Poll:How well do you sleep?

[W2R]

Looking at the poll results thus far, with only 70 data points:

About 64% of retirees claim satisfactory or perfect sleep (so far).
Only about 33% of non-retirees claim satisfactory or perfect sleep (so far).

Not only that, of that subset claiming satisfactory or perfect sleep:
24% of retired claim perfect sleep (so far)
14% of non-retired claim perfect sleep (so far).

Quite a few of those responding do not get enough high quality sleep.

Interesting!

 

[eytonxav]

I probably get 7-8 hrs a night, with 2 of them occurring on the sofa Hopefully that won't happen in retirement.

 

[Nords]

Although I am retired and sometimes awaken much earlier than I would like, I voted for #1. The ability to take an afternoon nap on those early wake up days works great for me.

Same here.

I'm hyperalert to non-routine noises, and if one of them wakes me up then my brain kickstarts... and sleep is over.

 

[Ronstar]

Not retired, but get 8-10 hrs sleep per night usually 8pm-5am. More sleep in winter, less in summer. More sleep while off work in az than in Il. Sometimes I'll take naps - even leave work to take a nap.

 

[tightasadrum]

Retired, except for landlord issues. Often get up during the night if I have a drink before bed. But when I can't get back to sleep it's usually because my thoughts kick into overdrive. I have observed that when the alarm/radio goes off for DW to get up, it puts me to sleep! I believe it is because I begin to passively listen to the morning news instead of grinding out some mental problem. The clock goes off after an hour, and sometimes that awakens me. Weird.

 

[veremchuka]

Option 3 for me. I used to sleep very well, I'd put my head on the pillow and I'd be asleep in less than a minute. I'd wake up and feel great. That was for decade, most of my life really.

In the past 2 years my prostate has decided that I no longer should sleep uninterrupted. If I wake just once a night I consider that a really good night. Typically I wake up 2 times and sometimes 3 times. This is not restful sleep. I sometimes sleep through the night but it is rare.

I don't take naps so I'm up all day but come 7-8 pm it is hard to stay awake. I don't want to go to bed at 8 but if I doze off for an hour or 90 minutes then I can be up to midnight or 1 am.

I miss just going to bed and waking up feeling great.

 

[Lsbcal]

Looking at the poll results thus far, with only 70 data points:

About 64% of retirees claim satisfactory or perfect sleep (so far).
Only about 33% of non-retirees claim satisfactory or perfect sleep (so far).

Not only that, of that subset claiming satisfactory or perfect sleep:
24% of retired claim perfect sleep (so far)
14% of non-retired claim perfect sleep (so far).

Quite a few of those responding do not get enough high quality sleep.

Interesting!

Maybe you should have asked if people slept better in retirement then pre-retirement. Other factors come into this, a few that come to mind:
1) I've heard that older people tend to need less sleep. So they may think they sleep less soundly when they wake up "too early".
2) Physical factors may come into play e.g. retiree moves to area with more allergens causing some loss of sleep. In my case I have a deviated septum caused by an old football injury which interacts with allergy issues.
3) Life changes can cause worry and loss of sleep. Happens in retirement too if there are health issues for instance.

 

[Nords]

Maybe you should have asked if people slept better in retirement then pre-retirement. Other factors come into this, a few that come to mind:

"Other factors" include work-related crisis calls at all hours of the night, and... parenting. Neither of which I have to do any more in ER.

 

[Lsbcal]

"Other factors" include work-related crisis calls at all hours of the night, and... parenting. Neither of which I have to do any more in ER.

Maybe you are misinterpreting my comment, or perhaps just inserting yours?

I'm not saying it's worse in retirement and I think the poll comments are fun to read. Personally I slept best before DS reached the teen years . Now that he is grown up there are other factors in life that seem to disturb my sleep. Things like the 2008 financial meltdown, paying for DS's college, moles in the garden (just kidding). But in general I'm much happier in retirement.

 

[Nords]

Maybe you are misinterpreting my comment, or perhaps just inserting yours?
I'm not saying it's worse in retirement and I think the poll comments are fun to read. Personally I slept best before DS reached the teen years . Now that he is grown up there are other factors in life that seem to disturb my sleep. Things like the 2008 financial meltdown, paying for DS's college, moles in the garden (just kidding). But in general I'm much happier in retirement.

I could have numbered them as (4) and (5). It's hard to tease out whether a change in sleep is due to ER or caused by some other issue.

Our daughter didn't reliably sleep through the night until she was in middle school, and most of her first five years was either a series of three-hour naps or (on the rare night when she slept through) me waking up at 2 AM in a panic wondering why she didn't wake us up. So by the time she was a full-rebel teenager, we were thoroughly combat-hardened.

Luckily our daughter's driver's license came with a state-imposed curfew. Once she started college and we threw away the parenting rule book, somehow I was able to decide that her comings & goings were no longer my concern and relax into sleeping through them. So I think the transition to "empty nester" was much better for my sleep than the transition to ER.

But I still sleep with earplugs more nights than not, or else I'm up at 2-3 AM.

 

[BTravlin]

After getting over the "guilt" part of not sleeping well. It's much more enjoyable to take sleep as it comes.

Life is good!

I look forward to adopting that mindset in retirement!

 

[foxfirev5]

Not retired yet and this is one area I could use improvement. While I virtually live on the road my sleep is inconsistant. Hotels and varying hours play a part in this. This is one reason why I'll probably retire even though I like my job.

 

[marko]

Before RE: 4-5 hours sleep, sometimes up all night; horribly jet lagged most of the time too.
After RE: 7-9 hours sleep (sometimes 10!), wake up refreshed and rested. Plus a half hour nap most days!!

 

[pb4uski]

I'm retired and sleep like a baby. DW is always amazed as to how quickly I fall asleep (she and others think its a guy thing). I find that I am a bit more of a night owl now that I am retired. Usually go to be between 11pm-1am and wake up between 7-9am so 8+ hours of sleep each night on average.

I rarely take naps, but enjoy them when I do but I do find it hard to get going again.

I occasionally wake up at night and can't get back to sleep and get up and read or surf on the internet for a while and then go back to bed.

 

[MBAustin]

Definitely sleep better now than when I was w*rking, although still occasionally wake up and have trouble getting back to sleep around 4 am, usually because I am too hot (DH needs the bedroom much warmer than I prefer for good sleeping). Thinking / dreaming about w*rk was always a problem back in the day, no more!

 

[martyb]

I'm not retired. I sleep ok when I sleep with my wife, but when I sleep someplace else, which is 4 or 5 nights a week, I don't sleep very well at all many or even most nights.

As far as sleeping late, I don't know that I'll be a late sleeper, even after I retire. When I sleep later, I just feel like I'm sleeping my life away. I like to be up with the rising sun. Maybe that will change in time, but for now, that's how I feel. Wife is perfectly ok with sleeping later on weekends. I'm usually up 2 or 3 hours in the mornings while she stays in bed.

Once I retire, I expect I'll rise early to go fishing or do other things. I'll have plenty of time for sleeping after I'm dead.

 

[rescueme]

I try to sleep, but DW wakes me several times each night to satisfy her "needs" ...

Darn, I'm tired

What was the question, again?

 

[martyb]

I try to sleep, but DW wakes me several times each night to satisfy her "needs" ...

Darn, I'm tired

What was the question, again?

 

[redduck]

Until I turned about 60, I usually got 7+ hours of sleep. But, the older I'm becoming the less sleep I'm getting. I'm now down to about 6 hours a night and that doesn't really work out so well. I often "get a jump on the day" at 5:00 AM. Kind of a nice time of the day, but I'd rather be sleeping.

 

[ohyes]

Sleep great since retiring- usually from around midnight until around 8 AM. On the few nights that has not worked....there is nap time the next day! Naps were never available while w*rking. such a sweet luxury...

 

[imoldernu]

That there are so many posts on the tread indicates much interest. Although the original question asked "how well do you sleep?"... many of the posts indicate "not well"... and my thinking is that this goes more to the question of "why"...

While everyone will be different, and there are no broad easy answers, it seems that one of the major points of difference between a good sleep, and interrupted sleep is age. Like many of the posters here, I too slept like a log when I was younger, say 70. The tendency is to become more less active as we age, and this often leads to sleep that is less deep, and more responsive to physical and mental stimuli, causing interruptions. With less concern about the outside world, it is easier to internalize worries about health, personal security and day to day minor cares.... ie. that little person inside us needs something to concentrate our problem solving abilities on.

Looking for answers on the internet is like finding the needle in the haystack... most sites mean well, but come at the subject of sleep from widely divergent viewpoints.

For those who have no problems sleeping, don't worry about this stuff, but don't be too surprised if this changes with advancing age.