I would have thought that the opposite was true but apparently, if you can spare just 4 hours for sleep tonight, get the most out of them by going to bed in the wee hours of the morning.
A 2003 Stanford University study on the science of sleep deprivation suggests that early-morning sleep is more restful than a middle-of-the-night nap.
"We each have a biological clock under genetic control," says study author Christian Guilleminault, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the school of medicine. "Most of us are more programmed to be owls--working late into the night--rather than early-rising larks."
For the study, four men were sent to bed at 10:30 pm and were awakened at 2:30 am every night for a week.
Another four turned in at 2:15 am and woke up at 6:15 am. After 7 days, early-morning sleepers scored higher on wakefulness tests and on measures of sleep efficiency.
They fell asleep more easily and spent more of their 4-hour bed rest actually asleep.The study was small, but intensive.
The early-morning sleep trick could get you through one hectic day and night but can't replace a full night's sleep, Guilleminault says. Ongoing sleep deprivation can be dangerous: All the study volunteers eventually had a drop in alertness. One became an insomniac.
Personally, I'm not sure whether just 8 volunteers was enough to come to this conclusion, but it's worth a try!
sleep tips
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