Not enough sleep?

[FromAsheville]

Lately I have been having trouble going to sleep because I get so much homework from my AP classes (my time management skills aren't so great). Anyways, I usually go to be around one in the morning and wake up at around seven. I heard that people are supposed to get 8 hours of sleep every day. So will getting less than 8 hours of sleep each day affect a person’s ability to have lucid dreams?

[Wildman]

Well, the more sleep you get the more REM cycles you get, and they become longer each time. So if you sleep for a long time you'll have more dreams and more chances at lucidity. So technically you would have less opportunities to have a lucid dream, but it doesn't mean you won't be able to have one. Otherwise, I don't think getting less than 8 hours of sleep affects anything else.

[Pelirrojo]

If you're getting less than 8 hours every night, that's going to have an effect. You're going to be a lot more tired in the mornings, and when you're going to sleep. Do you just collapse into bed after your day is over? I don't quite know the science behind it, but I've found that when I'm really tired I don't dream very well. My dreams are less vivid, my mind is much less aware, I'm unlikely to even remember the dreams if I'm too tired. I think this is because your body needs to make the best use of the time it can, and it spends more time repairing itself than dreaming.

[Kylie]

I've found trying to have lucid dreams is making me wake up exhausted. I sleep simliar hours to you. Tonight, I'm just going to blank out. My mind needs the rest. Trying to be aware that I'm dreaming is making it so that my mind doesn't allow me a deep sleep, and I lightly doze all night, continually aware of being in my bed and hearing every tiny noise.

[mongreloctopus]

if you are getting only 6 hours of sleep, it's pretty unlikely you will be able to lucid dream if you are not an experienced lucid dreamer. like almost everything else worthwhile in life, in order to succeed in lucid dreaming you have to spend a lot of energy, time and patience. if it's not possible to alter your sleep schedule right now, work on the other aspects of lucid dreaming-- get used to doing reality checks, work on dream recall--and maybe after AP tests (in may, right?) you will have a really solid base to start putting the actual dreaming aspect into practice.