[Donald Duck]

Most of the time I go to sleep no later than 11PM and wake up at 7.30.

Some of my friends go to sleep at 9PM and wake up at 5 (on weekdays) and reported an increase in overall well being.

[Pete]

I'm interested. I always say I'll go to sleep at 9pm and end up going to bed at 2am.

[_DC_]

I can't find any evidence that strongly supports any benefit of waking at a particular time. If somebody could point me to the contrary, I'm all ears though.

I have a flexible work schedule so I frequently go to bed at 4am and wake up at noon. Its just the natural rhythm that my body seems to prefer.

It seems like the 7-9 hour rule is one to break as little as possible.

[Only One Man]

I would imagine that it's generally healthier to go to bed and wake up earlier. Before electricity and all of our modern conveniences, humans didn't really have the ability to stay up at night working or doing whatever else like it was day. People probably rarely stayed up more than a few hours after it got dark and woke up when the sun came up. Staying up all hours of the night isn't natural.

[FretDancer]

Hydrogonian made some very insightful posts regarding early sleep.

[WanderingSoul]

I like to go to bed early (although I haven't been lately) because I wake up earlier and I am most product in the mornings. Some people are most productive at night, so for some staying up later might be best for them. I am most productive from about 7AM to Noon. After that, I am shit.

[Brian]

different things work for different people. i've never in my life been able to go to sleep before 11 and i'm almost always up until at least 1 and dont fall asleep easily until much later. i also tend to sleep later. some people can go to bed at 10, fall asleep in 5 minutes, wake up at 6 and feel great. thats just not for me (or some other people). i strongly believe some people are just morning people and some people night people. try and follow what works naturally for you.

[OGNorCal707]

I don't know if it's so much about going to bed early as much as it's important to get a solid block of deep, restful sleep. Most of what I hear is that you want to get at least 7 hours sleep, but personally I enjoy a good 9-10 hours. I am very much a sleep addict and if I don't get a good nights rest I always feel like shit the next day, tired, groggy, headache, low energy, lack of motivation, etc.

I think there is a lot of health benefits to good sleep, way more energy, less stress, mental clarity, plus I believe that it helps you stay youthful looking, and age more gracefully.

[the chef]

always feel like i'm wasting time when i go to sleep early.

my skin looks a lot better and needs a lot less maintenance when i'm getting close to 8 hours a night though.

[Moma]

(01-26-2012 01:16 AM)the chef Wrote:  

always feel like i'm wasting time when i go to sleep early.

my skin looks a lot better and needs a lot less maintenance when i'm getting close to 8 hours a night though.

How are you wasting time? If you go to sleep early, you should essentially wake up early. So whatever you were using time to do late at night, you can use it early in the morning instead.

[FretDancer]

@Moma: That is very true, however I understand what The Chef means. Its something many people don't see/feel, its like not being able to "let the day go".

[the chef]

(01-26-2012 09:31 AM)Moma Wrote:  

(01-26-2012 01:16 AM)the chef Wrote:  

always feel like i'm wasting time when i go to sleep early.

my skin looks a lot better and needs a lot less maintenance when i'm getting close to 8 hours a night though.

How are you wasting time? If you go to sleep early, you should essentially wake up early. So whatever you were using time to do late at night, you can use it early in the morning instead.

i get a full 8 hours of sleep maybe once a week. i usually clock in about 6 hours on average, so if i go to sleep early i won't necessarily wake up early (damn, i'm not so sure if that made sense, but it did when i thought about it). i'm just too busy with so much shit (class, lifting, reading, cooking, going out, hobbies, etc.) that i feel like i just have to do before i can sleep.

that's not to say that i feel better when i get 8 hours, the difference just isn't enough for me to actually want to drag myself to bed early every night.

on a more philosophical note, i find sleep somewhat terrifying. how can i just allow myself to be unconscious for 8 hours? i think the thing that scares me is the fact that you are simply unaware of the transition between being awake and falling asleep and that you have no record of time when you were asleep. it's like a significant part of your life just disappears into a void of nothingness.

[Caligula]

Here's an excellent post explaining what the benefits are and more importantly the steps you can take to actually make it happen:

http://zenhabits.net/10-benefits-of-risi...-to-do-it/

[Caligula]

(01-26-2012 06:44 PM)the chef Wrote:  

on a more philosophical note, i find sleep somewhat terrifying. how can i just allow myself to be unconscious for 8 hours? i think the thing that scares me is the fact that you are simply unaware of the transition between being awake and falling asleep and that you have no record of time when you were asleep. it's like a significant part of your life just disappears into a void of nothingness.

I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death

[the chef]

was about to quote that ha.