I Sleep Forever

The other day a post by the multi-talented Glen Rhodes entitled “The power of the Sleep Cycle” made the rounds. The basic idea is that by making the most of your REM-phase sleep (the sleep that’s most refreshing) you can get by on one 4.5 hour main sleep session and a shorter nap.

Having more time isn’t the main appeal of Rhodes’ observations. I perked up at this passage:

[The study on REM sleep] explains why, when I get 8 hours of sleep I feel tired and groggy, or when I get 4 hour of sleep, I can barely wake up. As human beings, we should know about this fact, as everyone always says “get your 8 hours”. Yet some people fare better than others. Why is that? Probably because the more rested people are actually getting closer to 7.5, or 9 hours, while the 8 hour folk feel constantly unrested.

So I’m not about to start sleeping 5.5 hours a day, but I’ve been experimenting with trying to wake up without an alarm and letting my sleep cycles “come to a close.” It works. If you wake up when your body is ready to wake up, rather than when you want to wake up, the usual grogginess is all but gone.

For more sleep porn, read Circadiana. Its author actually knows of what she speaks.