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I have come to the (non-scientific) conclusion that this is probably genetic. I know some people who sleep a lot less than me and seem to be fine with that. I a

I have come to the (non-scientific) conclusion that this is probably genetic. I know some people who sleep a lot less than me and seem to be fine with that. I am not fine with less sleep, but I wish I was because I would love to have the extra hours each day. I thought of this for the first time when listening to a Freakonomics podcast series interviewing major company CEOs. Several of them mentioned schedules where they average 3-5 hours sleep per night, forever. They all seemed to think that was fine. I think I would be severely ill, maybe even literally die, if I averaged 3-5 hours sleep for a duration of many months. When listening to that series it hit me, maybe this is a genetic thing. In the same way that you kind of need to be tall to make it into the NBA, maybe you need the "minimal sleep is okay" gene to make it as a CEO or rocketship founder. People with those genes get anywhere from 10-20 hours more time per work week than I do, and that's a big advantage over one week, let alone compounded over a career. I don't know what the research says about this, but my lived experience makes me think it's pretty likely, and unfortunately that also means I may have to be more realistic about what my body is and is not capable of.

cercatrova 6y ago
Yes, genetic factors are possible. For example, last year a new gene interaction was discovered for people who need less sleep: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gene-identified-people-who-need-little-sleep https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gene-id...
meddlepal 6y ago
I think it's more likely some people can just power through lack of sleep. I've recently started trying to sleep more 6-7+ hours after a decade of doing the 3-5 hours thing. I just feel better now with more sleep and while I certainly could perform at a high level with less sleep I had to exert more energy the longer the day went on to stay focused. Genetic? Maybe, or just really good discipline and work ethic?
- oliveshell 6y ago
  Well, yes, but this is a bit of a false dichotomy. It’s obvious that capacity for discipline and work ethic are not entirely independent of genetic factors.
  - kyuudou 6y ago
    But it's always 30'C and plantains and mangos hang from trees! Why worry!?
- TinkersW 6y ago
  It isn't work ethic, the difference for me between full night sleep and 6 hours is night and day-- my memory barely works if I have 6 hours, doesn't matter how hard I want it to work, I simply cannot recall words for things that are trivial to bring forth when I'm operating on 8 hours.

cercatrova 6y ago

Yes, genetic factors are possible. For example, last year a new gene interaction was discovered for people who need less sleep: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gene-identified-people-who-need-little-sleep https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gene-id...

meddlepal 6y ago

I think it's more likely some people can just power through lack of sleep. I've recently started trying to sleep more 6-7+ hours after a decade of doing the 3-5 hours thing. I just feel better now with more sleep and while I certainly could perform at a high level with less sleep I had to exert more energy the longer the day went on to stay focused. Genetic? Maybe, or just really good discipline and work ethic?

oliveshell 6y ago
Well, yes, but this is a bit of a false dichotomy. It’s obvious that capacity for discipline and work ethic are not entirely independent of genetic factors.
- kyuudou 6y ago
  But it's always 30'C and plantains and mangos hang from trees! Why worry!?
TinkersW 6y ago
It isn't work ethic, the difference for me between full night sleep and 6 hours is night and day-- my memory barely works if I have 6 hours, doesn't matter how hard I want it to work, I simply cannot recall words for things that are trivial to bring forth when I'm operating on 8 hours.