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Ask HN: How much do you sleep?

50 points by Kevin_S 9y ago

And how does that impact your productivity?

mubaris 9y ago
I sleep at least for 7 Hours. Whenever I sleep less or when I don't get quality sleep, it's very difficult to focus.
arethuza 9y ago
6.5 to 7 hours. Staying longer in bed makes me feel worse than getting less sleep so I'm usually pretty sharp at getting up.
dblboy 9y ago
Pretty much always between 7 to 8 hours, if less then it becomes super difficult on second part of the, if too long then strangely it's harder in the first part of the day. Might be related to sleep cycles from which i wake up.
cafard 9y ago
7 to 8 hours during the work week, 9 if possible on the weekend. A couple of nights of 6 do not have a good effect, one night of less than 6 hurts.
murukesh_s 9y ago
Used to sleep for 8 hours, now its down to 7. Less sleep definitely affects productivity, but i can stretch couple of days with very less sleep (<5 hours), after that I hit a block and see a drastic decrease in productivity if I don't get a good night sleep. Are you are feeling low productivity, and blaming lack of sleep? There is a chance it could be something else as well.. pls seek help if needed.
iliketosleep 9y ago
Less and 7 hours kills my productivity. It's can be a real problem, and I know that a lot of people on here use Modafinil to deal with it.
flohofwoe 9y ago
6 to 7 hours during the week, on weekends mostly 7..8, rarely up to 10 hours. In my teens and twenties I had a hard time getting up early, but this gets better with age ;) PS: productivity is only affected if I only get 3..4 hrs sleep for 2 or 3 days. I'm basically useless then. The more important decision was to get up early and not working late, this reduced 'latent burnout' symptoms dramatically.
pizza234 9y ago
Around 8.5 hours (lights off to alarm ringing). Productivity is a bit complex to relate in a direct way (I can be "productive" also with less sleep), but I know for sure that this is the amount I need to be 100% of my potential. Interestingly, I estimate that doing sports (which I do heavily) accounts for 30 to 60 minutes of my sleep - in other words, if I didn't do sports, I could sleep such amount less and be equally "productive", although obviously, my body would slowly decay.
marcv81 9y ago
Many activity trackers will provide stats about how much you sleep, and how you compare with the rest of the population. I appreciate your question is about HN readers rather than fitness nerds, but there might be an overlap.
jcadam 9y ago
During the week? 6 hours. Weekends are closer to 8. My time in the Army destroyed my ability to sleep in :(
- jrowley 9y ago
  Why did your time in the Army destroy your ability to sleep? I've heard rumors that if anything the exhaustion taught you how to fall asleep at anywhere/anywhere.
  - jcadam 9y ago
    Not sleep in the general sense, but sleeping late into the morning. Years of having to be in formation at 0600 every morning have trained me to rise before dawn :( On the upside, some of my most productive coding time is during the quiet morning hours before the wife and kids get up.
rjplatte 9y ago
Anywhere from 5 hours to 11 hours. Yes, I'm young.
nine_k 9y ago
8 hours when I have time. 7 to 4 in a crunch. I try to control the sleep debt and pay it off ASAP, or next weekends. Lack of sleep has a noticeable effect on productivity (especially error rate). When I was younger I did not notice it so vividly, which I ascribe strictly to improved introspection. One of the best vacations in my life, after a particularly hard project, involved having 12-16 hours of sleep every day, for two weeks, without any drugs; just a calm winter forest away from civilization. It did wonders to my productivity and cognitive ability. In 6 months past it I quickly learned a huge bunch of apparently hard things that propelled me for years after that.
qrybam 9y ago
5-7 hours on weekedays 7-8 hours on weekends Prolonged (3+ days) sleep at <6 hours eventually leads to me crashing at the weekend. crash = a good 10 hour sleep
Radim 9y ago
Used to be 9h per day for decades. Any more and I'd feel strangely groggy (unproductive), my body cannot deal with oversleeping. Lately I experimented with a 1h nap after lunch (I'm getting old!), and can report that I feel equally refreshed with only 6h of sleep a night. So, 7h total now, but split into two 1+6 sessions. It feels great to have 2 extra hours per day!
hedonistbot 9y ago
My biggest problem with sleep is the fixed working schedule I have to follow. The 9-to-5 is killing me. It's not that there isn't enough time to sleep, it's that I cannot convince my body to go to sleep if it doesn't feel like it. Just last night I stood awake till 5 a.m. unable to fall asleep despite all efforts. The problem is that my natural clock seems to be working on a 26-7 hours per day cycle and I cannot fit this properly into the regular working hours. This leads to general accumulation of tiredness during the week and on Friday I need a total reset by going to bed early. At least now I know what to look for in future job opportunities.
- tertius 9y ago
  Wake up at the same time every day. Pick that time and stick to it. Whether you get too little sleep or not.
  - amorphid 9y ago
    I've tried doing that. Even if it is possible, I really don't like it. When married to a fixed schedule, life just isn't as much fun for me.
    - jorvi 9y ago
      Have you considered a polyphasic sleep schedule? If you truly do have a non-standard circadian rhythm, you should be able to adapt one of the dual core schedules towards it. https://www.polyphasicsociety.com https://www.polyphasicsociety.com
      - amorphid 9y ago
        Maybe? I was thinking more that stuff comes up that affects my schedule, and I don't be forced into living with the constraints of a 10 p.m. bedtime (or whatever time I set). More to the point, I am more disciplined about getting to bed before 12 a.m. I do not want to go bed at a fixed time.
    - tertius 9y ago
muzani 9y ago
5 hours on a bad night. 7 on a good night. Not including the 50 or so minutes awake in the middle of the night. I'm extremely unproductive on the days I get 5 hours, and can work around 4 hours/day when I get 7. I'd probably be extremely productive if I can get 9 hours of sleep.
toomuchtodo 9y ago
8hrs minimum, sometimes 9hrs. Anything less and I drag all day until I get a nap.
overcast 9y ago
8 hours minimum, anything less than that I feel like crap. I also NEVER get sick. Ever.
- Octplane 9y ago
  FLW!
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
include 9y ago
something around 6 and 8. less than 5 and I'm not ok at work. more than 8 and I'm not ok at bed.
NikolaeVarius 9y ago
5 hours a night. Physically can't sleep more.
- YouKnowBetter 9y ago
  That would be me. Productivity for me depends more on other factors like: relationship status, familymembers wellbeing, drinks & feeling in or out of control.
- evanwise 9y ago
  I can relate to this. Unless I'm ill or badly sleep deprived, I literally cannot sleep in.
jdubs 9y ago
I'm pretty useless if I get less than 5 hours of sleep. Anymore than that and I'm good to go. I shoot for about 9ish hours of sleep a night, I typically have a sleepless night every 10 days where I'm up at 330 until the next sleep.
jacquesm 9y ago
While running Camarades/ww.com I got by with 3 to 5 hours of sleep per night, usually because I could not fall asleep and then finally I'd fall asleep near daybreak and then sleep until 11 am. This was pretty terrible, combined with flying back and forth between Canada and the Netherlands it really drained me. It's not that I spent less time in bed, I just could not sleep until I was physically overwhelmed. I'm in better physical shape now than back then, cycle more, eat better and no longer have the crazy travel schedule and I'm sleeping much better now, usually 6 to 7 hours but it still isn't 'normal' in that I often am awake in the middle of the night and sleep during the day, especially when work is more demanding. Productivity has never really been an issue, no matter what the sleep regime was.
greendesk 9y ago
I started measuring my sleep this year. The data is as follows: I feel well and I can focus if I sleep for 8:00-8:30 hours. If I sleep less than 7:00-7:30 hours per day I feel unwell and I cannot concentrate. In between 7:30-8:00 hours I can somewhat concentrate but not for too long. Sleeping longer over weekends does not work for me, since I still wake up at (usually) about the same time every day. So I still sleep about the same time every day.
csixty4 9y ago
Between 7-8 hours usually. My son tends to get up at 5:30am, so the rest of the household does too. It was 4:30am this morning, though. Teething pain :( That pretty much means my wife and I went from about a midnight bedtime to 9pm, which makes us feel really old & boring but it's the only way to make sure we have enough sleep to have a happy, productive day. If I don't get enough sleep, my Tourette Syndrome gets worse. I also tend to get depressed & a little grouchy. It affects my decision making, and I have too many people depending on me to let that happen.
champagnepapi 9y ago
7-8 hours every night. If I sleep 4 to 5 hours I am equally as productive as when I sleep 7 to 8 hours however I can only keep that up for a couple days, before loss of productivity.
- Symphlion 9y ago
  Yeah pretty much this; on average I sleep 7 hours, but I can go in to "overdrive" mode and sleep less hours while not losing focus/drive to produce, this only lasts 2 days though, after that I really need to "recalibrate"
tcmb 9y ago
6.5 to 7 hours during the work week, and I notice my productivity drops off after two days or so. Productivity drop off manifests as worsened ability to focus and making decisions, and by my mood getting bad in general, which can also affect collaboration with others. On the weekend I sleep up to 11 or even 12 hours in the first night, and 9 to 10 in the second. During holidays, 9 hours seem to be the sweet spot for me, which adjusts itself to be between 2.30am and 11.30am. I'd like to sleep more during the week, but I just cannot get myself into bed before midnight. I don't feel tired enough and frankly I'm afraid of lying awake too long and being alone with my thoughts. I'm also guaranteed to have a bad day when I don't have enough time before leaving for work. I need at least 1, better 1.5 hours between getting out of bed and leaving for work, plus a 30 minute commute by bike. This also limits my ability to sleep enough during the week.
hacker_9 9y ago
7-9 hours. I require less sleep when I look after my body and eat healthily. For those who struggle to sleep, you may want to look into meditation when you are in bed. Effectively you focus on a single point and slowly your mind clears, kinda feels like it's shutting down regions. Then sleep comes naturally after, takes me about 20 mins with this technique. Concentrate on your heartbeat or breathing, and know that the more you do it the easier it gets.
- wallace_f 9y ago
  This my sound strange, but has anyone tried this and had that sensation that if you stop thinking about your heart or breathing, they will stop? Jesus, I must be filled with anxiety.
  - hacker_9 9y ago
    I actually find it quite relaxing, as they are both constants. You may just have to do it a few times to remove your anxiety.
    - wallace_f 9y ago
      Perhaps, but I think it just isn't for me. It feels unnnatural to think about it, even though I know that a lot of people say this helps them.
  - jrowley 9y ago
    You may want to consider something a little more casual. I like this breathing pattern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wg-UAYGa2A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wg-UAYGa2A
  - ellius 9y ago
    I settled on using a mental image due to the fact that I couldn't help controlling my breathing when I focused on it. I find that it's harder to hold your focus on an image than an automatic bodily function, but the tradeoff is that it's easier to disassociate. After enough practice, you may even start to disassociate from your anxiety (as in be able to view it metacognitively, be aware and become friends with it rather than get rid of it).
mewwts 9y ago
I try to get 8-9 hours a night. I usually go to bed at 10pm and wake at 7am. I wish I could sleep less, but I just feel terrible when I do. At least I hope that I'm more productive the time I'm actually awake.
- nvahalik 9y ago
  I had this same problem. But having to wake up to get the kid to the bus left me little choice. Take a look at your diet. I cut out refined sugars and switched to a (mostly) LCHF diet and I can now function at nearly 100% on as little as 4 hours of sleep. Most nights I get 5-6 hours and can usually function at 100% as long as I get a good 7-8 hours once every week or so.
NietTim 9y ago
About 6~7 hours a night, more trending towards 6 hours and less. It impacts my productivity greatly, I wake up still wanting to sleep more and am tired for most of the day, which causes me to be distracted more easily (open office...) and get way less work done. Also stress affects me more when I sleep less
rublev 9y ago
8-10 solid hours a day. No alarm clock. Work from home.
tzhenghao 9y ago
5-7 hours on work weeks, 8 hours on weekends. I don't think my productivity at work is affected, but I feel like a zombie when I get home at ~7pm. I fall asleep within seconds after hitting the bed. Dreamless sleep too.
doktrin 9y ago
I sleep somewhere between 3-5 hours on weekdays, and 8-10 hours on weekends. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say my productivity decreases linearly by roughly 10-15% every weekday.
zitterbewegung 9y ago
I try to get 7-8 hrs but sometimes I can only get 5-6. It is a negative to my productivity if I only get 5-6.
yathern 9y ago
6-7 hours. Probably averaging 6.5. But I also commute for an hour both ways by bus - I'll often get a half hour or more of sleep both ways. Probably not great sleep (no REM) but better than nothing. I sometimes notice as the week goes on I get a little more tired - usually make it up on the weekends by sleeping around 9 hours.
DanBC 9y ago
When things are going well I sleep about 8 or 9 good hours, and I feel rested and able to cope with the day ahead. When things are not so good I sleep maybe 4 hours of broken sleep. When things are bad I might get one or two hours across a 72 hour stretch. That has pretty severe impact on my ability to function. I have an understanding GP who knows that I make sure my "sleep hygiene" is good when I'm having problems, so when I ask for a few zopiclone it's because I'm at risk of other stuff happening.
rammy1234 9y ago
I used to be a bad sleeper , like sleeping only for 3-4 hrs work week. it badly affected my digestion, I got fat, I was weak, I ate junk and I drank more coffee and I was always dizzy and confused. The day I decided I need to sleep more and started to sleep for 6-7hrs every day and doing this consistently have improved my focus , less coffee and no frustration and I am active and lost few pounds. This is my personal opinion. things improve if you sleep more. 6-8 hrs is good.
scardine 9y ago
At 46 I used to be well and good with just 4h sleep. Four months ago I started a new job at a nearby university campus and there are secure bike lanes the whole 7 miles from my home to the office. In the middle of the traject there is a park with outdoor fitness equipment where I make a stop and do some pull-ups and push-ups. Since I started biking to the work I have a lower level of energy unless I rest for at least 7-8 hours. I don't know if is the age kicking in or if it is the less sedentary lifestyle. The change in the sleep pattern combined with my 4yo autistic kid demanding my full attention at home (he was diagnosed early and is doing very well) diminished my availability for side projects.
Sholmesy 9y ago
I sleep for 7 hours, my partner sleeps for ~ 8.5. Things I've noted: - My sleep "schedule" doesn't have enough hours in the day. Monday I'm asleep at 10, Tuesday 11, Wednesday 12... etc - Lying in bed when not tired destroys any chance of a good nights sleep. - Lack of sleep = angry/bad mood. Bad mood = flustered/annoyed at things (noise/distraction/annoying problem) = No productivity.
celerrimus 9y ago
Quite good question. I used to sleep 8~9 hours, less (and more as someone already pointed) meant i was not very productive, made more mistakes, and i was irritated whole next day. But for more then a year I'm a father, so now much changed. Now I sleep 5-7 hours, often with breaks during night. For example, tonight we had some problem and o lot of crying due to daughter's ear infection. I sleep 5,5hrs with 2 breaks. How do I feel now? Unexpectedly well. I need little longer sturt-up in the morning - plus good coffee. I know that my productivity, creativity, and susceptibility to errors are little down, but I can tell that my body switched to new scheme and it's not such a bad think as i thought. Also, all my troubles with falling asleep, etc, all are gone now. I know that you can handle much more then you think :)
Yetanfou 9y ago
Well, I go to bed between 01:00 and 02:00, my alarm clock first goes off at 06:00 to get my daughter out of bed and up and running to go to school (and sometimes bring her to the station in case the weather is horrid), 06:30 to wake my wife, 07:30 to wake my other daughter to bring her to school. I guess I get around 4 to 4½ hours of sleep a night. I never slept much, not as a child either. I used to listen to the radio while reading, the programming generally turned boring around 24:00 with something for truckers, something for 'cultured people' and something which I never understood who it was for. I still remember the signature tunes for those programs and the haste with which I used to turn off the radio when they came on... [edit: I just looked up one of those programs, the trucker show ('Krieken med Adje' [1]). Turns out it was scheduled between 04:00 and 07:00, this was when I used to get up at 07:00 to go to school. No, I did not sleep much as a child either... ] [1] http://www.jingleweb.nl/index.php/category/ad-roland/ http://www.jingleweb.nl/index.php/category/ad-roland/
wiremine 9y ago
I try to get to be around 10:00 or 10:30, and typically wake up 6:00 or 6:15. I find the older I get the better I operate on 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep. I also seem to get sick less often, and be an all around nicer guy to to family, friends and coworkers.
Sharma 9y ago
Based on my experience: Apart from number of hours, it is also important that you sleep sound. 7 hrs of sleep for a person with no sleep disorder and person with sleep apnea has different impact on productivity. For me this is what I have found age < 20: Sleep hours never impacted my productivity, even if awake all night. 20-30 Years of age: Min 5 Hrs of sleep and I was 100% productive. 30-35+: Productivity got impacted if I slept less than 6. At present(35-40): I am 100% ONLY if I sleep more than 7.5 Hrs. Every now and then we see studies come out and researchers tell us the importance of sleep and its impact on our brains. I found it to be true in my case.
swat535 9y ago
7-10 hours. I work from home and have no alarm clock or kids.
rl3 9y ago
Trying for 12 hours every night due to a recent concussion. Second in two years. Sleep is one of the best things for mTBI/PCS. Productivity impact is annoying in the short term but it's definitely the optimal long-term chocie. Normally I get 7-8 hours.
evanwise 9y ago
I sleep about 5-6 hours on average. Generally, I feel well rested with this amount, but I can function on 3-4 hours per night for a few weeks without serious ill effect. I just feel slightly groggy, although at the end, I will have a "hard crash" where I sleep more than 12 hours. If I'm ill, I will sleep 8-10 hours a night. I think this is mostly genetic, because my father has been going to bed at 9 or 10 PM and waking up at 3 AM for as long as I can remember. I usually stay up later, but sleep about the same amount.
markpapadakis 9y ago
I sleep at around midnight and I wake up at 06:00 every day with no exceptions (e.g weekends or vacations ). I average about 6 hours of sleep. If I sleep for 7 hours I definitely feel better and think “faster” the following day. Sleep is good for you.
parvatzar 9y ago
I used to sleep usually on average 7 hrs when i worked the regular 10 am to 6pm shift. However , working 1 pm to 11 pm shift nowdays and tend to turn in much late than before however wake up earlier than 7 hrs to study for an exam that i am preparing for alongside. I I have observed my productivity in view of this routine to be at peak later in the day rather night when lesser to no distractions or people in office. However am trying to balance out my routine to get the magic number 7 hrs of sleep.
taternuts 9y ago
I've had sleeping issues since I was a kid so mine are probably a bit skewed. Weekdays, on a good night, 4-6 hours. Anything below 4 hours is a bad night and does happen more than I wish. Weekends: 6-8 hours If I get 4 or less hours of sleep, it affects me pretty heavily and I honestly feel somewhat 'hungover' and it can be hard to get meaningful work done. For me, 5-6 hours is the sweet spot.
sethrin 9y ago
About six hours per night. Never more than seven. I've been working from home on my own schedule for years, so productivity is probably not impacted either way. I seem to be consistently waking up at 0425 in the mornings. I'm 31, more or less male-bodied, and I've taken exercise only once in the last two years -- biking 70 miles to see the eclipse. I suspect I'm too much of an outlier to be of any use to this discussion, but I would like to suggest that the "early to bed, early to rise" phrase has some truth to it. I also think that proper sleep is more important than anyone's business schedule, but I don't know how well that one might go over with employers.
juancn 9y ago
6-9 hours. It depends. I need to be well slept to be productive. It's not the number of hours but the feeling that matters. I have taken naps at the office when I had a bad night to bump my productivity. If I don't, I'm just warming up a seat. Thankfully I have lot's of flexibility regarding working hours. That helps a lot. I don't think I could work fixed hours for long.
asdz 9y ago
4-6 hour on weekday and 7-9 hours on weekend can sleep and wake up pretty easy but lack of sleep will just make me a zombie the whole day
synicalx 9y ago
I try my best to hit 8 hours a night, used to keep 10PM-6AM every day even on weekends to keep things consistent. But with a partner that works from home (and therefore wakes up much later) its kind of hard most nights so it ends up being more like midnight to 7AM if I'm lucky. I take ZMA as part of my supplement regime, and coincidentally I do notice that it helps with my sleep a bit - or at least it helps me stay asleep and not wake up several times a night.
anotherevan 9y ago
I usually go to bed between 10-11 and read (non-light emitting eink screen). Lights out is almost always around 11:45. I wake anywhen from 6:30 to 7:30 usually. My kids (both on the autism spectrum) use 1-3mg Melatonin and have from a young age, otherwise they would never sleep. If I'm travelling or find I have a few nights in a row with trouble getting to sleep I'll take it for a few days too. Works well. The quality of your sleep is an important factor too. If you suspect you may have obstructive sleep apnea then go get it checked out. It may be the cause of all manner of irregularities in your sleep routine.

50 points by Kevin_S 9y ago

And how does that impact your productivity?

mubaris 9y ago

I sleep at least for 7 Hours. Whenever I sleep less or when I don't get quality sleep, it's very difficult to focus.

arethuza 9y ago

6.5 to 7 hours. Staying longer in bed makes me feel worse than getting less sleep so I'm usually pretty sharp at getting up.

dblboy 9y ago

Pretty much always between 7 to 8 hours, if less then it becomes super difficult on second part of the, if too long then strangely it's harder in the first part of the day. Might be related to sleep cycles from which i wake up.

cafard 9y ago

7 to 8 hours during the work week, 9 if possible on the weekend. A couple of nights of 6 do not have a good effect, one night of less than 6 hurts.

murukesh_s 9y ago

Used to sleep for 8 hours, now its down to 7. Less sleep definitely affects productivity, but i can stretch couple of days with very less sleep (<5 hours), after that I hit a block and see a drastic decrease in productivity if I don't get a good night sleep. Are you are feeling low productivity, and blaming lack of sleep? There is a chance it could be something else as well.. pls seek help if needed.

iliketosleep 9y ago

Less and 7 hours kills my productivity. It's can be a real problem, and I know that a lot of people on here use Modafinil to deal with it.

flohofwoe 9y ago

6 to 7 hours during the week, on weekends mostly 7..8, rarely up to 10 hours. In my teens and twenties I had a hard time getting up early, but this gets better with age ;) PS: productivity is only affected if I only get 3..4 hrs sleep for 2 or 3 days. I'm basically useless then. The more important decision was to get up early and not working late, this reduced 'latent burnout' symptoms dramatically.

pizza234 9y ago

Around 8.5 hours (lights off to alarm ringing). Productivity is a bit complex to relate in a direct way (I can be "productive" also with less sleep), but I know for sure that this is the amount I need to be 100% of my potential. Interestingly, I estimate that doing sports (which I do heavily) accounts for 30 to 60 minutes of my sleep - in other words, if I didn't do sports, I could sleep such amount less and be equally "productive", although obviously, my body would slowly decay.

marcv81 9y ago

Many activity trackers will provide stats about how much you sleep, and how you compare with the rest of the population. I appreciate your question is about HN readers rather than fitness nerds, but there might be an overlap.

jcadam 9y ago

During the week? 6 hours. Weekends are closer to 8. My time in the Army destroyed my ability to sleep in :(

jrowley 9y ago
Why did your time in the Army destroy your ability to sleep? I've heard rumors that if anything the exhaustion taught you how to fall asleep at anywhere/anywhere.
- jcadam 9y ago
  Not sleep in the general sense, but sleeping late into the morning. Years of having to be in formation at 0600 every morning have trained me to rise before dawn :( On the upside, some of my most productive coding time is during the quiet morning hours before the wife and kids get up.

rjplatte 9y ago

Anywhere from 5 hours to 11 hours. Yes, I'm young.

nine_k 9y ago

8 hours when I have time. 7 to 4 in a crunch. I try to control the sleep debt and pay it off ASAP, or next weekends. Lack of sleep has a noticeable effect on productivity (especially error rate). When I was younger I did not notice it so vividly, which I ascribe strictly to improved introspection. One of the best vacations in my life, after a particularly hard project, involved having 12-16 hours of sleep every day, for two weeks, without any drugs; just a calm winter forest away from civilization. It did wonders to my productivity and cognitive ability. In 6 months past it I quickly learned a huge bunch of apparently hard things that propelled me for years after that.

qrybam 9y ago

5-7 hours on weekedays 7-8 hours on weekends Prolonged (3+ days) sleep at <6 hours eventually leads to me crashing at the weekend. crash = a good 10 hour sleep

Radim 9y ago

Used to be 9h per day for decades. Any more and I'd feel strangely groggy (unproductive), my body cannot deal with oversleeping. Lately I experimented with a 1h nap after lunch (I'm getting old!), and can report that I feel equally refreshed with only 6h of sleep a night. So, 7h total now, but split into two 1+6 sessions. It feels great to have 2 extra hours per day!

hedonistbot 9y ago

My biggest problem with sleep is the fixed working schedule I have to follow. The 9-to-5 is killing me. It's not that there isn't enough time to sleep, it's that I cannot convince my body to go to sleep if it doesn't feel like it. Just last night I stood awake till 5 a.m. unable to fall asleep despite all efforts. The problem is that my natural clock seems to be working on a 26-7 hours per day cycle and I cannot fit this properly into the regular working hours. This leads to general accumulation of tiredness during the week and on Friday I need a total reset by going to bed early. At least now I know what to look for in future job opportunities.

tertius 9y ago
Wake up at the same time every day. Pick that time and stick to it. Whether you get too little sleep or not.
- amorphid 9y ago
  I've tried doing that. Even if it is possible, I really don't like it. When married to a fixed schedule, life just isn't as much fun for me.
  - jorvi 9y ago
    Have you considered a polyphasic sleep schedule? If you truly do have a non-standard circadian rhythm, you should be able to adapt one of the dual core schedules towards it. https://www.polyphasicsociety.com https://www.polyphasicsociety.com
    - amorphid 9y ago
      Maybe? I was thinking more that stuff comes up that affects my schedule, and I don't be forced into living with the constraints of a 10 p.m. bedtime (or whatever time I set). More to the point, I am more disciplined about getting to bed before 12 a.m. I do not want to go bed at a fixed time.
  - tertius 9y ago

muzani 9y ago

5 hours on a bad night. 7 on a good night. Not including the 50 or so minutes awake in the middle of the night. I'm extremely unproductive on the days I get 5 hours, and can work around 4 hours/day when I get 7. I'd probably be extremely productive if I can get 9 hours of sleep.

toomuchtodo 9y ago

8hrs minimum, sometimes 9hrs. Anything less and I drag all day until I get a nap.

overcast 9y ago

8 hours minimum, anything less than that I feel like crap. I also NEVER get sick. Ever.

Octplane 9y ago
FLW!

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

include 9y ago

something around 6 and 8. less than 5 and I'm not ok at work. more than 8 and I'm not ok at bed.

NikolaeVarius 9y ago

5 hours a night. Physically can't sleep more.

YouKnowBetter 9y ago
That would be me. Productivity for me depends more on other factors like: relationship status, familymembers wellbeing, drinks & feeling in or out of control.
evanwise 9y ago
I can relate to this. Unless I'm ill or badly sleep deprived, I literally cannot sleep in.

jdubs 9y ago

I'm pretty useless if I get less than 5 hours of sleep. Anymore than that and I'm good to go. I shoot for about 9ish hours of sleep a night, I typically have a sleepless night every 10 days where I'm up at 330 until the next sleep.

jacquesm 9y ago

While running Camarades/ww.com I got by with 3 to 5 hours of sleep per night, usually because I could not fall asleep and then finally I'd fall asleep near daybreak and then sleep until 11 am. This was pretty terrible, combined with flying back and forth between Canada and the Netherlands it really drained me. It's not that I spent less time in bed, I just could not sleep until I was physically overwhelmed. I'm in better physical shape now than back then, cycle more, eat better and no longer have the crazy travel schedule and I'm sleeping much better now, usually 6 to 7 hours but it still isn't 'normal' in that I often am awake in the middle of the night and sleep during the day, especially when work is more demanding. Productivity has never really been an issue, no matter what the sleep regime was.

greendesk 9y ago

I started measuring my sleep this year. The data is as follows: I feel well and I can focus if I sleep for 8:00-8:30 hours. If I sleep less than 7:00-7:30 hours per day I feel unwell and I cannot concentrate. In between 7:30-8:00 hours I can somewhat concentrate but not for too long. Sleeping longer over weekends does not work for me, since I still wake up at (usually) about the same time every day. So I still sleep about the same time every day.

csixty4 9y ago

Between 7-8 hours usually. My son tends to get up at 5:30am, so the rest of the household does too. It was 4:30am this morning, though. Teething pain :( That pretty much means my wife and I went from about a midnight bedtime to 9pm, which makes us feel really old & boring but it's the only way to make sure we have enough sleep to have a happy, productive day. If I don't get enough sleep, my Tourette Syndrome gets worse. I also tend to get depressed & a little grouchy. It affects my decision making, and I have too many people depending on me to let that happen.

champagnepapi 9y ago

7-8 hours every night. If I sleep 4 to 5 hours I am equally as productive as when I sleep 7 to 8 hours however I can only keep that up for a couple days, before loss of productivity.

Symphlion 9y ago
Yeah pretty much this; on average I sleep 7 hours, but I can go in to "overdrive" mode and sleep less hours while not losing focus/drive to produce, this only lasts 2 days though, after that I really need to "recalibrate"

tcmb 9y ago

6.5 to 7 hours during the work week, and I notice my productivity drops off after two days or so. Productivity drop off manifests as worsened ability to focus and making decisions, and by my mood getting bad in general, which can also affect collaboration with others. On the weekend I sleep up to 11 or even 12 hours in the first night, and 9 to 10 in the second. During holidays, 9 hours seem to be the sweet spot for me, which adjusts itself to be between 2.30am and 11.30am. I'd like to sleep more during the week, but I just cannot get myself into bed before midnight. I don't feel tired enough and frankly I'm afraid of lying awake too long and being alone with my thoughts. I'm also guaranteed to have a bad day when I don't have enough time before leaving for work. I need at least 1, better 1.5 hours between getting out of bed and leaving for work, plus a 30 minute commute by bike. This also limits my ability to sleep enough during the week.

hacker_9 9y ago

7-9 hours. I require less sleep when I look after my body and eat healthily. For those who struggle to sleep, you may want to look into meditation when you are in bed. Effectively you focus on a single point and slowly your mind clears, kinda feels like it's shutting down regions. Then sleep comes naturally after, takes me about 20 mins with this technique. Concentrate on your heartbeat or breathing, and know that the more you do it the easier it gets.

wallace_f 9y ago
This my sound strange, but has anyone tried this and had that sensation that if you stop thinking about your heart or breathing, they will stop? Jesus, I must be filled with anxiety.
- hacker_9 9y ago
  I actually find it quite relaxing, as they are both constants. You may just have to do it a few times to remove your anxiety.
  - wallace_f 9y ago
    Perhaps, but I think it just isn't for me. It feels unnnatural to think about it, even though I know that a lot of people say this helps them.
- jrowley 9y ago
  You may want to consider something a little more casual. I like this breathing pattern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wg-UAYGa2A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wg-UAYGa2A
- ellius 9y ago
  I settled on using a mental image due to the fact that I couldn't help controlling my breathing when I focused on it. I find that it's harder to hold your focus on an image than an automatic bodily function, but the tradeoff is that it's easier to disassociate. After enough practice, you may even start to disassociate from your anxiety (as in be able to view it metacognitively, be aware and become friends with it rather than get rid of it).

mewwts 9y ago

I try to get 8-9 hours a night. I usually go to bed at 10pm and wake at 7am. I wish I could sleep less, but I just feel terrible when I do. At least I hope that I'm more productive the time I'm actually awake.

nvahalik 9y ago
I had this same problem. But having to wake up to get the kid to the bus left me little choice. Take a look at your diet. I cut out refined sugars and switched to a (mostly) LCHF diet and I can now function at nearly 100% on as little as 4 hours of sleep. Most nights I get 5-6 hours and can usually function at 100% as long as I get a good 7-8 hours once every week or so.

NietTim 9y ago

About 6~7 hours a night, more trending towards 6 hours and less. It impacts my productivity greatly, I wake up still wanting to sleep more and am tired for most of the day, which causes me to be distracted more easily (open office...) and get way less work done. Also stress affects me more when I sleep less

rublev 9y ago

8-10 solid hours a day. No alarm clock. Work from home.

tzhenghao 9y ago

5-7 hours on work weeks, 8 hours on weekends. I don't think my productivity at work is affected, but I feel like a zombie when I get home at ~7pm. I fall asleep within seconds after hitting the bed. Dreamless sleep too.

doktrin 9y ago

I sleep somewhere between 3-5 hours on weekdays, and 8-10 hours on weekends. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say my productivity decreases linearly by roughly 10-15% every weekday.

zitterbewegung 9y ago

I try to get 7-8 hrs but sometimes I can only get 5-6. It is a negative to my productivity if I only get 5-6.

yathern 9y ago

6-7 hours. Probably averaging 6.5. But I also commute for an hour both ways by bus - I'll often get a half hour or more of sleep both ways. Probably not great sleep (no REM) but better than nothing. I sometimes notice as the week goes on I get a little more tired - usually make it up on the weekends by sleeping around 9 hours.

DanBC 9y ago

When things are going well I sleep about 8 or 9 good hours, and I feel rested and able to cope with the day ahead. When things are not so good I sleep maybe 4 hours of broken sleep. When things are bad I might get one or two hours across a 72 hour stretch. That has pretty severe impact on my ability to function. I have an understanding GP who knows that I make sure my "sleep hygiene" is good when I'm having problems, so when I ask for a few zopiclone it's because I'm at risk of other stuff happening.

rammy1234 9y ago

I used to be a bad sleeper , like sleeping only for 3-4 hrs work week. it badly affected my digestion, I got fat, I was weak, I ate junk and I drank more coffee and I was always dizzy and confused. The day I decided I need to sleep more and started to sleep for 6-7hrs every day and doing this consistently have improved my focus , less coffee and no frustration and I am active and lost few pounds. This is my personal opinion. things improve if you sleep more. 6-8 hrs is good.

scardine 9y ago

At 46 I used to be well and good with just 4h sleep. Four months ago I started a new job at a nearby university campus and there are secure bike lanes the whole 7 miles from my home to the office. In the middle of the traject there is a park with outdoor fitness equipment where I make a stop and do some pull-ups and push-ups. Since I started biking to the work I have a lower level of energy unless I rest for at least 7-8 hours. I don't know if is the age kicking in or if it is the less sedentary lifestyle. The change in the sleep pattern combined with my 4yo autistic kid demanding my full attention at home (he was diagnosed early and is doing very well) diminished my availability for side projects.

Sholmesy 9y ago

I sleep for 7 hours, my partner sleeps for ~ 8.5. Things I've noted: - My sleep "schedule" doesn't have enough hours in the day. Monday I'm asleep at 10, Tuesday 11, Wednesday 12... etc - Lying in bed when not tired destroys any chance of a good nights sleep. - Lack of sleep = angry/bad mood. Bad mood = flustered/annoyed at things (noise/distraction/annoying problem) = No productivity.

celerrimus 9y ago

Quite good question. I used to sleep 8~9 hours, less (and more as someone already pointed) meant i was not very productive, made more mistakes, and i was irritated whole next day. But for more then a year I'm a father, so now much changed. Now I sleep 5-7 hours, often with breaks during night. For example, tonight we had some problem and o lot of crying due to daughter's ear infection. I sleep 5,5hrs with 2 breaks. How do I feel now? Unexpectedly well. I need little longer sturt-up in the morning - plus good coffee. I know that my productivity, creativity, and susceptibility to errors are little down, but I can tell that my body switched to new scheme and it's not such a bad think as i thought. Also, all my troubles with falling asleep, etc, all are gone now. I know that you can handle much more then you think :)

Yetanfou 9y ago

Well, I go to bed between 01:00 and 02:00, my alarm clock first goes off at 06:00 to get my daughter out of bed and up and running to go to school (and sometimes bring her to the station in case the weather is horrid), 06:30 to wake my wife, 07:30 to wake my other daughter to bring her to school. I guess I get around 4 to 4½ hours of sleep a night. I never slept much, not as a child either. I used to listen to the radio while reading, the programming generally turned boring around 24:00 with something for truckers, something for 'cultured people' and something which I never understood who it was for. I still remember the signature tunes for those programs and the haste with which I used to turn off the radio when they came on... [edit: I just looked up one of those programs, the trucker show ('Krieken med Adje' [1]). Turns out it was scheduled between 04:00 and 07:00, this was when I used to get up at 07:00 to go to school. No, I did not sleep much as a child either... ] [1] http://www.jingleweb.nl/index.php/category/ad-roland/ http://www.jingleweb.nl/index.php/category/ad-roland/

wiremine 9y ago

I try to get to be around 10:00 or 10:30, and typically wake up 6:00 or 6:15. I find the older I get the better I operate on 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep. I also seem to get sick less often, and be an all around nicer guy to to family, friends and coworkers.

Sharma 9y ago

Based on my experience: Apart from number of hours, it is also important that you sleep sound. 7 hrs of sleep for a person with no sleep disorder and person with sleep apnea has different impact on productivity. For me this is what I have found age < 20: Sleep hours never impacted my productivity, even if awake all night. 20-30 Years of age: Min 5 Hrs of sleep and I was 100% productive. 30-35+: Productivity got impacted if I slept less than 6. At present(35-40): I am 100% ONLY if I sleep more than 7.5 Hrs. Every now and then we see studies come out and researchers tell us the importance of sleep and its impact on our brains. I found it to be true in my case.

swat535 9y ago

7-10 hours. I work from home and have no alarm clock or kids.

rl3 9y ago

Trying for 12 hours every night due to a recent concussion. Second in two years. Sleep is one of the best things for mTBI/PCS. Productivity impact is annoying in the short term but it's definitely the optimal long-term chocie. Normally I get 7-8 hours.

evanwise 9y ago

I sleep about 5-6 hours on average. Generally, I feel well rested with this amount, but I can function on 3-4 hours per night for a few weeks without serious ill effect. I just feel slightly groggy, although at the end, I will have a "hard crash" where I sleep more than 12 hours. If I'm ill, I will sleep 8-10 hours a night. I think this is mostly genetic, because my father has been going to bed at 9 or 10 PM and waking up at 3 AM for as long as I can remember. I usually stay up later, but sleep about the same amount.

markpapadakis 9y ago

I sleep at around midnight and I wake up at 06:00 every day with no exceptions (e.g weekends or vacations ). I average about 6 hours of sleep. If I sleep for 7 hours I definitely feel better and think “faster” the following day. Sleep is good for you.

parvatzar 9y ago

I used to sleep usually on average 7 hrs when i worked the regular 10 am to 6pm shift. However , working 1 pm to 11 pm shift nowdays and tend to turn in much late than before however wake up earlier than 7 hrs to study for an exam that i am preparing for alongside. I I have observed my productivity in view of this routine to be at peak later in the day rather night when lesser to no distractions or people in office. However am trying to balance out my routine to get the magic number 7 hrs of sleep.

taternuts 9y ago

I've had sleeping issues since I was a kid so mine are probably a bit skewed. Weekdays, on a good night, 4-6 hours. Anything below 4 hours is a bad night and does happen more than I wish. Weekends: 6-8 hours If I get 4 or less hours of sleep, it affects me pretty heavily and I honestly feel somewhat 'hungover' and it can be hard to get meaningful work done. For me, 5-6 hours is the sweet spot.

sethrin 9y ago

About six hours per night. Never more than seven. I've been working from home on my own schedule for years, so productivity is probably not impacted either way. I seem to be consistently waking up at 0425 in the mornings. I'm 31, more or less male-bodied, and I've taken exercise only once in the last two years -- biking 70 miles to see the eclipse. I suspect I'm too much of an outlier to be of any use to this discussion, but I would like to suggest that the "early to bed, early to rise" phrase has some truth to it. I also think that proper sleep is more important than anyone's business schedule, but I don't know how well that one might go over with employers.

juancn 9y ago

6-9 hours. It depends. I need to be well slept to be productive. It's not the number of hours but the feeling that matters. I have taken naps at the office when I had a bad night to bump my productivity. If I don't, I'm just warming up a seat. Thankfully I have lot's of flexibility regarding working hours. That helps a lot. I don't think I could work fixed hours for long.

asdz 9y ago

4-6 hour on weekday and 7-9 hours on weekend can sleep and wake up pretty easy but lack of sleep will just make me a zombie the whole day

synicalx 9y ago

I try my best to hit 8 hours a night, used to keep 10PM-6AM every day even on weekends to keep things consistent. But with a partner that works from home (and therefore wakes up much later) its kind of hard most nights so it ends up being more like midnight to 7AM if I'm lucky. I take ZMA as part of my supplement regime, and coincidentally I do notice that it helps with my sleep a bit - or at least it helps me stay asleep and not wake up several times a night.

anotherevan 9y ago

I usually go to bed between 10-11 and read (non-light emitting eink screen). Lights out is almost always around 11:45. I wake anywhen from 6:30 to 7:30 usually. My kids (both on the autism spectrum) use 1-3mg Melatonin and have from a young age, otherwise they would never sleep. If I'm travelling or find I have a few nights in a row with trouble getting to sleep I'll take it for a few days too. Works well. The quality of your sleep is an important factor too. If you suspect you may have obstructive sleep apnea then go get it checked out. It may be the cause of all manner of irregularities in your sleep routine.