How Understanding Sleep Mechanics Helped Me

Some time ago I read about the mechanics of sleep and ever since I’ve still slept in a lot.

Apparently you have to do something with knowledge or it’s of no use. Crazy.

No really, it has helped. I don’t remember the article I read, but it was back in July I think. I’ve slept in plenty of mornings since then, but I have noticed that waking up is significantly easier when I set my alarm to go off after 6 hours of sleep instead of 7, 7 1/2 instead of 8, etc.

So today I called a friend at 9:30 AM. He answered almost right away. He said he went to bed at 3:30 AM.

So, a sleep cycle is 90 minutes. 3:30 AM to 9:30 AM was only 6 hours of sleep, but it was right on the 90 minute cycle. He told me he was going to wake up at 10:30, and that I should call him then. Problem is, 10:30 AM was 30 minutes before the next cycle ended, so naturally he’d sleep right through his alarm.

I didn’t actually call at 10:30, but I figure he probably turned off his alarm when it went off and so by 11 when the sleep cycle ended he kept on sleeping. I tried calling several times around 12 PM with no answer. The next cycle should be ending right about now.

Dang it. No answer after 5 attempts. The sleep cycle can be 90-110 minutes. I’ll try again in a few minutes. This is fun!

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3 Responses to “How Understanding Sleep Mechanics Helped Me”

  1. Beth Says:

    That is very interesting. I’m going to try it out.

  2. Comrade Smack Says:

    Is it possible that he’s ignoring you?

  3. Ryan Says:

    Possible, but he rarely does that. Also, we’ve been friends for something like 15+ years so it’s not really probable.

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