Too Much Sleep vs. Not Enough Sleep

Most of the time I think I don't get enough sleep. We go to bed around 1:00 am or later most nights and then get up at 8 or 8:30. Sure that's 7 or 7 1/2 hours of sleep, but it never feels like enough. Then, last night I was upset and decided to just go to bed early, so I went in at around 10 pm. I specifically remember waking up at 4:30 and thinking that it must be time to get up, but when I looked at the clock, I was like, Fuck that. So I went back to sleep, of course. I officially didn't get up out of bed until 8:45 this morning, which means I got somewhere in the ballpark of 10 hours and 45 minutes of sleep. Way too much I guess, because I feel tired now.

So what in the hell is the magic sleep number? And, no, I'm not talking about those stupid sleep number beds. What I'm talking about is time. What is the magic number of hours that I need to sleep to feel good when I wake up. Part of me wonders if it's six and a half hours simply because I naturally woke up after that amount of sleep and thought it was time to get up. But then I think, no way it's only six and a half hours. I am still sleepy after seven, and I find it hard to believe that seven falls into the "Too much sleep" category.

One study I read actually said that people who sleep between 6.5 and 7.5 hours a night on average live longer than those who sleep more or less, so maybe there really is something to that six and a half hour thing.

Here's my other problem with sleep times, though. Okay, so let's say I want to try to sleep six and a half hours every night to give it a shot. I have never been the type of person who can just lay down and go to sleep within minutes. Usually, I am awake for quite some time while my brain continues to work through some problem or worry or story, making it difficult for me to sleep. Some nights I might lay there for twenty minutes, but other nights, I can look at the clock and see that over an hour has passed and I am still wide awake. If I set my alarm for six and a half hours after I laid down, on those nights, I'd already be down to five and a half just because I couldn't get to sleep. /sigh. There's just no good way to make sure you get a certain amount of sleep.

Sometimes sleep is my favorite thing and other times I feel like it's the bane of my existence. What I really wish is that we could sleep for as long as we needed to and then wake up refreshed and ready to go, no matter what time it is. I wish we didn't need an alarm at all, just an internal awareness that we've gotten the exact amount of needed hours of sleep and can now wake up. Keep dreamin, sweetie...