I 98.7% (close to 100% is my point) never wake up in REM anymore which is the "feel tired all day" state you would feel. I get thru at least one or two full sleep cycles relative to my ability to be percise-ish. I didn't know it was REM that screwed me. I thought, it was an, "at least 4 hours or you are screwed" type rule of thumb. The key is to get thru the full 90 minute (avg) 5 stage sleep cycle and then either wake up or commit to 2 cycles, etc. One or two still has you tired compared to a refreshing 4-5 (low end) or higher. But I was amazed that waking up in REM in the 5th cycle hurts worse sometimes, that getting only 90 cycle or two, egress before next round and surprisingly refresh I can get thru a day. I'm sure a non-layman in the field could turn my Dr. Suess version of an explanation to a more accurate and nuanced version. Tried others, more complex, this is perfect for my needs never looked back:
Not OP, but making sure I have good sleep definately had a big impact on my live, as I now have full productive day to do stuff, instead of having the first half of the day ruined by waking up at the wrong time.
The two options that work best for me are:
- Wake up with the sun. Not feasible for every job, or when you have meetings early in the day, but if you have the freedom to do so, I'd recommend it.
- Sleep phase alarm that measures your sleep phase by laying on the edge of your mattress and wakes you accordingly. More reliable than a sleep calculator, in my experience. My app of choice for Android is "Sleep as Android" (which is also an awesome Alarm in general).
Your mileage may of course vary, especially if you are already hooked on morning coffee.
https://sleepcalculator.com/