I've slept a lot lately. Like a lot a lot. But I'm still tired. I get 7 hours of sleep on the weekend and 8 hours of sleep during the week with naps in between sometimes. Why am I still tired?
believe it or not, being tired is not usually related to how much sleep you get. The feeling of being tired is a result of a combination of factors, mostly based on activity level and circadian rhythms. When people are inactive, they get tired. Also, if your body is on a certain sleep pattern, then you will get tired at about the same times every day (late morning, mid-afternoon, and late evening for most people).
Diet is also an important factor. Caffeine may be more detrimental than helpful in the long run.
Probably the most interesting thing I've learned about sleep in my Biopsychology text is that regardless of how much you sleep, you really only need about 5 hours or so. Everything over and above that (actually interspersed between periods of slow-wave recuperative sleep) is just kind of idle time. You have to work your way down to those numbers though, so that your body has time to get used to sleeping more efficiently.
Meanwhile, my circadian rhythms are telling me to go to bed, so I'm going to listen to them.
2 Comments:
believe it or not, being tired is not usually related to how much sleep you get. The feeling of being tired is a result of a combination of factors, mostly based on activity level and circadian rhythms. When people are inactive, they get tired. Also, if your body is on a certain sleep pattern, then you will get tired at about the same times every day (late morning, mid-afternoon, and late evening for most people).
Diet is also an important factor. Caffeine may be more detrimental than helpful in the long run.
Probably the most interesting thing I've learned about sleep in my Biopsychology text is that regardless of how much you sleep, you really only need about 5 hours or so. Everything over and above that (actually interspersed between periods of slow-wave recuperative sleep) is just kind of idle time. You have to work your way down to those numbers though, so that your body has time to get used to sleeping more efficiently.
Meanwhile, my circadian rhythms are telling me to go to bed, so I'm going to listen to them.
Good because I'm only getting about 5hrs a night right now
Post a Comment
<< Home