Every so often I wake up earlier than planned and I feel absolutely wonderful for a few minutes. That is, until I fall back asleep for another hour or two and wake up to feel like I had barely gotten any sleep at all. What happened? I was just feeling so great. Wouldn’t more sleep help me more than hurt me?! It doesn’t seem right!

Does this happen to you?

Are human sleep patterns too difficult to pinpoint, document and optimize? I know I’m not the first one to have this type of experience on a regular basis and it seems like there should be some miracle reference for how to optimize sleep. If there is, please let me know and help me wonder why this isn’t something that’s taught to us as school children or provided to us by employers and academic organizations.

Maybe it’s the snooze button’s fault.

Update from chat conversation with Daniel Nicolas:

Daniel Nicolas: and so to lay down rules for when people have to go to bed - you’re naturally going to be against it
Daniel Nicolas: i mean, i’m ready for bed ~ between 10am and 2am
Zach Hale: it’s not WHEN to sleep
Zach Hale: it’s how to gte the most out of sleep
Zach Hale: just general guidelines
Zach Hale: there’s nothing wrong with that i dont think
Daniel Nicolas: yeah so what should be taught is
Daniel Nicolas: the importance of sleep
Zach Hale: yes.
Daniel Nicolas: the idea that every body is different, thus you need to find out for yourself what your body actually needs
Daniel Nicolas: the science behind sleep - the REM cycles, etc
Daniel Nicolas: and then after all that a “Reality check” where you apply all this knowledge to life - if you have to work two shifts and you don’t get to sleep until 1am every night,… well you can’t just sleep through the natural cycle — so basically teaching people how to schedule their sleeping so they can get enough sleep, be happier, get more stuff done
Zach Hale: exactly
Zach Hale: it’s the science and how to use it to your advantage
Zach Hale: thats what needs to be more widely known
Daniel Nicolas: and this should be taught and reviewed in class at the beginning of every semester, from 1st grade through 8th grade, and then have specific required classes in high school every year