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CAGANAIALIL Newbie South Africa Joined 5669 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes Studies: English
| Message 33 of 48 17 May 2009 at 11:57pm | IP Logged |
Some info about sleep:
http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm
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| dancinghobbit Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5645 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French
| Message 34 of 48 31 May 2009 at 6:00pm | IP Logged |
Sgt. Pepper, thank you for starting such an interesting thread. I have been following
it carefully. Your goal was an interesting one. Dr. Breus, of WebMD, <a
href=http://blogs.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/2008/10/need-new -alarm-clock-i-dare-you-
to-try.html>says he does not like alarm clocks</a>:
"I'm not a big proponent of alarm clocks because I believe that if you have your
sleep-wake rhythm aligned correctly and you get up at the same time every day, then
you shouldn't need one."
However, as far as I know Dr. Breus has not recommended exactly how to go about
getting your sleep-wake rhythm "aligned correctly". I wonder if you would have been
more successful if you had been stricter about going to bed at 10:00 (rather than
fluctuating between 9:00-12:00, as you seemed to). I may try an experiment on this
myself soon.
I do disagree with the people here who think you're born a morning person or a night
owl, and you shouldn't try to change the way you were born. Certainly everyone is
different (to a degree), but isn't that a gross simplification of the issue? Waking
up early has to be associated with productive people for a reason. Give me an example
of a disciplined person who accomplishes a lot by sleeping late and I'll give you a
hundred examples of people who accomplish a lot by getting up early. My own tendency
is to be a "night owl", and yet I am much more productive on days when I get up early.
Thanks again for starting this thread. You actually inspired me to start a similar
experiment of my own, which led me to realize a problem I've had every since I can
remember: I've never been able to fall asleep quickly unless I am VERY tired. I had
always taken it for granted that it takes me 1-2 hours to fall asleep at night, until
I saw your frustration when you had long latency. That made me realize I had a
problem. Then someone posted who has the same problem and went to a sleep doctor.
That gave me the idea to look up a doctor myself and get help. I did that, and now
(thanks to this thread), I found out I have mild sleep apnea. I'm still waiting for
treatment, but I'm looking forward to less fatigue in the day, less sleep latency,
less overall hours of sleep (I sleep up to 10-11 hours sometimes now), and better
quality sleep. :-)
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| Sgt.Pepper Newbie Ukraine Joined 5698 days ago 38 posts - 32 votes Speaks: Ukrainian*
| Message 35 of 48 02 June 2009 at 1:22am | IP Logged |
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Edited by Sgt.Pepper on 16 March 2010 at 3:18am
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| stephenmberns Senior Member United States Joined 6030 days ago 12 posts - 12 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian, Mandarin, Thai
| Message 36 of 48 23 July 2009 at 8:07pm | IP Logged |
You could spend your sleep latency time plugged into an mp3 player with something like Vocabulearn.
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| krog Diglot Senior Member Austria Joined 6038 days ago 146 posts - 152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Latin
| Message 37 of 48 23 July 2009 at 9:22pm | IP Logged |
dancinghobbit wrote:
Waking up early has to be associated with productive people for a reason. Give me
an example of a disciplined person who accomplishes a lot by sleeping late and I'll
give you a hundred examples of people who accomplish a lot by getting up early. My
own tendency is to be a "night owl", and yet I am much more productive on days when I
get up early.
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Isn't this association based on traditional virtues that a 'good Christian' should
abide by, before going to work in the fields. I'm sure plenty of successful people who
didn't have to get up early, didn't. Haven't several studies shown that people have
differing levels of concentration at different times, based on their sleep rhythm, and
it would therefore be better for them to sleep in that rhythm than not?
Bitter experience tells me that if I get up before 6, however much sleep I've had, I'm
always knackered for the rest of the day (especially after 11am).
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| KiwiKiwi Tetraglot Groupie Belgium Joined 5685 days ago 50 posts - 50 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German, French Studies: Italian, Russian
| Message 38 of 48 23 July 2009 at 10:05pm | IP Logged |
HI Sgt.Pepper,
Good luck with your goal!
I am trying to become an early riser too. As i am an eveningperson, i had the interesting experience that i became at least twice as active! Also is my body more used beiing active when the light is on, in the night i get more tired naturally.
That happened whilst waking up at 7:00 in the morning. I have no experience - yet - how it is waking up even earlier. My goal is 5:30 or 6:00.
I do use my alarmclock(s) and (try to) wake up every morning at the same time. In the evening i go to sleep when i feel tired. This has worked very very well.
I'm interested how you will be doing, good luck again!
p.s. maybe instead of an alarmclock you can use a mobile phone with an alarm that doesn' make a sound (vibrates though). Also opening the curtains at night, so that you have daylight in your room in the morning helped me.
Edited by KiwiKiwi on 23 July 2009 at 10:07pm
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| J-Learner Senior Member Australia Joined 6019 days ago 556 posts - 636 votes Studies: Yiddish, English* Studies: Dutch
| Message 39 of 48 24 July 2009 at 1:00am | IP Logged |
I'm a chronic insomniac and in the rare periods that I've spent with a good sleeping pattern (i.e. going to bed at 10 and waking at around 4 or 5), I've found there is a great boost in my productivity. Not only can I do more study with a more focused mind, but I can do yoga, meditation, eat a good early breakfast and I generally feel better for having done that all.
And yes, I've also done the waking early thing without the yoga and meditation and the effect is that I still have a better focus. :p
I think that alarms can be a great way of getting up in the morning but only as a temporary crutch. Use them to correct a bad habit (i.e. a non-beneficial habit (not a moral-based "bad")) and when the habit is formed, try going without it. If you can't go without it then try a little longer. It can sometimes take a couple of months to really fix a sleeping-waking cycle.
I'm hoping to get my time of sleeping from 10 till 4. I think that's optimal for me.
Over stimulation with tv, lights, junk food, music, etc, just before bed really creates disturbances in ones sleep. Even reading, audio-books and other things can make the mind too active in the evening. Does one need to be busy constantly? Is it worth sacrificing sleep quality for a few things that are often idle and/r can be put off till the morning? There is good reason for the professor suggesting focus training. The effect of such techniques are very wide. A short list: de-stressing, better mental stability, focus, perceiving life with better objectivity, A cooler head, better sleeping, a stronger immune system, stronger short-term memory and possibly stronger long-term with continued practice. (Go check the scientific studies to see the evidence or try it for yourself).
This is just a rant from someone who has lived with extreme difficulty getting sleep for a number of years so don't take it too seriously. :D
Information and dedication are two keys to success in anything.
I wish anyone trying this good luck because I have experienced all the ups and down of sleeping and understand what it's like.
Yehoshua.
Edited by J-Learner on 24 July 2009 at 1:03am
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| dancinghobbit Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5645 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French
| Message 40 of 48 24 July 2009 at 2:19am | IP Logged |
krog wrote:
Isn't this association based on traditional virtues that a 'good Christian' should
abide by, before going to work in the fields. I'm sure plenty of successful people who
didn't have to get up early, didn't. Haven't several studies shown that people have
differing levels of concentration at different times, based on their sleep rhythm, and
it would therefore be better for them to sleep in that rhythm than not?
Bitter experience tells me that if I get up before 6, however much sleep I've had, I'm
always knackered for the rest of the day (especially after 11am).
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How long did you try getting up before 6:00 before you gave up? It takes time to adjust to a new schedule, and you may have felt bad simply because you were out of your sleep-wake rhythm (your body was used to a later schedule), even if you had enough hours of sleep. (Article about circadian rhythm)
It's probably a myth that you're either a night owl or an early bird, and that you can't change that. I have seen no studies that show it, and those that suggest it are way over-hyped. It's conceivable that someone on a late sleep cycle can be just as productive as someone on an early cycle, but it must be rare, because I've never met anyone who is. On the other hand, I have met dozens of very productive people who sleep and wake early.
Interestingly, most productive early birds say they weren't always early risers, but made an effort to become that way.
I don't believe that there is anything magic about the morning (other than light!) that helps productivity. It's just that many people who choose to be organized and exert control over their sleep-wake rhythm prefer the morning for getting up. It takes effort for most early risers to maintain their schedule, and most people who like to sleep late probably are just procrastinators--though some may have sleep disorders, and the length of people's circadian rhythms does vary (making it easier for some people to procrastinate sleep). But the solution to that is not necessarily to keep staying up late.
I used to be a "night owl". I could not control my sleep schedule, no matter how hard I tried. Even though I was tired all day, at night I could not fall asleep. Then a couple months ago I finally went to a sleep doctor and found out I had mild sleep apnea. I've been using CPAP (air pressure treatment) for almost two months now, and now I have great sleep. I go to bed at 11:00 p.m. every night, fall asleep within 30 minutes, and wake up naturally without an alarm at about 6:30 a.m. every day, feeling rested. (I still keep a safety alarm at 7:30 just in case.) Before I would always procrastinate going to bed because of my long sleep latency, sleep 10-11 hours, and wake up feeling un-refreshed. Now, sleeping less hours and getting an early start on the day, I get so much more done.
By the way, I believe Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims also encourage rising early. ;-) Traditions aren't always wrong.
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