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It's interesting to note how the general opinion of sleep is starting to shift away from the stereotypical ideal we had decades ago of the "powerful CEO that on

It's interesting to note how the general opinion of sleep is starting to shift away from the stereotypical ideal we had decades ago of the "powerful CEO that only sleeps 4-5 hours a night." We know a lot more about sleep than we used to, and we now know how harmful lack of sleep is to the brain and body. I highly recommend the book, "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker (who is a professor of neuroscience and psychology and the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley), which goes into the myriad reasons why we require plentiful sleep. The book discusses numerous studies conducted over the years that highlight how lack of sleep (in both quantity and quality) affect our mental faculties, our behaviour, and the increased health risks, such as the greater risk of heart disease and dementia, from lack of sleep. Surprisingly, I encounter a lot of other developers and engineers that don't really concern themselves too much with sleep, and some that, as the article states, still do wear their poor sleep patterns as 'badge of pride.' I wonder if it's because engineers generally fall more into the 'night owl' chronotype category? Is there any kind of study that looks into chronotype by occupation to see how our genetics align with our job preferences? As a 'night owl' myself, I know how punishing it can be if you're used to working late, and then having to wake up early to commute and get into an office at the same time as everyone else, and it was one of the reasons I moved away from agency work and started working remotely. I wonder if one day we'll go so far as to stagger start times for people with different chronotypes (night owls and morning larks)? Or if we'll make adjustments to school start times for students in their teenage years, which is when longer sleep associated with a shift in circadian rhythm kicks in.

pdimitar 7y ago
> It's interesting to note how the general opinion of sleep is starting to shift away from the stereotypical ideal we had decades ago of the "powerful CEO that only sleeps 4-5 hours a night." This is very American and overall "hustler" filter bubble. A lot of my acquaintances in Europe giggled when discussing Americans and various try-hard CEOs they know and mocked them for accelerating their own deaths by killing their most important body recover mechanism and filling the extra hours with busy work that didn't contribute to any bottom line. I don't mean to be demeaning. I am just pointing out that in the circles I frequented my entire programming life (~18 years) it's a very common wisdom not to screw with your sleep. Hustling is a useful philosophy if (a) you are that kind of person -- namely living under the motto of "I want to progress, even if by a little bit, every day" and (b) if you are motivated by real gains and not just by nebulous promises that you might see a 5% salary increase if you stay 5-10 years with your employer. --- Let's face it. Most workers hustle because they have been successfully guilt-tripped into it. Truth is, we can derive a lot of wisdom from the ancient hunter-gatherers: they worked a lot during certain periods but were mostly just enjoying life 60% to 80% of their waking time. There were various studies published in the last year on the typical "work" schedule of the hunter-gatherers but sadly now I can't find them. If you are curious, look for them. The bottom line was: the ancient people worked on average ~15h a week.

pdimitar 7y ago

> It's interesting to note how the general opinion of sleep is starting to shift away from the stereotypical ideal we had decades ago of the "powerful CEO that only sleeps 4-5 hours a night." This is very American and overall "hustler" filter bubble. A lot of my acquaintances in Europe giggled when discussing Americans and various try-hard CEOs they know and mocked them for accelerating their own deaths by killing their most important body recover mechanism and filling the extra hours with busy work that didn't contribute to any bottom line. I don't mean to be demeaning. I am just pointing out that in the circles I frequented my entire programming life (~18 years) it's a very common wisdom not to screw with your sleep. Hustling is a useful philosophy if (a) you are that kind of person -- namely living under the motto of "I want to progress, even if by a little bit, every day" and (b) if you are motivated by real gains and not just by nebulous promises that you might see a 5% salary increase if you stay 5-10 years with your employer. --- Let's face it. Most workers hustle because they have been successfully guilt-tripped into it. Truth is, we can derive a lot of wisdom from the ancient hunter-gatherers: they worked a lot during certain periods but were mostly just enjoying life 60% to 80% of their waking time. There were various studies published in the last year on the typical "work" schedule of the hunter-gatherers but sadly now I can't find them. If you are curious, look for them. The bottom line was: the ancient people worked on average ~15h a week.