This is FASCINATING. I sleep a natural 9 hours per night and still often feel quite tired throughout the day. (Setting up a sleep study with doctors this month but I barely snore, so doubt it’s apnea). The idea that I could maybe do just as well on 7 hours or less is very exciting and I’ll be trying it right away. I have a lot of problems with mental tiredness lasting throughout the day; I have been thinking about my sleep a lot lately and have noticed that even when I do rarely sleep 6 hours or so, my mind can still be awake even while my body feels tired.
In support of the possibility of habituating to less sleep: I had a roommate long ago, who was around 30 years old, and slept around 6 hours a night. I asked him how he did it, and he said something like “I used to sleep more, but then there was a period of my life when I didn’t have the time to sleep more than 6, and after that period passed, I found sleeping 6 hours and being fine remained something I could do.”
Even having heard his story, I’d never considered anything like the ideas advanced by this post. I don’t know whether sleep restriction will pan out for me, but even the possibility is just so nice to have as something to try. Thanks!!
Another datapoint: I’ve experimented with sleeping as long as my body “wants” to as e.g. Matthew Walker recommends, which also is around 9 hours. I’d describe the results as disappointing, was probably slightly more tired and not really more productive.
On the other hand, evidence strongly suggests that 5 hours isn’t enough.
So far, the rythm that felt best and led to the highest productivity was sleeping from midnight to 3:20 and from 5:40 to 9:00, but this is currently not possible because I sometimes need to get out earlier than 9:00. Alternatively, just setting the alarm for around 7 hours also does pretty well.
Please be cautious and do not try cutting your sleep from 9 hours to 7 hours right away.
If you want to try experimenting with how much you sleep, try 8:30 and see how it goes first, make gradual changes, make sure you feel good, and take naps.
This is FASCINATING. I sleep a natural 9 hours per night and still often feel quite tired throughout the day. (Setting up a sleep study with doctors this month but I barely snore, so doubt it’s apnea). The idea that I could maybe do just as well on 7 hours or less is very exciting and I’ll be trying it right away. I have a lot of problems with mental tiredness lasting throughout the day; I have been thinking about my sleep a lot lately and have noticed that even when I do rarely sleep 6 hours or so, my mind can still be awake even while my body feels tired.
In support of the possibility of habituating to less sleep: I had a roommate long ago, who was around 30 years old, and slept around 6 hours a night. I asked him how he did it, and he said something like “I used to sleep more, but then there was a period of my life when I didn’t have the time to sleep more than 6, and after that period passed, I found sleeping 6 hours and being fine remained something I could do.”
Even having heard his story, I’d never considered anything like the ideas advanced by this post. I don’t know whether sleep restriction will pan out for me, but even the possibility is just so nice to have as something to try. Thanks!!
Another datapoint: I’ve experimented with sleeping as long as my body “wants” to as e.g. Matthew Walker recommends, which also is around 9 hours. I’d describe the results as disappointing, was probably slightly more tired and not really more productive.
On the other hand, evidence strongly suggests that 5 hours isn’t enough.
So far, the rythm that felt best and led to the highest productivity was sleeping from midnight to 3:20 and from 5:40 to 9:00, but this is currently not possible because I sometimes need to get out earlier than 9:00. Alternatively, just setting the alarm for around 7 hours also does pretty well.
Please be cautious and do not try cutting your sleep from 9 hours to 7 hours right away.
If you want to try experimenting with how much you sleep, try 8:30 and see how it goes first, make gradual changes, make sure you feel good, and take naps.
Ok! Thanks.