Supposedly all humans are supposed to get about eight hours of sleep per night, but the notion that we're entirely the same is a little silly. Some people need more sleep than others, and improving the quality of your sleep is often far more important than the amount of time. The Hindustan Times points to new research coming out of the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich that has found a gene responsible for allowing some people to operate on only four hours of sleep per night, and a brain chemical called Orexin-A is suspected of being the only thing we really need to feel awake during the day. As more findings come to light, it seems sleep isn't as straightforward as resting for a finite period of time. We'd like to know how much sleep you feel you need each day, and how you arrived at that number.
Personally, the eight hour rule applies to me. While the quality of sleep definitely plays the biggest role, I find that I'm rarely tired if I get a full eight hours, eat well, and exercise. Generally I can function well on less sleep, and sometimes even no sleep, but I tend to become overly sensitive to everything (both good and bad), which is not a good thing when your job involves a significant amount of feedback from many sources at all times of the day. So I try to sleep as well as I can for as long as I can because it definitely makes a difference for me, but I'd gladly welcome the opportunity to cut that time in half if there were no downsides. How long do you sleep, and why do you think that number works for you?
Photo by yeowatzup.
Why even 4 hours of sleep is enough | Hindustan timesRelated Stories
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