Are 8 Hours of Sleep Really Necessary?
SELF magazine
You know you should be getting 7-9 hours of sleep every day -- but who says it has to happen during one marathon snoozing session?
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David K. Randall, author of Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, points to a growing body of evidence suggesting that getting enough "deep" sleep during the course of the day -- rather than in one eight-hour chunk -- might be just as beneficial from a performance point of view. For example, taking a "power nap" at work (if it's OK with your boss!) might be just as restorative as sleeping peacefully all night long.
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Here's something else to sleep on: In today's 24-7 work environment, with phones and various other gadgets beeping at all hours, this advice might be more realistic for many of us. In fact, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 41 million people in the United States get six hours or fewer of sleep a night.
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Do you ever break up your sleep into smaller chunks? Or do you need 7-9 consecutive hours to feel like a human being in the morning (as opposed to a cranky $#^$%)?
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