

Everyman Sleep Schedule - antiform
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Everyman%20Sleep%20Schedule

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ldambra
"/Leisure and Idleness/. There is an Indian savagery, a savagery peculiar to
the Indian blood, in the manner in which the Americans strive after gold: and
the breathless hurry of their work-the characteristic vice of the New World-
already begins to infect old Europe, and makes it savage also, spreading over
it a strange lack of intellectuality. One is now ashamed of repose: even long
reflection almost causes remorse of conscience. Thinking is done with a
stopwatch, as dining is done with the eyes fixed on the financial newspaper;
we live like men who are continually "afraid of letting opportunities slip."
"Better do anything whatever, than nothing"-this principle also is a noose
with which all culture and all higher taste may be strangled.

And just as all form obviously disappears in this hurry of workers, so the
sense for form itself, the ear and the eye for the melody of movement, also
disappear. The proof of this is the clumsy perspicuity which is now everywhere
demanded in all positions where a person would like to be sincere with his
fellows, in intercourse with friends, women, relatives, children, teachers,
pupils, leaders and princes-one has no longer either time or energy for
ceremonies, for roundabout courtesies, for any esprit in conversation, or for
any odium whatever. For life in the hunt for gain continually compels a person
to consume his intellect, even to exhaustion, in constant dissimulation,
overreaching, or forestalling: the real virtue nowadays is to do something in
a shorter time than another person. And so there are only rare hours of
sincere intercourse permitted: in them, however, people are tired, and would
not only like "to let themselves go," but to stretch their legs out wide in
awkward style. The way people write their letters nowadays is quite in keeping
with the age; their style and spirit will always be the true "sign of the
times."

If there be still enjoyment in society and in art, it is enjoyment such as
over-worked slaves provide for themselves. Oh, this moderation in "joy" of our
cultured and uncultured classes! Oh, this increasing suspiciousness of all
enjoyment! Work is winning over more and more the good conscience to its side:
the desire for enjoyment already calls itself "need of recreation," and even
begins to be ashamed of itself. "One owes it to one's health," people say,
when they are caught at a picnic. Indeed, it might soon go so far that one
could not yield to the desire for the vita contemplative (that is to say,
excursions with thoughts and friends), without self-contempt and a bad
conscience. Well! Formerly it was the very reverse: it was "action" that
suffered from a bad conscience. a man of good family I concealed his work when
need compelled him to labor. The slave labored under the weight of the feeling
that he did something contemptible-the "doing" itself was something
contemptible. "Only in otium and bellum is there nobility and honor:" so rang
the voice of ancient prejudice!"

Nietzsche in La gaya scienza, §329 (1882).

~~~
yters
Ironically, alot of this is stimulated by a lust for power. Keeping up with
the Joneses is a form of social power. I've thought that Nietzsche's writing
functions as a koan for the West's power drive.

Anyways, I agree. We can see this in how introverts are treated in our
culture. They tend to be looked down on since they don't "do" things. I
suspect, though, that most of the great thinkers who shaped the world were
introverts.

However, the best approach is to not arbitrarily elevate leisure or action,
but to consider the purpose of each.

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pg
This stuff seems to me a kind of premature optimization for life. I know quite
a few people who've done impressive things. None of them did it by sleeping
less.

What did they have? Boldness, focus, an ability to see through illusions and
fashions. I'd go for those first, and if you're still not getting enough done,
then try sleeping less.

~~~
jsjenkins168
Sleeping less is actually a secondary benefit... Its really about avoiding
burn-out and staying mentally acute over long periods of continuous work.
Breaking up things with naps is actually highly effective.

I'll agree that its not about how long you work, but how productive you are
while you are working. While there is no substitute for genuine, hard work,
I'd advocate that a polyphasic sleep schedule can help some people with long
hours of intense work.

~~~
kingkongrevenge
> Breaking up things with naps is actually highly effective.

I disagree. Naps are inefficient. By breaking sleep up into more blocks you
multiply the time you waste trying to fall asleep, shaking off "just woke up"
grogginess, changing clothing, getting to and from bed, etc. Batching tasks is
almost always more efficient. Grocery shopping every few weeks is much more
efficient than going twice a week, for example.

I did some shift work for a while so I speak from experience. I would get
about five hours of sleep before waking at 4:15am, and then take another hour
or two of sleep in mid afternoon when I got home. I adapted comfortably to
this and didn't mind it too much. But it did absolutely nothing for
productivity or alertness. All it meant was more time spent changing in and
out of PJs and lying in bed falling asleep. It also constrained the
flexibility of my schedule because skipping the nap did a number on me.

Are people in siesta countries notably more productive than regular night
sleep countries? I think evidence indicates the opposite. This whole "hacking
sleep" thing is a red herring.

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tlrobinson
I've been tempted to attempt some form of polyphasic sleep. Currently it seems
I'm practicing sort of free-running sleep... going to bed between 4am and 8am,
waking up between 11am and 2pm...

Polyphasic sleep seems well suited for people in early stages of a startup,
with very little external commitments... though that may change if it gets to
the point of hiring additional employees, seeking funding, etc.

Pure polyphasic sleeping seems a little extreme to me since the days would end
up blending together I think I might go crazy. But the everyman schedule is
appealing because you still get a few solid hours of sleep to clearly
delineate days.

~~~
tlrobinson
Oh, and of course there's the 28 Hour Week: <http://xkcd.org/320/>

~~~
tlrobinson
28 hour _day_

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thaumaturgy
I've been practicing various forms of sleep deprivation for a few years now.
It's not to be taken lightly! The one lasting effect that I've been totally
unable to eliminate is really poor memory. I have to take lots of notes now,
and I really miss being able to keep track of everything in my head.

That said, I've pretty much settled on "sleeping like a warrior (Raa!)": Wake
up when you have to. Work for as long as you're productive. Sleep when your
body says "please". Get up, rinse, repeat.

This results in my usually having about one "dead day" a month, where I sleep
10 to 12 hours in one day, and an awful lot of days where I only get an hour
and a half or 3, and make up for it by getting 6 the next night...

~~~
yters
Sleeping less also seems to impair my creative thinking and ability to
concentrate.

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dmm
Polyphasic sleep is a bad idea if you value creativity and alertness.

Here is an article from a doctor who has studied sleep schedules and memory:
<http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm>

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wallflower
Is the closest most adults get to polyphasic sleep while they are caring for
their newborns and get no sleep?

