I'm really sensitive to daylight hours. There's a time to sleep more and a time to sleep less. There's a "time" for everything as they say in Ecclesiastes. First there was space, then there was time, and a "time" for every "thing". 

[Orb]

@MazE true!

 

@Mandy well after cleaning my diet im feeling more energy/equanimity than i ever had before! 

 

I recently got shifted to a more leadership type position in my job and I'm so excited I wanna wake up at 5am! 

 

I can do so much stuff If I just get some extra hours in my day!

[Mandy]

@Orb Well you don't really need more time to do more. Seems that way, but isn't. 

[MazE]

@Orb if you are rested you can have more quality time. 1 hour of very concentrated work can beat 4 sloppy hours. Concentration practice is something that i keep putting off for later but i'm 100% sure that it's a game changer. For example learning to memorize a deck of cards. Even if you have less time if you sleep enough if you are rested there are ways to get more juice out of your hours.