I do about 6-7 on weekdays, then crash on weekends and sleep 12-13 hours. If I don't get my weekend crash and roll into the next week, I'm practically brain dead by the end of that week.
I have some respiratory problems that make the sleep quality not that great either and 6-7 often more like 3-5 depending.
I'm chronically sleep deprived. It's not healthy.
I'm also a supreme night owl, doing my best work around 6-9pm, and shutting down the brain to sleep is a constant struggle.
Don't do what I do, it's not good, but it's a vicious cycle I'm slowly breaking out of. I used to do 4-5 at night and crash 14-16 hours on weekends. So there's that.
Left to me own devices and no schedule, I'll fall into a cycle where I sleep 8.5-9 hrs, and consistently go to sleep at around 2am and wakeup at 10-10:30am. Sometimes it'll fluctuate and I'll go to sleep at 3-4am, but I'll always wake up about 8.5-9 hrs later, and I'll eventually stabilize on my 2-10 cycle.
Pretty much exactly how I work as well. I have been able to set a more healthy schedule in the last couple months, but it is really hard to shut down in the evening when I feel the most alive and productive.
That's pretty close to my pattern as well. I get my best work done late at night, so there's a chronic temptation to stay up late... but when I was working the $dayjob, I had to be at the office by 9:30am, so I went sleep-deprived all week, then would crash hard late Friday night or early Saturday morning and sleep like 12 hours.
Left entirely to my own devices, I'd sleep about 8 hours a night, but I'd wind up gravitating to a pattern of staying up until 6 or 7 am, and then sleeping until 2 or 3 pm.
I do something similar, around 4-6 hours weeknights and 8-12 on weekends.
But, if I make an effort to go to bed earlier during the week (and get 6-8 hours) I tend to completely miss a night towards the end of the week. Not quite sure what that means, since I certainly don't feel like I'm getting enough sleep on weeknights.
I use a nose clip (sometimes called a nasal dilator) that has improved my sleep quality tremendously. I used to wake up feeling dizzy and cotton headed. I usually couldn't cognitively function until mid-afternoon and felt like I had a sinus infection every morning. It's made a huge difference. I wake up clear headed, my wife says I don't snore as badly, and I've started remembering my dreams again suggesting I'm getting quality REM sleep again.
My wife sleeps comfortably on a 6-7 hour schedule. That's just what she needs. We've tried to lock sleep cycles together, but I usually end up in pretty bad shape after 3 or 4 weeks, and she'll be perfectly fine.
I think this is a tendency for entrepreneurs and/or tech people. The exception are those guys that sleep 4 hours per night and are fine the next day. I hate/envy them so!
Beer may help you sleep, but it will, in my experience, leave you feeling groggy the next day and impair your performance more than you would have suffered through lack of sleep. There are many good reasons to drink beer, but to help you sleep and improve performance ain't one of 'em.
Like you mentioned, that in your experience it leave you groggy, personally I think this depends on the person and how their body reacts to beer. I've found that one beer (500 ml) at least an hour or two before sleep doesn't leave me groggy in the morning at all. If I drank beer right before sleep that probably wouldn't work well.
While it does have more of a sedative effect than alcohol, I don't think you can count is as healthier unless you're eating it or vaporising it!
Also in my (entirely subjective) experience I find it harder to wake up in the morning, given the same amount of sleep as sober days. No 'hangover' as such, but definitely feel more groggy for the first hour or so after waking!
I have some respiratory problems that make the sleep quality not that great either and 6-7 often more like 3-5 depending.
I'm chronically sleep deprived. It's not healthy.
I'm also a supreme night owl, doing my best work around 6-9pm, and shutting down the brain to sleep is a constant struggle.
Don't do what I do, it's not good, but it's a vicious cycle I'm slowly breaking out of. I used to do 4-5 at night and crash 14-16 hours on weekends. So there's that.
Left to me own devices and no schedule, I'll fall into a cycle where I sleep 8.5-9 hrs, and consistently go to sleep at around 2am and wakeup at 10-10:30am. Sometimes it'll fluctuate and I'll go to sleep at 3-4am, but I'll always wake up about 8.5-9 hrs later, and I'll eventually stabilize on my 2-10 cycle.