Baxter and Gouge - 6 hours of sleep??

[Jack K]

Sleeping less seldom allows me to get more done. I may spend more time working, but that time is less productive. On those rare days that I get close to eight hours of sleep the night before, I more than make up for a late start at work with increased alertness and productivity. Sleep is healthy and good. (And some of the Puritans seem to have been a tad over-zealous about keeping track of all the work hours they put in and seeing restful breaks as stemming from character flaws.)

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Threads like this, or topics like this, seem to have an attitude of Positive Thinking With Norman Vincent Peale, you know, "If you believe you can do it, you can!" Like I THINK I can climb Half Dome; and if I fail to do so, well, I just don't have sufficient personal discipline. It can get cruel, quickly, to have these (unbiblical) expectations of people.

While I agree with your general concern that people are different and that there are no "cookie cutter" solutions the above statement is patently absurd.

Can you cover a marathon distance in a day? I don't know the answer to that question. Maybe you can.

I know, right now, that I cannot run a marathon but having trained for and completed five marathons I know how to train my body for one.

The first time I flew the the Far East and back I was wrecked for a couple of days in terms of sleep and exhaustion. After living there for 3 years and having to make that trip a number of times my body became accustomed to something that was very hard on the system the first time.

When Paul says that he disciplines his body in 1 Cor 9:27 to control its lusts then this is not "positive thinking" but training.

Yes, I agree, let's not make hasty generalizations (which I have not) about whether or not some people may require more sleep than others but let us not likewise compare the training of the body to the power of positive thinking.

My experience is that many people assume they would be non-functional without a certain amount of sleep precisely because they always get a certain amount of sleep. It's pretty hard to put that to the test if the person is both out of shape and never has, for an extended period of time, tried a different sleeping pattern.

I'm not arguing for any ideal number of hours of sleep. I'm not telling people to go out and tell people they're lazy. I'm simply making a broad observation about an ability to train the body. Whether or not what we may become accustomed to is good for you is another thing. I once went an extended period of time getting 3.5-4 hours of sleep a night and drank too much coffee as a result. I thinnk it led to some unheatlthy mineral deficits and I used to wake up with the worst kind of muscle cramps.

Lately, I've generally settled on about 7 hours of sleep as feeling really rested but I usurally get 6. Last night I got 5 and I'm functioning fine. I'd like to take a 15 minute nap right after lunch but, alas, no cot nearby. Sleepiness for me is when I get up earlier than I'm accustomed. It seems to matter less that I got 6 hours of sleep and woke up at 5:30 than if I get 7 hours of sleep and wake up at 4. It's the getting up at 4 that makes me more sleepy later in the day.

 

[Logan]

One of my favourite quotes regarding a PG Wodehouse-type character:

Orsea never slept during the day; indeed, he resented sleep on principle, the way people resent paying taxes. It wasn't fair, he'd told her once, that nature only gave you a very short time on earth, and then saw fit to steal a third of it back from you. At one time he'd tried to train himself to make do with less of it---like a devious banker, he'd said, clipping little bits off the edges of coins. If he learned how to get by on seven hours a night instead of eight, he'd told her, at the end of a year he'd have gained fifteen days. Suppose he lived another forty years; that'd be over eighteen months, absolutely free.

But it hadn't lasted, of course. He struggled through six weeks of the new regime, yawning and drifting off into day-dreams, and then issued a revised opinion. Scrounging extra time by neglecting a vital function like sleep was counterproductive. For every waking hour gained you sacrificed two or three spent in a daze halfway between concussion and a bad hangover. In fact, eight hours wasn't really enough. Nine hours, on the other hand; nine hours would lose you eighteen months, theoretically speaking, but the extra energy and zest you'd get from being properly rested would mean you'd fit more activity into your voluntarily truncated life than you'd manage to wring out of your unnaturally extended one.

I seem to do well on 7. In the unlikely event I am able to sleep any longer I have trouble getting to sleep the following night.

 

[Jake]

I have experimented with different levels of sleep, but I find less than 8-9 and its painful to get up in the morning. I usually sleep through the night and wake up very pleasantly and quite awake at the time of my alarm. Even cutting an hour short seems to be different for me. But, I would say it is different for each person.

 

[Edward]

Getting shot with a volley in the chest may have exacerbated Mighty Stonewall's condition.

No, two in the arm, one in the hand. He died of pneumonia. And since lack of sleep can weaken the immune system, it is impossible at this late date to determine the extent that his lack of sleep may have contributed to his death. Certainly, his last words were about rest.

"Yes, lack of sleep can affect your immune system. Studies show that people who don't get quality sleep or enough sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, such as a common cold virus. Lack of sleep can also affect how fast you recover if you do get sick."
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/expert-answers/lack-of-sleep/faq-20057757

 

[Miss Marple]

know, right now, that I cannot run a marathon but having trained for and completed five marathons I know how to train my body for one.

Of course, many can. All can't, though. I might even say most can't, if we include all ages of people.

No question we can and should discipline ourselves to be at our best. It's just that "our best" can differ, and what works for some or most does not necessarily work for all.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

know, right now, that I cannot run a marathon but having trained for and completed five marathons I know how to train my body for one.

Of course, many can. All can't, though. I might even say most can't, if we include all ages of people.

The issue is not whether all can complete a marathon. Just as Paul used an analogy to speak of training the body, I was pointing out the nature of discipline and training of the body which you had uncharitably dismissed as sounding like the power of positive thinking.

No question we can and should discipline ourselves to be at our best. It's just that "our best" can differ, and what works for some or most does not necessarily work for all.

I don't believe I have claimed that what works for some works for all.

 

[Clark-Tillian]

Major kudos to the pithy response! I find I need less the later I remain awake. if Ii went to bed at 9pm and awoke at 2am, most folks would be in awe (what a mensch), but I'd probably be the most miserable curmudgeon in North America. However, if I go to bed at 3am and awake at 8-9am then I seem to be fine.

I think the fact that he probably had asthma didn't help...

Well, Stonewall Jackson was another man noted for little sleep supplemented by naps. He died at 39.

As for me, I'd best be off to bed.

Getting shot with a volley in the chest may have exacerbated Mighty Stonewall's condition.

 

[tantely]

I heard that Calvin slept only 4 hours a night.

And he was 54 when he died. So the lesson is: if you want to live as long as Calvin, cut back on your sleep.

Calvin didn't die because of lack of sleep.

T.A

 

[bookslover]

I have only one goal and intention, and that is to know if this is something that I should do, if l could better glorify God by doing this, and to know if I should even try.

You know your body best, what it can take and what it can't. Don't try to deprive yourself of sleep just because some famous people who lived hundreds of years ago did. Besides, if you don't get all the sleep you need, your body will eventually exact its revenge on you!

 

[VictorBravo]

if Ii went to bed at 9pm and awoke at 2am, most folks would be in awe (what a mensch), but I'd probably be the most miserable curmudgeon in North America. However, if I go to bed at 3am and awake at 8-9am then I seem to be fine.

I've noticed a similar thing. Except I think many would think I'm a curmudgeon regardless of when or how long I sleep.

 

[ZackF]

I think the fact that he probably had asthma didn't help...

Well, Stonewall Jackson was another man noted for little sleep supplemented by naps. He died at 39.

As for me, I'd best be off to bed.

For one thing Jackson was shot. I'm sure bullets are worse for health and longevity than missing a little shut-eye.

I suppose I am a 6.5-7 hour person provided that I haven't had any recent shortages of sleep. When I sleep has always mattered more to me than how much. I feel like a complete loser if I'm out of bed later than 730am no matter how tired I am. In recent years I've not always had first shift so If I go to bed at 1AM then I'm a total zombie getting up at 530-600am. Furthermore since marrying six years ago, we discovered I am more of a morning person where she would rather be up late. Dovetailing on what Rich said, sleep requirements are probably distributed in a standard way. Sleep patterns can be trained. I also submit there is a vast difference in some people in how much they actually sleep a night as opposed to when the go to bed and get up. For me, the time difference is fifteen minutes at most. For DW, the difference is often much longer.

In the end I find specific sleep recommendations from pre-20th century folk nearly useless though general cautions again being a sluggard and oversleeping as well as being a good steward of our body still apply. The prevalence of modern lighting, economics, shift work and so forth make things different in many respects.

 

[Edward]

Major kudos to the pithy response!

You should make that 'major kudos to an inaccurate response'. Yankees apparently don't study history. As I noted above, he wasn't shot in the chest. Now, if you wanted to say that the doctors killed him, you might be able to make a case. But he died from pneumonia, which preys on folks with weakened immune systems, and lack of sleep has been medically shown to weaken the immune system. So before you all discount my post with a chuckle, you might want to look at the facts.

 

[Edward]

I heard that Calvin slept only 4 hours a night.

And he was 54 when he died. So the lesson is: if you want to live as long as Calvin, cut back on your sleep.

Calvin didn't die because of lack of sleep.

T.A

Didn't Beza say that he was ‘exhausted by labour’? Might not his chronic health problems been exacerbated by his lack of rest?

 

[SolaScriptura]

When I was in seminary I remember Al Mohler saying something about sleeping 4-5 hours per night. Every night. I remember thinking that he looked like he needed more sleep (big bags under his eyes, etc).

I usually get between 6-7 hours per night. Some mornings I jump up after 5 and I'm ready to go, other days I feel drained after a full night. Maybe I have sleep apnea.

 

[NaphtaliPress]

Let's give this topic a rest.