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# Sleep is a continuum
- URL: https://www.autodidacts.io/sleep-is-a-continuum/
- Published: 2026-01-05T07:26:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-05T07:28:21.000Z
- Description: Don’t believe the Hypnograms
- Author: Curiositry
- Tags: 100DaysToOffload, Sleep, Jedi Mind Tricks

****Note:** this post is part of [#100DaysToOffload](https://100daystooffload.com/?ref=autodidacts.io), a challenge to publish 100 posts in 365 days. These posts are generally shorter and less polished than our normal posts; expect typos and unfiltered thoughts! [View more posts in this series.](https://www.autodidacts.io/tag/100daystooffload/)

  
You might have seen those sleep stage graphs, or Hypnograms, that make it look like you “fall” asleep, and each stage is a hard delineation. Like this one:

![sleep stage graph aka hypnogram](https://www.autodidacts.io/content/images/2025/12/Sleep_Hypnogram.svg) 

sleep stage graph aka hypnogram ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sleep%5FHypnogram.svg?ref=autodidacts.io))

I’ve seen enough of these graphs, and read enough about the importance of sleep, that I get anxious when lying awake waiting to fall off that first cliff. Ack! I’m not *sleeping*.

It’s even more frustrating to try to take a nap in the afternoon when I’m incredibly tired, and “fail” to nap, and feel like I wasted my time.

Over the years, though, I’ve noticed the sleep/wake dichotomy isn’t at all clear-cut. **Sometimes, I sleep, but don’t feel rested. And sometimes, I merely rest, yet feel sleeped!**

This is the secret to satisfactorily failing to nap: it doesn’t matter whether you nap (or sleep). What matters, as far as I can tell, is how deeply I *relax.*

A “failed” daytime nap, or nighttime sleep, where I manage to relax to the point where I feel leaden and slightly delirious is restorative.

Anecdotally, I am more likely to feel this way when lying on my back, even though I’m less likely to lose consciousness if I’m lying on my back.

Try it, and I think you’ll notice the same thing.

And as a bonus, the less hard I try to sleep, and the more I just relax, the more likely I am to fall asleep in the unambiguous, hypnogram-approved sense of the word.