Is the 6 to 8 rule a load of crapola?

[skyfire_freckles]

No.

So you are what, about, 20?

High school students really should be getting closer to 10.

College age folk seem to make due with far less.

As soon as I hit 27, i need that full 8 hours, or I become nonfunctional after a couple days of undersleeping. When I was in college, I routinely slept for about 4.

Another big deal is sleep cycles. You have multiple sleep cycles your body goes through each night. My cycles are about 3 hours long. I would (before I got old) typically feel better after 6 hours of sleep than after 8, because waking up at 8 hours interupted the third cycle. I also feel like shit after waking up in the middle of a dream. That is cycle interruption, and it sucks.

I think my cycles are 2 hours long, because 4, 6 and 8 hours are all better for me than 7.

I've also found as I've gotten older, not that I need more sleep, but that I need to sleep more regularly. I can't go without sleep all night and expect to feel fine the next day. I've got to get in at least a couple of hours to function.

It's also about what you're used to. I used to go to bed at 11p or midnight and get up at 5a to make my guy some coffee and hang out before he had to go to work. 5 or 6 hours of sleep was okay. I had a cup of coffee in the morning, just one, and I was fine all day. Then he got laid off and we laid around soaking up unemployment, and I found myself much more tired, probably because I was less active.

 

[la-le-lu-li-lo]

It's pretty subjective, there will always be exceptions to the rule.
But generally, research shows 6-8 hours is the ideal amount of sleep for optimal brain performance.

Blah, blah, blah.