Apparently, yes. According to study, discussed in an article in the Times of India, there appears to be a link between a person’s level of education and the quality of their sleep. The study of almost 40,000 Taiwanese adults found that:
…higher educational attainment improved women’s night time sleep quality while it had the opposite effect on educated men.
…rates of insomnia were found to be “still significantly higher” among women
December 11, 2007
According to a study presented at the American Professional Sleep Society’s annual meeting, children and teenagers who sleep in on the weekends may be hurting their scholastic performance. An article in the Poughkeepsie Journal discusses the study’s findings, which suggest that by sleeping in on weekends, kids are basically subjecting themselves to the effects of jet lag. When Monday rolls around and it’s time to go back to school, the kids feel tired and groggy and their performance suffers as a result. The whole problem is compounded by the fact that many of these kids are not getting enough sleep during the week, and they are trying tomak up for it by getting extra sleep over the weekend.
July 8, 2007
We found this post in Ask Yahoo about the ideal amount of sleep. Ask Yahoo says, “It all depends!”
National Sleep Foundation says that adults should get seven to nine hours of sleep a day while adolescents needs about 85.-9.5. Infants sleep the most (14-15 hours a day). The post also talks about benefits of taking naps.
April 24, 2007
There is an excellent post on Everything2 about the Uberman sleep schedule (warning - strong language). While this schedule is not significantly different from the other alternative sleep schedules we’ve posted about in the past, this post is well worth reading as it includes an in-depth first-hand account from someone who actually followed the schedule for an extended period of time. Some excerpts:
“You’ll be sleeping for twenty minutes at a time, every four hours, round the clock. When I did it, I took a nap at 8, 4, 12, then 4, 8, and 12 again. This totals a mere two hours of sleep in a twenty-four hour period. As a forewarning, yes, it sucks a– to get used to, but after about two weeks you’ll never wanna give it up.”
“I was much less tired after two or three weeks of this than I have ever been, before or since. For one thing, you’re going to bed every four hours, so every time you turn around it’s time to go to sleep.”
“Day one and two, you just feel like you haven’t slept, and those naps aren’t doing you any good because you just toss around for twenty minutes, or, usually on day two, you drop off and then want to kill yourself when the alarm goes off 20 minutes later.”
November 13, 2006
Here is someone who doesn’t need Snoozester to wake him up! Thai Ngoc hasn’t slept in over 3 decades. “Sixty-four-year-old Thai Ngoc, known as Hai Ngoc, said he could not sleep at night after getting a fever in 1973, and has counted infinite numbers of sheep during more than 11,700 consecutive sleepless nights.” What’s interesting is that he is pretty healthy and normal!
Steve Pavlina has a post about this guy too.
September 12, 2006
Getting tired of the usual 16 hours awake / 8 hours asleep or 18 hours awake / 6 hours asleep routine? You’re not the only one. While this type of sleep, monophasic sleep (getting your sleep all at once, in a single “block”), may be the norm, it is not the only option.
Biphasic / divided / segmented sleep is the practice of dividing your sleep in to two separate blocks, usually a larger block at night and a smaller block during the day. For example, it is commonplace in some cultures for one to supplement their nighttime sleep with a mid-day nap (about, wikipedia) or siesta. Taking a nap in the middle of the day can be refreshing and prepare you for the second half of your day. Interested in giving divided sleep a try? Consider scheduling a Snoozester wake up call to help make sure you don’t “overnap.”
We recently blogged about another alternate sleeping strategy, polyphasic sleep, the practice of sleeping multiple short intervals throughout the day (with the goal of increasing the number of hours one is awake). Polyphasic sleep usually requires one to maintain a fairly set schedule of sleeping and waking up.
Have you tried any of these (or any other) alternate sleeping strategies? If so, post a comment and tell us about your experience.
September 5, 2006
The American Board of Sleep Medicine (ABSM) has an online directory of “sleep doctors.” You can browse the U.S. directory by name or by state. They also have an international directory.
“The ABSM is an independent organization developed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining standards of individual proficiency in clinical polysomnography”
September 1, 2006
Instead of a straight-shot 6-8 hours of sleep, Polyphasic sleep involves taking multiple short sleep periods throughout the day. Each sleep period being 20-30 minutes long. According to Wikipedia, Polyphasic sleep pattern is intended to reduce sleep time to 2–5 hours daily. This article suggests that it will take a week to get used to. During the first week you may experience sleep deprivation; but after that your body will get used to it. So what are the benefits. Well, some people are reporting: more energy throughout the day, higher alertness, more vivid and lucid dreams and more time to do other things throughout the day. Eating more has been reported as a side effect of Polyphasic sleep. The increased eating pattern is caused by you sleeping less and spending more energy throughout the day. So, what about work schedules? Well, maybe its feasible for people who work from home (or don’t work at all). The article indicates that the long term health effects of this sleep pattern aren’t well known.
August 31, 2006
