I have had a long, deep love affair with sleep my entire life. As a teenager, I rarely got out of bed without hitting the snooze button multiple times and being reprimanded by my mother repeatedly. In college, things got even worse. I lived in a room with no windows that we christened “the cave.” My dear friend Heidi had to drag me out of bed for class almost every day. Sadly, this happened even on the days when classes did not start until 11:20. To this day, my bed is my safe, comfy, high-thread-count cocoon where I could happily stay until noon each day, were it not for the kids/job/etc.
I often think that if I could only get by on less sleep, I could be so much more productive and efficient. I could work out before the kids woke up; I could actually set the table for breakfast; I could shower before work. My hubby doesn’t understand it; he is fine as long as he gets 4 or 5 hours uninterrupted. As for me, I need a good 8 hours; 9 is better; 10 is heaven on earth.
I feel guilty about my need for sleep, like I am wasting valuable time that could be better spent doing almost anything else. It also seems like our culture places a higher value on the need for less sleep. In other words, if you need a lot of sleep you are considered lazy. If you don’t need much sleep you are considered motivated, energetic, and basically superior. Although I did just read somewhere that Albert Einstein needed 10 hours of sleep per night. Next time hubby criticizes me I am going to throw that one at him!
What about you? Do you need a lot of sleep or can you get by on 4 hours with no issues?