Henry
Autoexreginated
OK, It's Time for this. Heed this advice!
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By Piratecat
For people driving and gaming on short sleep:
1. Most people need 8 hours of sleep to be well-rested. When you're getting less than that (as most people do), you're far more likely to suffer from something called "microsleeps." The less sleep you've had, the more likely it is that you'll experience these.
2. Microsleeps are periods when a wave of sleep washes over you, for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Often times, you may not even realize that you've been technically asleep; these can happen while your eyes are open. Don't remember the last five minutes of your drive, or your attention is wandering to things that aren't the road? You're suffering from microsleeps.
3. At these times, your reaction time absolutely sucks. If you're on a flat straight empty road, you'll hopefully be okay. If the guy in front of you hits his brakes, though, you'll never be able to react in time. It's incredibly dangerous.
4. When you feel this starting to happen, pull the car over off the road and take a ten minute nap. Cold air, a blasting radio - these provide only momentary (and miniscule) boosts to your alertness. A short "power nap" is the only thing that will raise your alertness in the short term. Ten or fifteen minutes of shuteye will help you stay awake for the next 1-2 hours. Even caffeine isn't a great solution, although it can help in the short run. If you're falling asleep during a game, a 5 minute break with your eyes closed can help, as well.
5. Remember, sleepiness comes in waves; you may be fine, then 20 minutes later you're ready to keel over. Sleep-related accidents are much more likely to occur with folks who have been up all night, then who drive farther than 20 minutes. The presence of daylight helps a great deal with your alertness, which is why the vast majority of fatigue-related accidents happen between 1am to 6 am, especially right around dawn.
6. Regarding reaction time and the ability to reason logically - studies have shown that after 20 hours without sleep (assuming a morning wake-up time), your performance is equivalent to someone with a .08 blood alcohol level. After 24 hours with no sleep, performance and mental acuity is equivalent to .10 - legally drunk. See, there's a reason you make stupid decisions when tired! And you don't want to know about how you do when you're tired AND drunk. If you're sleep-deprived, keep this in mind when thinking about what you're doing, especially if you have to drive.
7. Short naps (10-15 minutes, 20 minutes max) are great for short-term alertness boosts. Long naps (2-3 hours) are even better; they give you restorative sleep and can keep you going another 6-10 hours. Stay away from 1-hour naps. Due to the way your sleep patterns run, a 1-hour nap will often leave you feeling groggy and tired, when a shorter or longer nap will not. Neat, huh?
8. The amount of alertness you gain after 5 hours of sleep is significantly higher than the amount you gain after 4 hours. If you have a choice, you'll be a lot happier with that extra hour.
9. More than 3 cups of coffee (or doses of caffeine) doesn't make you any more alert; it just makes you more anxious, irritable and prone to stress. Keep your coffee intake spaced out, don't overdue it, and remember that caffeine stays really active in your body for roughly four hours after drinking it. If you try to sleep when caffeinated, your sleep quality will stink; for that reason, try to time your caffeine intake so that you stop drinking caffeine 3-4 hours before your anticipated bedtime.
There a ton more information that may help, but this is a decent fast primer. Be aware of your drowsiness when driving, and watch out for that mental sluggishness - recognizing it in time may be the best thing you do this weekend.
- Pielorinho, remember that 5-6 am is the worst, right around dawn. Be especially careful then. If you're well-rested when you start your drive, you should be okay.
- A few people need less sleep than normal, but don't expect that you're one of them! The vast majority of folks require 7-8 hours in order to be well-rested. Do people always get this much? Of course not. When you're getting less than that on a regular basis, you become habitually sleep deprived. You may feel normal, but you'll drop off to sleep at odd times, and you'll be a lot more irritable than normal. You'll also find yourself getting sick more often, because fatigue will depress your immune system.
- Meepo, that's exactly right - although as Christian mentioned, the body runs on a 90-110 minute cycle for most people. During that time you'll slip from light sleep (stage 1 and 2) into deep sleep (stages 3 and 4), back up into light sleep again, and you'll dream (REM sleep). You ever wake up early and feel great, drowse back off, and wake up again feeling incredibly groggy? That's because you slipped back down into deep sleep. Everyone differs a little, but sleeping in multiples of 90 minutes (tweaked as you recognize your own patterns) is a good way to make sure you wake up feeling well rested.
- dave_o, the least amount of sleep with close-to-normal functioning? Two 2-hour naps per day, spaced 12 hours apart. You'll be tired, but it can keep you going efficiently for quite some time; it's what we recommend to emergency workers. The important thing is doing 2 per day, and not one 4-hour block, because the longer you go without sleep the worse off you become.
- Cthulhu's Librarian, if you want to take an afternoon nap, shoot for the siesta hour (1-2 pm). Your body is naturally sleepy at that time of day anyways, so you might as well use that to your advantage.
- Vivictus, the light-headedness could be from fatigue, although it's a little odd for it to manifest that way. Does it happen when you're well rested?
Think of sleep like a bank. When you're well-rested, you can draw from your sleep bank and make it through a night or two with less sleep than normal. After one or two nights, though, your bank account is dry - and the fatigue begins to catch up with you in other ways. Luckily, you don't have to pay it back on a 1-for-1 basis, as one good night's sleep will replenish your reserves.
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By Piratecat
For people driving and gaming on short sleep:
1. Most people need 8 hours of sleep to be well-rested. When you're getting less than that (as most people do), you're far more likely to suffer from something called "microsleeps." The less sleep you've had, the more likely it is that you'll experience these.
2. Microsleeps are periods when a wave of sleep washes over you, for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Often times, you may not even realize that you've been technically asleep; these can happen while your eyes are open. Don't remember the last five minutes of your drive, or your attention is wandering to things that aren't the road? You're suffering from microsleeps.
3. At these times, your reaction time absolutely sucks. If you're on a flat straight empty road, you'll hopefully be okay. If the guy in front of you hits his brakes, though, you'll never be able to react in time. It's incredibly dangerous.
4. When you feel this starting to happen, pull the car over off the road and take a ten minute nap. Cold air, a blasting radio - these provide only momentary (and miniscule) boosts to your alertness. A short "power nap" is the only thing that will raise your alertness in the short term. Ten or fifteen minutes of shuteye will help you stay awake for the next 1-2 hours. Even caffeine isn't a great solution, although it can help in the short run. If you're falling asleep during a game, a 5 minute break with your eyes closed can help, as well.
5. Remember, sleepiness comes in waves; you may be fine, then 20 minutes later you're ready to keel over. Sleep-related accidents are much more likely to occur with folks who have been up all night, then who drive farther than 20 minutes. The presence of daylight helps a great deal with your alertness, which is why the vast majority of fatigue-related accidents happen between 1am to 6 am, especially right around dawn.
6. Regarding reaction time and the ability to reason logically - studies have shown that after 20 hours without sleep (assuming a morning wake-up time), your performance is equivalent to someone with a .08 blood alcohol level. After 24 hours with no sleep, performance and mental acuity is equivalent to .10 - legally drunk. See, there's a reason you make stupid decisions when tired! And you don't want to know about how you do when you're tired AND drunk. If you're sleep-deprived, keep this in mind when thinking about what you're doing, especially if you have to drive.
7. Short naps (10-15 minutes, 20 minutes max) are great for short-term alertness boosts. Long naps (2-3 hours) are even better; they give you restorative sleep and can keep you going another 6-10 hours. Stay away from 1-hour naps. Due to the way your sleep patterns run, a 1-hour nap will often leave you feeling groggy and tired, when a shorter or longer nap will not. Neat, huh?
8. The amount of alertness you gain after 5 hours of sleep is significantly higher than the amount you gain after 4 hours. If you have a choice, you'll be a lot happier with that extra hour.
9. More than 3 cups of coffee (or doses of caffeine) doesn't make you any more alert; it just makes you more anxious, irritable and prone to stress. Keep your coffee intake spaced out, don't overdue it, and remember that caffeine stays really active in your body for roughly four hours after drinking it. If you try to sleep when caffeinated, your sleep quality will stink; for that reason, try to time your caffeine intake so that you stop drinking caffeine 3-4 hours before your anticipated bedtime.
There a ton more information that may help, but this is a decent fast primer. Be aware of your drowsiness when driving, and watch out for that mental sluggishness - recognizing it in time may be the best thing you do this weekend.
- Pielorinho, remember that 5-6 am is the worst, right around dawn. Be especially careful then. If you're well-rested when you start your drive, you should be okay.
- A few people need less sleep than normal, but don't expect that you're one of them! The vast majority of folks require 7-8 hours in order to be well-rested. Do people always get this much? Of course not. When you're getting less than that on a regular basis, you become habitually sleep deprived. You may feel normal, but you'll drop off to sleep at odd times, and you'll be a lot more irritable than normal. You'll also find yourself getting sick more often, because fatigue will depress your immune system.
- Meepo, that's exactly right - although as Christian mentioned, the body runs on a 90-110 minute cycle for most people. During that time you'll slip from light sleep (stage 1 and 2) into deep sleep (stages 3 and 4), back up into light sleep again, and you'll dream (REM sleep). You ever wake up early and feel great, drowse back off, and wake up again feeling incredibly groggy? That's because you slipped back down into deep sleep. Everyone differs a little, but sleeping in multiples of 90 minutes (tweaked as you recognize your own patterns) is a good way to make sure you wake up feeling well rested.
- dave_o, the least amount of sleep with close-to-normal functioning? Two 2-hour naps per day, spaced 12 hours apart. You'll be tired, but it can keep you going efficiently for quite some time; it's what we recommend to emergency workers. The important thing is doing 2 per day, and not one 4-hour block, because the longer you go without sleep the worse off you become.
- Cthulhu's Librarian, if you want to take an afternoon nap, shoot for the siesta hour (1-2 pm). Your body is naturally sleepy at that time of day anyways, so you might as well use that to your advantage.
- Vivictus, the light-headedness could be from fatigue, although it's a little odd for it to manifest that way. Does it happen when you're well rested?
Think of sleep like a bank. When you're well-rested, you can draw from your sleep bank and make it through a night or two with less sleep than normal. After one or two nights, though, your bank account is dry - and the fatigue begins to catch up with you in other ways. Luckily, you don't have to pay it back on a 1-for-1 basis, as one good night's sleep will replenish your reserves.
