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Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

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Re: Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

#301
post #17

This is one of the reasons I hate the eight-hour work day. Between that and all of the other shit you have to do in a day (commute, chores, eating, exercise etc.), it seems like there's little to no opportunity to just have a life. I know it sounds like first world problems (people used to work 100 hour weeks), but I think our culture needs to change before we can really put the onus on people to improve their sleepi…

Working remotely has helped me a lot (cutting commuting). I work 8 hours, eat, exercise and get 8 hours of sleep. My wife who isn't working does more chores than I do (although I help a lot during the weekend). My only complain is that outside of exercising I have very little freetime, but that's mainly because I spend lots of time with my kids.

Re: Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

#302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried avoiding screens an hour or two before going to bed? Fill that time with reading or listening to podcasts.

Does the Kindle still count? I heard that it is different from computer screens because the light is backlit, not directly shown into your eyes.

A Kindle should be fine, preferably without backlight however.

Re: Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

#303

I recognize the thrust of this argument, and anecdotally agree with it from my experience,but it's not practical advice. Work 12 hours, spend at least 30 minutes each way commuting,work out, prepare and eat meals, and you're at pretty nearly 15 hours, without counting preparing for work. Sure,you have time for sleeping 8 hours,but only if you eschew any personal life and find your work sufficiently exciting to not se…

How and why would you work for 12 hours in a day? I don't understand why anyone with choose that life for an extended period of time.

Great co-workers, somewhat interesting work, insight into a really interesting organization, and a situation where I went in with too little information and now would face substantial costs if I back out rather than persisting for another 3 or 4 years.

Re: Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

#305
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that stuff really a concern? How many random child kidnappers are there? Don't children go out to play? And then walk home alone from wherever they hung out? I thought Stranger Danger was sort of a joke for many areas now. Especially considering people on HN are usually middle class at minimum. I never had any issues walking to the bus stop starting in kindergarten. Though granted I almost never walked alone. Usua…

I never said it's a rational fear! I have never walked home alone after hanging out nor gone out to play alone except in our backyard.

Ah okay. My mistake.

Re: Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

#306
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, studies have shown that hunter-gatherer societies spent much less than 40h/week "working" and had more leisure time than we do. It's just recent history that's an anomaly...

Hunter gatherer societies also weren't paying for cell phones, and internet, and mortgages/rent. I'm sure you could get by working part time for 15 hours a week if you gave up all of your modern conveniences and lived outdoors in a tent, but it wouldn't be very enjoyable.

I would love to work, say, 20-30 hours a week for 50%-75% of my base salary. Buy stuff on sale, cook for myself instead of eating out, I think I could live quite happily that way. But unless you're good enough (and social enough) to find work as a consultant, there aren't many skilled jobs that will let you do that. If you're not willing to work at least 40 hours a week, they're not interested.

Re: Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

#307

>> If you were not to set an alarm clock, would you sleep past it? If the answer is yes, then there is clearly more sleep that is needed. Totally wrong. I just finished 4 months of military training. Sleep deprivation was part of the training. We were constantly sleep deprived. It impacted our performance, that was the point. That said, I'm one of those people who always seems to get up 2 minutes before the alarm. Ev…

Your point, although interesting, does not invalidate the quote. Let A be « you would sleep past the alarm clock without it » and B « you are sleep-deprived » They say A → B. You say false since I got B and not(A). A → B does not imply B → A which would be proved false by your case.

Re: Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

#308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have little knowledge about the truth here but I'd heard that this sort of warring stuff only ramped up after agriculture became common, no? Why kill other tribes' members unless they have a hoard of food? I suppose "to reduce competition" is one answer, but if everyone can hunt/gather for enough food, the motivation seems reduced. OTOH if I can ignore preparation for winter and just raid your village for grain sto…

> Why kill other tribes' members unless they have a hoard of food? I suppose "to reduce competition" is one answer Yes, and not just for food and similar non-human resources. Reducing competition for mates is a common reason; even well past hunter-gatherer society, killing the men to take the women as mates remained a thing.

It remains a thing now.

What makes a bigot crazier than anything? Seeing one of "our" females with one of "their" males.

Re: Productive on six hours of sleep? You’re deluding yourself, expert says

#309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How and why would you work for 12 hours in a day? I don't understand why anyone with choose that life for an extended period of time.

Great co-workers, somewhat interesting work, insight into a really interesting organization, and a situation where I went in with too little information and now would face substantial costs if I back out rather than persisting for another 3 or 4 years.

That's fair enough, but I think your personal circumstances are unusual (and unhealthy). For the majority of people sleeping 8 hours is practical advice because they work 8 not 12 hours, leaving them with 4 extra hours, which is enough time to go to the gym, spend with family etc..
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