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When I was younger (college), I really wanted to sleep less. I thought that if I could get by on 6 hours, 4 hours, or 3 hours of sleep, I'd live a better life,

When I was younger (college), I really wanted to sleep less. I thought that if I could get by on 6 hours, 4 hours, or 3 hours of sleep, I'd live a better life, and would have more time to get things done. No more. First, there is a lot of research that most people need 8+ hours of sleep, and that this is determined genetically. As in, not everyone can move to a 4 hour sleep night without side effects.[1] Second, I'm happier and more productive when I'm well rested. Better 16 good hours a day than 20 bad hours. [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/health/research/14sleep.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/health/research/14sleep.ht... (registration req'd)

flatline 17y ago
There's lots of data supporting this, sleep research has gotten big in the last 50 years. I haven't studied the rationale behind the polyphasic sleep system but it sounds like a couple slip-ups and you're hosed, whereas if most people go without much sleep for a few nights they'll be tired but able to rebound with a regular night's sleep. It sounds dangerous to leave yourself constantly on the verge of sleep deprivation.
tetha 17y ago
This is the same results I arrived at. By now, I am pretty convinced that routine and focus is much more important than being able to sleep 4 hours less, whereas routine easens focusing hard and thus being more productive. Right now, my very own producivity experiment is pretty amazing. I am currently training to get up at 6, eat till 7 and work till 12 from there on and after about a week or two of doing this, things just go amazingly well. I get up, and while my head is still kind of sleepy, my hands prepare coffee, breakfast and whatever else needs to be done, but once it is 7 o'clock, I almost instantly slip into the zone and stay there for a few hours (it works well enough such that I am running out of projects to solve for university, which I consider a good thing ;) )

flatline 17y ago

There's lots of data supporting this, sleep research has gotten big in the last 50 years. I haven't studied the rationale behind the polyphasic sleep system but it sounds like a couple slip-ups and you're hosed, whereas if most people go without much sleep for a few nights they'll be tired but able to rebound with a regular night's sleep. It sounds dangerous to leave yourself constantly on the verge of sleep deprivation.

tetha 17y ago

This is the same results I arrived at. By now, I am pretty convinced that routine and focus is much more important than being able to sleep 4 hours less, whereas routine easens focusing hard and thus being more productive. Right now, my very own producivity experiment is pretty amazing. I am currently training to get up at 6, eat till 7 and work till 12 from there on and after about a week or two of doing this, things just go amazingly well. I get up, and while my head is still kind of sleepy, my hands prepare coffee, breakfast and whatever else needs to be done, but once it is 7 o'clock, I almost instantly slip into the zone and stay there for a few hours (it works well enough such that I am running out of projects to solve for university, which I consider a good thing ;) )