

Sleep, do you get enough? - iwtdwiwtd

I sleep from 3 to 7 hours a day and sometimes I feel badly because of it. But I have so much work to do: job, college etc and it's impossible to do everything in 16 hours a day if I would sleep 8 hours.<p>Do you get enough sleep? What would you suggest me? If you didn't get enough sleep in past, what was effects on your health?
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firefoxman1
I've been working on my sleep schedule lately as well. I'll list some of the
things to try.

1\. Determine your "sweet spot" for hours slept. Mine is anywhere between 8.5
and 9.25 hours. Too much more and I'm groggy for the rest of the day, and much
less won't allow me to perform at my best for that day.

2\. Try to sleep and wake at the same time every day. Sleeping in on the
weekends may feel good that day, but then Monday comes and waking up at normal
time again feels like hell. If you keep you schedule constant, your body will
optimize its different sleep cycles for the time it expects to get.

3\. Try becoming an early riser. Humans are diurnal (!nocturnal) animals. This
means that if you continue to sleep after sunrise, your body will want to wake
up so you won't get as deep of a sleep.

4\. If you have a super hectic schedule that doesn't allow a constant sleep
schedule, try polyphasic sleep. I haven't tried it myself, but it may be worth
a shot: <http://www.dustincurtis.com/sleep.html>

If you want to help keep your sleep schedule constant, here are some tips I've
found helpful:

1\. Avoid screens like a computer and TV an hour or less before bed. Try a
book instead.

2\. Avoid caffeine at least 3 hours before bed (probably obvious, but worth
saying anyway)

3\. Try chamomile tea to get to sleep quickly.

4\. Artificial lighting sucks. Avoid it as much as possible. Open a window in
the daytime and get to sleep earlier to avoid several hours of artificial
light. You may save some $$$ on energy as a side effect.

5\. To wake up quickly, go for a walk outside as soon as you wake up.

I hope some of these help.

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polyfractal
1a. If you must use a computer screen before bed, install F.lux
(<http://stereopsis.com/flux/>). As the sun goes down, Flux adjusts the color
warmth of your monitor to make it friendly as sunlight diminishes.

It takes a little to get used to, but its completely awesome once you are
using it. When you disable it during the night and see your monitor jump to a
bright, blinding blue shade you realize how painful it is on your eyes.

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firefoxman1
Wow great find. Thanks!

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mahdireilly
I am bipolar and my sleep is very erratic. I sometimes go 4-5 days without
sleep and suffer no loss of productivity. Usually I sleep 3-4 hours a night
and feel rested and ready to go. If my sleep goes unchecked, it can throw me
into a manic state which is dangerous for my bank account, makes me very
aggressive, and leaves me hunting down risky endeavors. I was fine with that
on my own, but since getting married I have to work fairly hard to keep more
regular hours. My wife wants me to go to sleep when she does and dislikes
waking up with me out of bed. Since she can sleep well into the afternoon when
her schedule permits it is a challenge for me.

Over the past few years, I have done a ton of research on sleep, tried just
about every over the counter and prescription medication, did a few sleep
studies, and have tested different tons of sleep hygiene philosophies.

The key to me tuning my sleep has been by recording metrics of how I slept and
looking for trends. I record when I sleep and wake, how hard it was to get to
sleep and get up, my stress level and mood for the previous day, the
medications and sleep-aid methods I am trying, the temperature, darkness, etc.
Relying entirely on a subjective rating for sleep didn't work for me, so I use
a fitbit to track how much I am moving during sleep, which can be correlated
to how effective your sleep is.

In the last few months I have been able to not take any medication and
maintain a regular(ish) sleeping schedule for the first time in probably 5
years.

Everyone has different methods that work for them so I will give you a few
that work best for most without killing productivity: -Wake at the same time
every morning, sleep when tired(If you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes,
you aren't tired). -When waking, get as much light as you can. Watching the
sunrise is both invigorating for your body and mind. -Exercise daily, even if
its just taking a long walk. -2 hours before sleep avoid anything highly
engaging such as media, games, and work(if you can manage). Try writing to
empty your mind, or reading something that is not backlit. Dim the lights,
stretch or do yoga, etc. -For those nights you can't stop working for those 2
hours, I use flux(mentioned below) and have found it to work well. -Don't try
the polyphasic sleep except as a last resort. -Don't nap even for a few
minutes. -Don't drink caffeine. ...the list goes on.

My biggest piece of advice is to systematically try different techniques and
to record your results. It will take a while to hone in on what is best since
you likely have a schedule that varies daily.

I have encouraged many people to do this, even if they don't have trouble
sleeping since you will discover what your body requires and not what your
mind wants. Oversleeping can cause almost the same amount of health problems
as not sleeping enough.

Fine-tuning your mind(this method is not limited to sleep) and body is one of
the most important things you can do to make you healthy and productive. It
amazes me that it is not more common...

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radagaisus
I pretty much hit my sweet spot in my work. I work until I want to sleep. Then
I sleep. When I wake up I continue to work. It makes for real weird cycles
like 20-24 hours of no sleep, 12 hours of sleep, 20 hours of no sleep, 6
hours, 14 hours of no sleep.. It's awesome.

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davyjones
I was exactly like this. It was good while it lasted. It was not fun when I
developed some health issues. Now, I exercise every day and sleep on a regular
cycle. The exercise really helped with the sleep regulation.

Do watch your health. It is of prime importance.

