4 ms·

I do bi/tri phase sleep, 6 hours at night, and 1-2 naps a day (I work remotely so allows me to nap when I want) This is the best, sleep when you need to you bod

I do bi/tri phase sleep, 6 hours at night, and 1-2 naps a day (I work remotely so allows me to nap when I want) This is the best, sleep when you need to you body knows best. Do you think our ancestors slept exactly 8 hours a night from 10pm to 6am? No they slept when they wanted.

stingraycharles 3mo ago
There’s plenty of evidence that people used to sleep very early, and have a period of activity in the night, before having a second period of sleep. I follow the same schedule as you do, and also work remotely, and usually take a single 1-2h nap somewhere between 12pm - 3pm. It makes me have two moments of “morning productivity”, which works very well for me. In the end, listen to your body.
quietbritishjim 3mo ago
> Do you think our ancestors slept exactly 8 hours a night from 10pm to 6am? Yeah I pretty much do expect that (but more like 6 or 7). They were awake a few hours after sunset by fire light, then get up fairly early. I certainly don't imagine them napping during the day, when they could be working together to get food, unless it's a climate where it's too hot to do anything in the middle of the day. Studies of modern hunter gatherers seem to back this up e.g. [1] It's widely known that Victorians would have two sleeps over night, with a productive period in the middle, but this seems to be a misconception based on a passing remark in one court case. Even if true, this is a post-industrial society with unhealthily long working hours and I don't think we should be copying their sleep patterns. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215012403 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221...
- thesuitonym 3mo ago
  Nearly all predators spend large portions of their day sleeping, why would humans have been different?
  - zeroonetwothree 3mo ago
    Bears sleep about 7-8 hours/day, similar to humans.
  - quietbritishjim 3mo ago
    Well that's a purely intellectual question, given that empirical data on human hunter gatherers. But I'd guess it's because (1) humans aren't purely predators, we're have a mixed diet with plants too, and (2) humans hint in a fundamentally different way to most predators, by chasing their prey to exhaustion over several hours rather than outrunning them over a few minutes.
- small_model 3mo ago
  Watch male lions they sleep when they want, laze about all day until they need to eat. Or you can be a deer caught in the corporate wage slave, alarm clock prisoner headlights.
  - raddan 3mo ago
    Artificial light has a huge effect on drowsiness for me. This is quite noticable when I am out in the woods, camping in a tent. After sundown, I have about an hour left before I get so drowsy that I cannot keep my eyes open. Back home, indoors, I can stay awake almost indefinitely.
  - trallnag 3mo ago
    Watch birds they fly when they want. Or you can be a slave worm bound to the earth. The choice is yours
    - small_model 3mo ago
      If you watch birds you will see they don't use alarm clocks nor go to work, but still find food each day.
      - quietbritishjim 3mo ago
        Birds don't need to cooperate in groups to find food. In animals that do, you can bet that they have a way to wake together. If you're camping in the same tent as other humans you'll soon find that out. Alarm clocks are a workaround for not living communally with the rest of your tribe.
  - zeroonetwothree 3mo ago
    What about female lions?
  - quietbritishjim 3mo ago
    Male lions don't hunt, females do. In human hunter gatherer society, it's the males that hunt while females gather plants. Also, as I mentioned in a sibling comment, humans hunt in a fundamentally different way to most predators, including lions: humans chase to exhaustion over hours while lions try to outrun their prey over minutes or less. (That's why humans have three gaits: walking, jogging, running, while most animals only have walking and running.)
stronglikedan 3mo ago
I've tried this but naps make me groggy for the rest of the day, or sometimes I get confused thinking it's the next day. What's your secret to waking up refreshed from a nap?
- small_model 3mo ago
  I am groggy but I drink a Coke Zero and within 10-20 mins I feel great. Whereas without sleep I would be flagging.
- raddan 3mo ago
  My PhD advisor likes to drink a coffee just prior to falling asleep. That way the caffiene slowly kicks in and wakes him up. I can't do this--I already have trouble sleeping and I feel the effects of coffee quickly. But to answer your question-- for me, washing my face helps a lot. I don't know why. Not that I nap all that often.
- QuercusMax 3mo ago
  Your naps are too long. Think of it as a reboot, not a full power-down cycle. I set a 25 minute timer and usually wake up a few minutes before it goes off. You don't want to go all the way into deep sleep which really requires 2-3 hours to properly do a REM cycle, and if you wake up in the middle you'll be super groggy.

stingraycharles 3mo ago

There’s plenty of evidence that people used to sleep very early, and have a period of activity in the night, before having a second period of sleep. I follow the same schedule as you do, and also work remotely, and usually take a single 1-2h nap somewhere between 12pm - 3pm. It makes me have two moments of “morning productivity”, which works very well for me. In the end, listen to your body.

quietbritishjim 3mo ago

> Do you think our ancestors slept exactly 8 hours a night from 10pm to 6am? Yeah I pretty much do expect that (but more like 6 or 7). They were awake a few hours after sunset by fire light, then get up fairly early. I certainly don't imagine them napping during the day, when they could be working together to get food, unless it's a climate where it's too hot to do anything in the middle of the day. Studies of modern hunter gatherers seem to back this up e.g. [1] It's widely known that Victorians would have two sleeps over night, with a productive period in the middle, but this seems to be a misconception based on a passing remark in one court case. Even if true, this is a post-industrial society with unhealthily long working hours and I don't think we should be copying their sleep patterns. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215012403 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221...

thesuitonym 3mo ago
Nearly all predators spend large portions of their day sleeping, why would humans have been different?
- zeroonetwothree 3mo ago
  Bears sleep about 7-8 hours/day, similar to humans.
- quietbritishjim 3mo ago
  Well that's a purely intellectual question, given that empirical data on human hunter gatherers. But I'd guess it's because (1) humans aren't purely predators, we're have a mixed diet with plants too, and (2) humans hint in a fundamentally different way to most predators, by chasing their prey to exhaustion over several hours rather than outrunning them over a few minutes.
small_model 3mo ago
Watch male lions they sleep when they want, laze about all day until they need to eat. Or you can be a deer caught in the corporate wage slave, alarm clock prisoner headlights.
- raddan 3mo ago
  Artificial light has a huge effect on drowsiness for me. This is quite noticable when I am out in the woods, camping in a tent. After sundown, I have about an hour left before I get so drowsy that I cannot keep my eyes open. Back home, indoors, I can stay awake almost indefinitely.
- trallnag 3mo ago
  Watch birds they fly when they want. Or you can be a slave worm bound to the earth. The choice is yours
  - small_model 3mo ago
    If you watch birds you will see they don't use alarm clocks nor go to work, but still find food each day.
    - quietbritishjim 3mo ago
      Birds don't need to cooperate in groups to find food. In animals that do, you can bet that they have a way to wake together. If you're camping in the same tent as other humans you'll soon find that out. Alarm clocks are a workaround for not living communally with the rest of your tribe.
- zeroonetwothree 3mo ago
  What about female lions?
- quietbritishjim 3mo ago
  Male lions don't hunt, females do. In human hunter gatherer society, it's the males that hunt while females gather plants. Also, as I mentioned in a sibling comment, humans hunt in a fundamentally different way to most predators, including lions: humans chase to exhaustion over hours while lions try to outrun their prey over minutes or less. (That's why humans have three gaits: walking, jogging, running, while most animals only have walking and running.)

stronglikedan 3mo ago

I've tried this but naps make me groggy for the rest of the day, or sometimes I get confused thinking it's the next day. What's your secret to waking up refreshed from a nap?

small_model 3mo ago
I am groggy but I drink a Coke Zero and within 10-20 mins I feel great. Whereas without sleep I would be flagging.
raddan 3mo ago
My PhD advisor likes to drink a coffee just prior to falling asleep. That way the caffiene slowly kicks in and wakes him up. I can't do this--I already have trouble sleeping and I feel the effects of coffee quickly. But to answer your question-- for me, washing my face helps a lot. I don't know why. Not that I nap all that often.
QuercusMax 3mo ago
Your naps are too long. Think of it as a reboot, not a full power-down cycle. I set a 25 minute timer and usually wake up a few minutes before it goes off. You don't want to go all the way into deep sleep which really requires 2-3 hours to properly do a REM cycle, and if you wake up in the middle you'll be super groggy.