How many hours of sleep a night do you average?

[TangoDown]

I stated having frequent bouts of insomnia over the past couple months. My thyroid is fine, so I've been doing all that I can to mitigate the issue with varied results (dim lights before bed, read, fan to cool room, going to bed early).

I still manage around 6-6.5 hours of sleep a night. A lot better than before but still not optimal.

As I am mildly neurotic (as I'm sure you all are to a varying degree), I am peeved at the notion that my attention span and memory may and probably is regressing as a result.

So to take stock with my peers who are doing well and maybe mitigate my own neurosis (if that's possible lol), how many hours of sleep do you generally get a night?

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[cerno]

I have been trying to get 7-9 hours a sleep a night with very few exceptions.

I'd say I hit that range 8 out of 10 nights. Around 1 night I'll sleep in longer than that and 1 night less.

 

[mimelim]

4-6 depending on schedule. I'd say median is about 4 hours 45min.

 

[Guero]

I stated having frequent bouts of insomnia over the past couple months. My thyroid is fine, so I've been doing all that I can to mitigate the issue with varied results (dim lights before bed, read, fan to cool room, going to bed early).

I still manage around 6-6.5 hours of sleep a night. A lot better than before but still not optimal.

As I am mildly neurotic (as I'm sure you all are to a varying degree), I am peeved at the notion that my attention span and memory may and probably is regressing as a result.

So to take stock with my peers who are doing well and maybe mitigate my own neurosis (if that's possible lol), how many hours of sleep do you generally get a night?

During college, I averaged 8 hrs a night (which includes frequent all nighters and just catching up during the day after testing or turning in that assignment). During post-bac while working full time I averaged 5 hrs a night or less during the week and 12+ on the weekends. Now, I average about 6.5 hrs a night during the week and 10-12 on the weekend.

Do you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both? I tend to feel so refreshed on the weekends when I compensate for my sleep debt...

 

[BLACKMD]

I sleep average of 5 hours during week nights then crash for 10-12 hours on weekend nights. Unhealthy? Yes.

 

[ih371990]

8 hrs in highschool, 10-12 hrs in college (sometimes with naps).
Gap year w/ work: 7

 

[Guero]

8 hrs in highschool, 10-12 hrs in college (sometimes with naps).
Gap year w/ work: 7

I miss naps, so bad!

 

[ih371990]

Ya naps are pretty awesome

 

[Silverflash]

Probably ~5 hours a night on average, except on weekends where I get like 12. >_>

It can vary wildly though. Two nights ago I had my heaviest load I've ever had because I procrastinated, so I got no sleep. Last night to make up for it I got 11.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

I get about 6 - 7. I can function with 3 - 4, but those are pretty miserable days.

 

[eggs13]

In college I would get an average of 8. During my gap year now I get about the same.

 

[iforget2]

I get about 6:30 on average and might require a 20 minute nap. I wish I could find a way to get used to consistently get 6 hours a night without feeling so tired in the mornings though

 

[chopes31]

Usually about 9, rarely less than 8

 

[Aerus]

4-5 hours per night. On weekends, it ranges from 3-14 hours, depending on if I have to volunteer that weekend or not.

 

[OMGMike]

You pre-meds getting under 6 hours are crazy! College isn't that time-consuming... I managed to get 7-8 on average in college.

 

[DocGodfather]

I'm averaging about 5-6 hours. With classes, MCAT, volunteering, and applications coming up, those number will be cut by an hour or so.

 

[Aerus]

You pre-meds getting under 6 hours are crazy! College isn't that time-consuming... I managed to get 7-8 on average in college.

It depends what you make of college. If you're taking tons of classes, trying to get a super high GPA (3.8+), doing a million extracurricular activities fully (and not half assing them), AND doing fun things (going out with friends, doing sports, going to the gym, partying, or playing video games, etc.) then it becomes pretty time consuming.

 

[phunky]

7-8. Never take naps tho.

 

[Disinence2]

As much as I possibly can.

Usually anywhere from 3 - 12

 

[JustinD]

8-9 hours a day. If I get anything below 8 I take a 20 minute nap that day.

The life of a community college student

 

[Guero]

As much as I possibly can.

Usually anywhere from 3 - 12

Best answer, hands-down. LoL

 

[GopherMD]

Between 5-10 hours. 5-7 on workdays and 9+ on the weekends/days off (like today!)

 

[LiveLoveLearn]

5-7 a night right now (working full time, commuting, working out occassionaly and trying to have a little bit of a life)

During both of my college experiences I got 4-6 hours a night during the week, some ridiculous amount on the week-ends and napped frequently.

I definitely felt more tired in college than I do now, even though I think that I was probably getting more sleep, overall, in college. Routine is the biggest deal for me.

Background on multiple college experiences (in case your interested):
1st college experience: accounting and finance major with a full-time job and an overly active social life
2nd college experience (after working for 4 years): picked up a Biology degree with only science courses to take (15 - 19 hours a semester of just science courses), running (to keep me sane), volunteering, studying for MCAT, and a tiny bit of a social life

 

[pachewisc]

During college: ~6.5 each night
My current "gap semester": 9+

 

[milkphlegm]

Now that I only work, about 8-10. However, when I was studying for my MCAT or in school, about 5-6. Naps whenever possible ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours, haha.

 

[burbbs]

In college I probably slept 8 hours a night...woke up for class at 10 but then decided to skip it and then took a 4 hour nap at 10am...so...I probably got 12 hours a sleep a night

Now on my year off...12 too haha

 

[MedBound1]

College: If I didn't get 8-10 hours it was completely my fault and had nothing to do with studying or productive commitments.

Med School: Weeknights: 2-6 hours avg ~4.5-5, Weekends: 8

 

[Iso4ane]

Like I always say, there are three thing, Study, Socialization, and Sleep, you can only choose two. Well I didn't like the rest of my classmates in undergrad so that choice was simple, I usually got around eight hours of sleep a night. And only once or twice ever pulled an all-nighter in ugrad.

 

[Narmerguy]

Like I always say, there are three thing, Study, Socialization, and Sleep, you can only choose two. Well I didn't like the rest of my classmates in undergrad so that choice was simple, I usually got around eight hours of sleep a night. And only once or twice ever pulled an all-nighter in ugrad.

Nah that's not really true. I got all three in college after I realized how wasteful I was Freshman year. The mistake people often make is trying to merge socialization with studying (or sleeping while supposedly studying). People can "study" for 3 hours and actually only have gotten 1 productive hour during that time. In a 24 hour day, even if you slept 8 hours every day, that leaves ~16 for miscellaneous activities. Even if you worked 10 hours a day for a 70-hour work week (and let's be real, who actually does this?), you've got 6 hours to hang out or do whatever each day.

There's more than enough time for almost everyone to get 8 hours of sleep if they want to. Some people choose not to, which is fine, but that's very different from just flat out being too busy.

 

[wizedw]

I've never once pulled an all nighter to do work. I hit a point where I'm not learning and I just go to bed. I get like 9 hours a night

 

[MelonMan]

Download the sleep cycle app duh

 

[Carrie Bradshaw]

5-6

 

[TangoDown]

Download the sleep cycle app duh

Not everyone has an iPhone.

 

[rain4venus]

Even if you worked 10 hours a day for a 70-hour work week (and let's be real, who actually does this?), you've got 6 hours to hang out or do whatever each day.

I don't know...In a week I usually had 16-20 hours of classes plus 4-10 hours of labs, plus 10-15 hours of research and 10ish hours of work. Plus I usually had just enough time between classes that I couldn't really do anything useful. At least an hour of walking every day. More if I went back to my dorm even once in the day. If I'd studied just 2 hours a day that would put me over the 70 hours a week during a busy semester. I don't think my situation is all that unusual. And according to traditional wisdom I should have been studying like 3-4 times that much, right?

I think people in general (not just in school, but in real life too) forget all the time that gets eaten up during the day. I work 8.5 hours (including 30 min lunch) in a day, but this actually means it's 10.5 hours between when I get up in the morning and when I get back home in the afternoon. And that's not counting any time for showering (which I do at night), cooking, or other chores. If I slept 8 hours in a day, I'd have like 3.5 hours in a day to do all the things that aren't on the daily schedule - laundry, cleaning, paying bills, whatever. So if I was responsible, I'd only have like an hour left over for fun stuff. Clearly I'm not that responsible...

So to answer the OP, I usually sleep 2-4 hours before I work, and nap 1-3 hours. I average about 4 hours of sleep on the days I work and probably 10 hours for my days off. So over a week, I'm probably averaging 6 hours a night. Some people may say it's unhealthy, but I feel better and have more energy than when I was sleeping 8-10 hours every night so I'm not worried about it right now.


TL;DR: There's lots of time that gets wasted in the day that you have little to no control over (showering, cooking, travel time, etc...)

 

[eosinophil14]

Even if you worked 10 hours a day for a 70-hour work week (and let's be real, who actually does this?), you've got 6 hours to hang out or do whatever each day.

I do! I used to sleep 6-8 in undergrad but now I work 2 FTEs (80 hours/week) for the same health care system during my gap year. I average 3-5 hours of sleep and sleep heavy on my days off (9-12 hours). My night job is in the ED but my day job is fairly flexible/mobile and I try to work at home unless I have to go to where the pt is- I get to do a lot of the things I need to take care of usually when I work at home. No hanging out, just paying down the mortgage and college loans

 

[Frazier]

6-8 hours per day.

7 hours seems to be the sweet spot.

Hope to keep it the same during MS1, MS2.

 

[Doctor Strange]

But wait, I feel like I've seen this topic already.

Oh.

I have.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=992708

 

[mimelim]

I don't know...In a week I usually had 16-20 hours of classes plus 4-10 hours of labs, plus 10-15 hours of research and 10ish hours of work. Plus I usually had just enough time between classes that I couldn't really do anything useful. At least an hour of walking every day. More if I went back to my dorm even once in the day. If I'd studied just 2 hours a day that would put me over the 70 hours a week during a busy semester. I don't think my situation is all that unusual. And according to traditional wisdom I should have been studying like 3-4 times that much, right?

I think people in general (not just in school, but in real life too) forget all the time that gets eaten up during the day. I work 8.5 hours (including 30 min lunch) in a day, but this actually means it's 10.5 hours between when I get up in the morning and when I get back home in the afternoon. And that's not counting any time for showering (which I do at night), cooking, or other chores. If I slept 8 hours in a day, I'd have like 3.5 hours in a day to do all the things that aren't on the daily schedule - laundry, cleaning, paying bills, whatever. So if I was responsible, I'd only have like an hour left over for fun stuff. Clearly I'm not that responsible...

So to answer the OP, I usually sleep 2-4 hours before I work, and nap 1-3 hours. I average about 4 hours of sleep on the days I work and probably 10 hours for my days off. So over a week, I'm probably averaging 6 hours a night. Some people may say it's unhealthy, but I feel better and have more energy than when I was sleeping 8-10 hours every night so I'm not worried about it right now.


TL;DR: There's lots of time that gets wasted in the day that you have little to no control over (showering, cooking, travel time, etc...)

I disagree. It takes dedication, and focus, but most people waste an incredible amount of time doing things and say that they can't change it. It takes me 8 minutes to go from my bed to parked in the hospital parking lot. A year ago, that was 30 minutes, which I would say is the 'average' based on what most of my colleagues say. It is about creating a routine that you can commit to.