Why Entrepreneurs Can't Sleep • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Entrepreneurs Can't Sleep

#61

Post by georgieporgie » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 9:00 AM UTC

rjd wrote: post #60

georgieporgie wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the problems like his before I had a computer Did you watch a lot of television?

Nope not really, I read a lot of books. I can remember one day buying Red Dwarf:Better Than Life, and finishing it overnight and maybe getting an hour or twos sleep. I grew up in a rural community and wasn't really interested in TV or technology really. I didn't even learn to program till was I was 22 (only after I had serious sporting accident where I had broken arms and legs and had to drop out of art school). Alth…

The night terrors went away as soon as I understood what was going on, I guess the suffocation maybe related but without the panic aspects.

Yeah, those are still night terrors. I have the suffocation thing once in a great while (usually while napping on a hot day), and occasionally wake up convinced there is a rat walking on the ceiling, or -- when camping -- mosquitoes all over the interior of my tent ceiling. After a couple of seconds, I realize I'm so nearsighted that there is no way I could possibly make out a mosquito on the ceiling of my tent. :-)

Anyway, I've generally tended toward peak activity in the late evening, and tend toward a 2am - 10am sleep schedule (as evidenced by it being 1:52am now). That said, in the periods where I do get myself consistently to sleep by midnight, I feel much better all day, every day.

I've found that I need about an hour of intense exercise per day, no caffeine after around 5pm, and, of course, the actual self-discipline to get started on going to bed by 11pm. 300mcg of melatonin per night helps me stay more deeply asleep, and it doesn't cause the body to build a tolerance.

Oh, and eating dinner at a 'normal' hour (5 - 7pm) makes a huge difference in my ability to fall asleep earlier.

Re: Why Entrepreneurs Can't Sleep

#62

Post by Mz » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 9:22 AM UTC

achompas wrote: post #33

baddox wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand it, F.lux works because your body uses light cues to determine the rate of melatonin production. Essentially: less light (or warmer light) => more melatonin production => sleepiness. Rather than mess around with your monitors' color balance (which I find extremely annoying), I just skip the first step and pop an over the counter melatonin pill. It works splendidly, doesn't seem to be habit forming (be…

I tried melatonin a few times and experienced some very groggy mornings. I also experienced a few nights where I could not sleep after taking a 3mg tab. For those considering it, let me suggest a very small dose (0.5-0.75 mg, or 1/4th of a tablet) and 9-10 hours to try it out. Don't pop one of these at 2am and expect to feel great the next day.

I've used melatonin. When I first tried it, I was on a lot of medication, so my brain chemistry was pretty whacked, and it would leave me feeling half asleep for like 3 days. I agree with the suggestion to try a low dose version. However, it also helps to take co-q-10 the following morning. It is the co-enzyme to melatonin and wakes the brain up. It counteracts the effects of melatonin.

For those saying melatonin left you wide awake: It also has immune function uses. I have had times when I took it (during the day) to treat a health issue rather than a sleep issue and the impact was to wake me up.

Re: Why Entrepreneurs Can't Sleep

#63

Post by 8ig8 » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 11:48 AM UTC

codebaobab wrote: post #50

8ig8 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for mentioning F.lux. I recall reading about it a while back but never tried it. I'm planning to install it tomorrow. I did a quick search for an iPad equivalent, but nothing promising turned up. I'll keep looking. Much of my evening and night reading is on the iPad and I've wondered if the 'glow' has been disrupting my sleep. If anyone has suggestions for non-jailbroken iOS devices, please share. Thanks.

Yes, please! Even if it is not a software solution (like some kind of physical filter I could place on top of the screen.) I've got f.lux on my laptop, but I predominantly use my iPad in the evenings.

I figured there'd be a software limitation, so I was envisioning a physical filter as well. Something like those privacy screens that 3M markets to business travelers for laptops.

Re: Why Entrepreneurs Can't Sleep

#64

Post by achompas » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 12:52 PM UTC

dvdhsu wrote: post #57

8ig8 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for mentioning F.lux. I recall reading about it a while back but never tried it. I'm planning to install it tomorrow. I did a quick search for an iPad equivalent, but nothing promising turned up. I'll keep looking. Much of my evening and night reading is on the iPad and I've wondered if the 'glow' has been disrupting my sleep. If anyone has suggestions for non-jailbroken iOS devices, please share. Thanks.

I just sent an e-mail to Marco. Hopefully he'll be able to implement this in to InstaPaper.

There are a few problems with this, chief among them being that tinting the screen with amber probably requires some iOS API hack that's probably not public.