Tips on how to sleep less?

Question

I recently read an article about sleep, and it stated that Margaret Thatcher once said that she slept for just 4 hours a night but felt fine afterwards and it didn't affect her negatively. I am currently sleeping for about 8 hours a night, but I am quite jealous of her. Does anyone know of ways to reduce how much you sleep but still maintain productivity or is it just different from person to person how much sleep you need?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

All depends at most the person

Answer 3

I think it is different from person to person....the fact that you are getting 8 hours of sleep is great!  It is shown that a person that gets 6-8 hours of sleep are less likely to have a weight problem when older.  As long as you're not sleeping away the day, I'd stick to your routine:)

Answer 4

pin your eyes open

Answer 5

sound therapy. trust me.

Answer 6

There are ways to reduce the amount of sleep you need. Obviously everybody is different, but the idea that '8 hours a day' is a must for everybody is in fact a myth (although I imagine the people of the industrial revolution, where this idea originated, probably needed 8 hours sleep). It even doesn't figure when you take into account the fact that the average full sleep cycle lasts 1.5 hours - 8 isn't a multiple of 1.5! It proves, to an extent, that the core amount of sleep we need is conditioned into us by those around us. But if that's the case, then we can re-condition ourselves... :-)

Humans are bi-phasic by nature, by that I mean they sleep twice a day (like Spaniards), not just once at night. A 20 minute nap when you feel slightly tired in the afternoon will work wonders for your 'productivity', as you put it. You memory is likely to improve (see New Scientist, ca. March this year) as well.

By the way, 20 minutes is the 'magic number' when it comes to sleep - it's long enough for your brain to perform key neurological repairs and sort itself out before one progresses into deep sleep, when it's near impossible to get up.

I recommend having a read of the following articles on the Uberman and Everyman sleep patterns:

http://everything2.com/title/Uberman%252...

http://everything2.com/e2node/Everyman%2...

To save you the trouble of reading the articles to get the jist of them, the Uberman sleep pattern basically entails sleeping for 20 minutes every 4 hours. On this, you only sleep for 2 hours a day. However, there are few people who have a schedule that permits a doze every 4 hours!

The Everyman sleep cycle is derived from the Uberman sleep cycle, with the purpose of fitting in with more people's lives. On this you sleep for 3 hours at night (~2 full sleep cycles), and take three 20 minute naps spread throughout the day, so you are awake for 20 hours a day. Also, unlike the Uberman sleep pattern, you do not have to be precise about when you take a nap - you can nap between an hour before and an hour after your set time.

Earlier this year, I tried the Everyman sleep pattern, desperate for time just to complete things on my course without resorting to the whole 'stay up all night then crash for 12/16 hours' repeatedly all week (hey, it was tough being a second year Chemist!). It was the only pattern that I liked and that fitted into my day (I was put of the Uberman by the lack of deep sleep).

It took a while to adjust fully, but even after a few days I felt more awake. Seriously - I felt ALIVE! I was going to bed at 04:00, had 3-3.5 hours sleep (I have always been useless at getting up in the morning), then napped for 20 minutes at 13:00, 18:00 and 23:00. On top of this, my memory improved, my ability to study shot through the roof, and as I had more time, I was much happier. I began to view the day as a series of modules, split up by naps, in which I would mostly do certain things and so could allocate time to do things in the day, so my organization vastly improved. On Fridays and Saturdays I would sleep for 6 hours at night (I really couldn't go for a drink with my friend and at 23:00 say "Excuse me while I doze off for a bit"), but this had no impact on my ability to adhere to the pattern.

Alas, this did not last - two months later, it was Easter. Every school/university holiday my body refuses to get up early no matter what I try, and two days in, bosh - I slept 6 hours, then again the next night, so I couldn't nap during the day as I got too much sleep, and before long I became fed up with hanging in between two sleep patterns as I had exams approaching.

As such, I'm about to re-condition myself and get back on this pattern ready for when university resumes :-) .

Now before you go off and experiment with your sleep, I would just like to add that everybody is different, and listen to your body. I accept no responsibility for anything that happens to you should you experiment with your sleep as a result of reading my answer. Not that it would, but I'm not being sued if out of the blue it did - I'm a poor student! Read, and make an educated decision on what to do - sleep is terribly important.

Anyway, I think my answer is long enough (perhaps too long - I apologise) - best of luck with the experimentation with your sleep!

Answer 7

i heard that the older u get the less sleeping hours you'll need so probably that person was older than u ?

now answer mine plz :)

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 8

Force yourself to stay up late for like 2 days and ull get used to it and drink soda .. sugar doesnt do it for me but maybe thats what u need