How Much Sleep Does One Really Need?

[SimpleGuy]

Hearing about business-type man like Trump or other guys who sleep like 4,5,6 hours a day makes me really think every time that I do something wrong. Now I read Ben Franklin`s autobiography and he slept 7 hours (at least he stayed in bed for 7 hours). I stay in bed for 10 hours nowadays. The real sleep I get is around 8 hours.

Are those people who sleep that much really need just that amount of sleep or they just forced themselves to sleep for 4 hours and then their body acclimated to it (but still their body tells them they need to sleep)?

Is this amount of sleep really enough?

[Sugarcoat]

I think it’s based on how you feel. If you feel energetically stable throughout the day without excessive caffeine or if you’re in mania or something then it shows you’ve gotten enough sleep. 
 

It’s hard to lie to yourself, when you feel tired you’re most likely gonna feel it. And it’s the first sign of sleep deprivation, other less obvious health effects come later so tiredness is the easiest predictor 

I have recently changed into going to bed exactly 8 hours before waking. So I’m getting a bit less than 8 hours of sleep because it takes a little time to fall asleep. I’m gonna try and see how I feel.

I think you could just experiment with it, if you wanna save time it’s good idea, then if you feel good you know it’s enough

One tip tho is to reduce stress level as much as possible because the more peaceful you are the more restoration your body gets throughout the day and you’ll need a bit less sleep

Edited Monday at 08:07 PM by Sugarcoat

[Jannes]

Genetics plays a big role in it and some of these guys are forced into it.

Generally skipping sleep is bad advice, it makes you less productive the whole day so there is no net increase to your productivity. 

[Optimized Life]

7-9 Hours is backed by research to be the typical range that an large majority of the population requires. 

Outliers can sleep 4-6 hours and feel fine. 

However, there are also MANY factors that impact how good you feel 

I would rather stack all the ideal lifestyle factors (sub-tropical yearly climate, sunlight/UV, good environment, surrounded by nature ect..) AND Purpose/Goal > and sleep 7-7.5 Hours, vs sleep 8-10 hours and sacrifice any of those factors. 

These lifestyle factors also MASSIVELY impact sleep quality. Gd lifestyle/Sleep quality + 7 Hours > low quality 9 hours and high stress, UV deficiency 

Honestly I doubt that most people even can sleep more than 7.5-8 hours anyway unless they're catching up from deprivation or alcohol use. 

My gut feeling says 7 hours (as your median value over time) is the minimum threshold for MOST people otherwise you experience noticeable costs in mental & physical functions, which compound over time. 

Sleeping 5-6 hours occasionally is fine and minor, but every day? That will fuck a lot of people up. 

Chances are you're not in the genetic mutation outlier group, or you wouldn't even be making this post. 

Edited Tuesday at 01:09 AM by Optimized Life

[Hojo]

Its just how ever much you feel. Trump sleeps more than 6 hours i gurantee you.

Edited Tuesday at 01:15 AM by Hojo

[LukeZ]

From some anecdotes meditation can reduce how much sleep you need. Like 20 mins of meditation = 40 mins of sleep. I believe some research showed improvements in sleep quality too but I'd have to double check.

[Leo Gura]

Most humans need 8 hrs.

That 4-6 hrs stuff is nonsense unless you are a genetic freak.

Your body tells you exactly how much you need. There is no cheating that.

If you do not get enough sleep you are literally giving yourself brain damage.

If you do hardcore meditation or kriya yoga you can reduce the number in a healthy way, but you will be doing hours of yoga per day, so you can't use that for work.

Edited Tuesday at 04:38 AM by Leo Gura

[Ramasta9]

There is no "fixed" how much, everyone is unique and different, and lifestyle, diet, environment play big roles here.

In my experience the more you eat, the more stressed and out of alignment you are, and especially if your living in a toxic or draining environment and lifestyle that's not serving you, the more sleep you need. I sleep anywhere from 4 - 8 hours depending on those ^ factors. 

The best i ever felt in my life i was averaging 2 - 4 hours of sleep a day, mostly living in my tent, hiking, eating berries and meditating ect... I was so nourished by the environment and minimalist lifestyle, bathing in healing forests, i would recharge in a fraction of the time.

In the city and more stressful environments I need more sleep, maybe 6 - 8hours, and when i eat less, its less, when i fast its even less.

Many things come into play, listen to your body and intuition.

[SimpleGuy]

Thank you guys for advice! Rhyme time

[Optimized Life]

On 02/12/2025 at 0:13 PM, Ramasta9 said:

The best i ever felt in my life i was averaging 2 - 4 hours of sleep a day

Either you're a liar or you're an insane genetic outlier. NO normal person feels best on 4 hours. 

[SimpleGuy]

2 minutes ago, Optimized Life said:

Either you're a liar or you're an insane genetic outlier. NO normal person feels best on 4 hours. 

Average actualized.org user.

[Optimized Life]

4 minutes ago, SimpleGuy said:

Average actualized.org user.

Fully backed up by research that humans need 7-9 Hours sleep 

You can also just intuitvely sense this if you haven't been living in a cave youre entire life and interact with humans. 

You're the average deluded spiritual ego user on here, not me 

[SimpleGuy]

16 minutes ago, Optimized Life said:

Fully backed up by research that humans need 7-9 Hours sleep 

You can also just intuitvely sense this if you haven't been living in a cave youre entire life and interact with humans. 

You're the average deluded spiritual ego user on here, not me 

Glasses man, that was just a joke. Of course people need 8 hours