6-7 hours of good sleep. At regular hours. I enjoy mornings.
Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
21–30 of 30 posts
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Last thing before you go to bed, get stuck on a problem. Go to bed. You'll wake up with a solution, and in the meantime get to lay in a comfy bed for hours, and maybe even have some cool dreams. Best brain hack ever.
For me, that usually just leads to insomnia. If I read anything remotely interesting within an hour or so of bed, it takes me a long time to wind down. YMMV. When I'm stuck during the day, a context change (such as a gym break) often has the same effect though.
Yeah, you have to get stuck enough to give up and want to sleep. Ordinary stuck does just keep you awake.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#23as a dedicated strength trainer, bodybuilder, and all-around gym rat, i absolutely NEED eight hours of sleep. i can feel a massive difference when i wake up for work in terms of soreness and stiffness if i don't get a full night's sleep. waking up the day after a heavy squat or deadlift session on a full night's rest feels AMAZING - doing it on 4 hours of sleep is 1000% the opposite.
on top of that, if i don't hammer a huge breakfast in the morning before work i'm about as miserable as i would have been had i only slept four hours.
sleeping well and eating well means i'm productive at work. being productive at work makes me leave the office with a positive mood, ready to get back into the gym and start the cycle over.
to anybody that believes they can survive on 4-5 hours of sleep nightly, i suggest you pick up an exercise routine immediately. after a few weeks it will be quite apparent to you the relationship between a healthy body and a full sleep schedule.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#24I get about 4-5 depending. I practice a version of Polyphasic sleep. I cannot get down past 4, but I have read people that do only 2 hours.....Yikes.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#25I need roughly nine hours a night be fully productive, coherent and happy. I can get by on eight. Less than six, and I feel physically sick to my stomach, and lose my short term memory and sense of balance (really - I tend to bump into things and have fallen off things I was sitting on).
Working alongside people who can function on 4 hours a night, I feel like my need for large amounts of sleep is a big disadvantage.
This all being said, I've started consuming caffeine again after dropping it for nearly 10 years. Consuming a small amount of caffeine in the morning after having not enough sleep does wonders for my productivity, short term memory, and happiness...
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#26You can Hack your Brain.
Check it out http://dustincurtis.com/sleep.html
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#27I used to sleep 6 or less hours a night when I was younger, and I was chronically sleep deprived. I had this mentality that there weren't enough hours in the day, and there were so many things I wanted to do that it made no sense to waste another 2-3 hours just lying there. But as I got older (meaning, post-college), increased responsibilities and the need for complex thinking made this impossible. A year or two out…
I know exactly what you are talking about.
Many-a-times,the urge for putting in "pouring out heart and soul" and do late-nighters takes over common sense.
I have come to the sober realization that debugging with lack of sleep is the equivalent of a drunken monkey controlling the trajectory of a space shuttle. :(
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#28I like to get at least seven hours during the week and aim for nine Friday and Saturday nights. I can do a couple of days of six hours or less, but my efficiency goes way down.
These days I'm not a good daytime sleeper. It could be that what I need is blackout shades, but it suits my preferences to be up and about early.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#29I try to get 9-11 hours if I can on the weekends, but generally I run on between 4 and 6. I can do 4 overnight, then 2 in the following afternoon/early evening quite comfortably. If I miss those two extra hours I end up sleeping for 6. Lately I've been managing 8 and sleeping terribly. I'm hoping to try to get it back down to 7 to see if that improves.
Re: Ask HN: How many hours of sleep do you need to have a productive day?
#30I used to be 8 back in the day (which was a Wednesday, by the way). Now a days, 7 seems to be the magic number for me. I can sink to 6.5 and be ok, but lower than that and I can get cranky. ;)