Chantal (41): “No matter how tired I am, I wake up every morning around three o’clock. In the past I sometimes turned over and sometimes fell asleep with great difficulty. Then I woke up a few hours later. It sounds crazy to many people, but I simply feel better when I sleep 4 to 5 hours. I wake up refreshed, without an alarm clock and then even have a few hours of me-time until my children wake up. What else do you want?
Short sleep
I’ve never needed much sleep. As a teenager, I would happily go out until the early hours, only to be back at my bedside around nine o’clock in the morning feeling refreshed and refreshed. I didn’t feel like sleeping through the day at all. I’d rather do something fun. Friends were often jealous that I had the energy for that.
Me-time in bed
My parents were always short sleepers too. We kept a strict breakfast, lunch, dinner and sleep schedule at home. That’s still there. I eat my first meal at 7am, my second at noon, my third at 5pm and I go to bed at 10pm. If I deviate from my schedule for even twenty minutes, my body is in a terrible state of disarray and I may not sleep at all for a night. That’s why I prefer to limit my nights out these days. If I go out for dinner, I make sure I get to bed on time. I try to go upstairs at the same time as my kids to get ready for the night. My husband often comes along and watches TV a little longer before going to sleep. It sounds unpleasant, but for me it has a lot of advantages. By sleeping from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. as standard, my body has a perfect biological rhythm. I am never tired, sleep deeply and peacefully and have three to four hours more during the day than the average person, time that I can devote entirely to myself.
Twenty hours in a day
After waking up, I always take a moment to meditate or watch a series. I love being able to calm down for a moment in the morning. It is a luxury that few mothers with young children have. Furthermore, by starting early I can also work some extra hours or end my working day a little earlier. I have that freedom with my own business. Even with almost twenty hours in a day, I still regularly feel like I don’t have enough time.
One long night a year
People sometimes wonder out loud whether four to five hours of sleep a night is good for you. I have no idea, all I know is that it works perfectly for me. I think a body can sense when it is tired and needs sleep. Some people can be very concerned about their nighttime rhythm and think they are bad sleepers if they wake up during the night, have interrupted or short sleep. It just helps me to go with what my body tells me and not to force my sleeping hours. If I consistently wake up after a few hours, I think there is no problem. I feel fit and am rarely tired. Once a year I suddenly sleep a ten-hour night. Does my body suddenly need to refuel? Maybe. All I know is that after such a long night I feel a lot less well than after my nights of a few hours. So I like to maintain that sleep rhythm!”
Wonderful short nights
Vanessa (44) is also a short sleeper: “Sometimes my day starts at twelve o’clock at night. Yes really. Whether I go to sleep at eight, nine, ten or eleven o’clock: after four o’clock I wake up and I am fresh enough to start the day. I often just grab my laptop and go to work. I love that: by the time my husband and children wake up, I have already done my entire working day. Sometimes I read an educational book and other times I feel like relaxing for a while and watch a Netflix series. I love those short nights. Mornings alone are a gift.
Fitter than ever
When I was breastfeeding, I went out three times a night with ease. I didn’t find anything intense about it. At the first sound I was standing next to my bed. The next day I was rarely tired. It’s in my blood, as a child I was very active and liked to have short nights. For a long time I wondered whether my sleep rhythm was healthy. I went to the doctor, was prescribed sleeping medication and actually slept longer nights. I didn’t feel any better, especially lethargic during that period. After an accident led me to the neurologist and had to take a sleep test, the truth came out. “You just sleep very deeply,” the neurologist told me. “With such a deep sleep and your condition, a four-hour night is sufficient.”
Since I no longer fight against my short sleep rhythm, I feel fitter than ever. I fall asleep quickly, sleep deeply and wake up rested not much later. The quiet mornings are wonderful. I always start my day in peace. Very occasionally I sleep in when it unexpectedly gets late in the evening. Despite my short nights, I have absolutely no trouble staying up. I like to do something fun in the evening and then go to bed later. In the end it doesn’t matter: four hours later I wake up without an alarm clock.
People are jealous
People are sometimes jealous of me and I understand that. It’s a blessing to have such a short sleep. I have a lot of time for myself, a lot of time in my day and a lot of energy to do everything I want. While years ago I thought I had a sleeping problem, I now experience my sleep rhythm as something positive.”
Short sleep: how (un)healthy is that actually?
We asked a somnologist – sleep expert Alexander van Daele.
Alexander van Daele: “Consistently sleeping four hours is not good for you. At least, not for most. Only a tiny percentage of people can survive on less than six hours of sleep per night. For most adults, between seven and eight hours is sufficient.
Yet the number of hours we sleep is not something we should hold on to too tightly. We often have in our heads how many hours we want or need to sleep to feel rested. The quality of our sleep is more important than the number of hours we sleep. In addition, the amount of sleep you really need, your sleep need, is different for everyone. The most important indicator of sufficient sleep is how you feel during the day and whether you can function properly. The distinction between fatigue and drowsiness is important.
Fatigue can manifest itself in being easily distracted at work or not being able to do anything. This can have various causes, such as constant stress or chronic pain. This is therefore not always caused by too little sleep.
Anyone who consistently sleeps too little, and therefore suffers from sleep deprivation, will suffer from drowsiness. This is caused by excessive sleep pressure and manifests itself in falling asleep during the day, for example during a meeting, behind the computer or, worse, behind the wheel. Falling asleep on the couch in the early evening is also a sign of excessive sleep pressure. Does that bother you? Then you probably sleep too little and it is worth investigating where your sleep deprivation comes from.
Chronic sleep deprivation is not good for you. Your brain needs sufficient – and good quality – sleep at night to process events from the day. Your brain cells also need enough sleep to recover, so that they can function properly again during the day. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to all kinds of psychological disorders.
Try not to change your sleep rhythm too much. As nice as it is to have more hours in your day, if you need a lot of sleep, then so be it. You don’t make yourself a short sleeper by training yourself. Just as you can’t change yourself from a night person to a morning person or vice versa. Nowadays, with all the screens, 5-hour challenges and morning routines, we have almost forgotten how to do it, but simply try to listen a little more to when your body feels sleepy and awake. The mechanism that regulates our sleep is very strong. Try to trust this.”
Curious about more useful tips on how to improve the quality of your sleep? You can find this in the book Never sleep again.
2024-03-08 10:57:00
#Chantal #Vanessa #sleep #hours #night #year #sleep #night #hours
