Living with a high sleep need

You may have heard academics talk about the allnighters they pull to get a proposal done, or how they soldier through after a red-eye flight.

It has taken me a few years (or better: decades) to come to terms with the fact that I will never be able to do that. I have a very high sleep need, with my need for over 9 hours of sleep per night.

All in all, my sleep need is not abnormal. Humans supposedly need 7-9 hours of sleep per night, so needing 9 hours is not abnormal.

And yet, I struggle to get the sleep I need. I am busy in the evening to get my kid to bed and then do a few things afterwards, and I wake up early to go to the gym.

Recently, I’ve been reducing the amount of things I want to do in the evening. I am aiming for going to bed at the same time as my child, to avoid burning the candle at both ends.

For years, I thought that if I live as healthily as possible, my body would adapt and need less sleep – and that I could make up for the lack with coffee. Well, that is not the case.

Living with a high sleep need in a society that goes at 1000 miles an hour, and in academia that is “always on” is perhaps not easy. But after years of trying to keep up with others, I got to the point of saying no to some activities in the evening, so that I can get the sleep that I need, and I realized that my high sleep need is simply part of who I am, and something that I should try to plan for.

If you are an academic with a high sleep need, I would love to hear from you!