How aware are you of sleep?
 

This may seem an odd question, but how aware are people of how long they are asleep on flights? One leg I had on fri/sat was 11 hours, all night. I must have slept a fair amount as the first seven and some hours went by quickly, and then the last three and a bit hours went by at a crawl. Even if I'm not asleep, I do try and rest with my eyes shut as mock sleep as I have read (Stanford U. sleep unit) that 'pretending to sleep' actually has value if you can't sleep. I have some memories of a meal going by, but who knows how many hours I slept.

I'd really like to know, but have no idea. Anyone else have this problem?

How is that a "problem"? It's the same thing you do home in your bed. You sleep for eight hours but it seems like it went by instantly. If you toss and turn then you do the occasional "micro-sleep".

I'd like to know if I'm getting a decent amount of sleep, or if I'm not. I often can't tell if I'm behind on sleep until it hits me hard. As it is right now as I'm typing.

You managed 7 hours of sleep on a flight and that is a problem? Sounds like a miracle. I can't even manage that in business class with a lie flat.

I can't, either. Yet I've seen plenty of people apparently able to sleep most of a TATL or TPAC bolt upright in a coach middle seat. I envy those people! [For the sleep, not the coach middle seat ;)]

I don't know how much sleep I managed on the flight. As since I can't just drop off, I effectively fake sleep. 7 hours would be the maximum, but I don't have the ability to tot up how long I'm conscious, and how long I'm not.

That's my issue: given what I do I'm not aware of how long I sleep. I am wondering if other people find themselves in a similar situation. Given that some people seem to not even recognise my situation, I'm guessing that means that many people don't share my issue.

Though, I think I probably slept over half of that 7 hours as they flew by suspiciously quickly.

If you saw me, you might think that I'm sleeping, but some of that time I would be 'faking it'. I got this idea from the book "Wide Awake at 3am: By Choice or by Chance" by scientists from the Stanford Sleep Clinic. They said that pretending to sleep is about 1/3 as refreshing as actually sleeping, which is better than nothing. So, that's what I do.

I did once drop off pretty well immediately when leaving Sydney Australia, to wake up just as we were landing in Singapore. If I could do that every time, that would be a great advantage.

I can usually only sleep 1 hr at a time on flights. Best sleep I ever had on a flight was on a vancouver - mexico city leg after narita - vancouver. I don't remember taking off or landing. Plane was empty so I laid down on a four across in the middle of a 747 on JAL. was a long time ago.

Same here. I would LOVE 7 hours of sleep.

Even if I am not sleeping I usually just lie there with my eyes close and relax. My husband thinks I'm asleep and wonders why I am tired.

I do take occasional glances at my phone to see what time it is to gauge how long I have slept. I also like to have some noise playing in the background like playing a show or movie on my tablet or phone (I would use the IFE, but attaching my NC headphones, falling asleep and having them play an announcement would give me a heart attack) so I am somewhat aware of the passage of time.

Generally I find I get 5 to 7 hours of sleep straight on a TPAC. Probably my most restful as I can't be reached. Rest of the time, it's catnaps and watching videos and the occasional book or notes that I need to email out once I land.

When I settle in to sleep I just set a stopwatch on my phone or look at the time. However, if it's coach it's rarely more than 20 minutes.

However on some transatlantic's and transpacific's i've managed around 7 hours in business.

My best was LAX-SYD, I got into LAX about 10 hours before the flight and spent all day exploring Santa Monica. So when it came time for the flight I ate, then passed out for 9.5 hours and woke with only 2 hours to go. It was amazing to be so rested landing at SYD.

This has happened to me on occasion when I'm sufficiently tired. One time I pulled an all-nighter before a transcon flight. I know I slept the majority of the flight, but I'm not sure how many hours exactly. It wasn't very sound sleep because I remember waking up a couple times, but I'm not sure for what. I also have a vague recollection of being offered snacks and a drink. After the flight the guy next to me commented that I seemed to have slept well.

Here is where a Fitbit or like could come in handy.

Could have been a euphemism for "you farted a lot!" :cool:

If the plane has a moving map display, I can generally note that I slept, say, from Boise to Cedar Rapids, or whatever.

True, yet be careful what you wish for: I am routinely horrified by my Fitbit reporting that I only had 1:05 hours of sleep on a TPAC. But it certainly keeps me honest.