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The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

ngokevin.com

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Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#21

Post by dave1619 »

I would imagine one of the weaknesses of this kind of schedule is the variations that occur when you have an evening function that you just need to go to, ie., birthday party of your best friend. And what happens when you have a few evening functions you need to go to in a week? I would imagine that would mess up one's rhythm. Sure, you could try to get back to your schedule with diligence and effort, but I can't imagine it's that simple. Over time, that might become draining. But it seems like you get so much stuff done from midnight to 8am, maybe it's worth skipping the evening functions altogether or if you need to go just re-adjusting to your schedule (even being a bit groggy) because of the huge productivity gains you're seeing.

One of the interesting things from the blog post was how it's easier to concentrate when the Internet slows down. I find that 9am to 5pm on weekdays there's just so much content being published everywhere, and so much of that content is interesting, that I find myself easily distracted during the day. I've had to hack my own system of focused goals, pomodoro work sessions, and other homemade hacks to get the productivity I need during the day. So, I can totally see how someone can get tons of stuff done during the middle of the night while everyone else is sleeping.

Btw, Kevin - how long have you been doing this schedule?

Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#22

Post by jeggers5 »

I'm uncertain of why anybody would do this to their life.

You lay out some advantages:

1) The rest of the internet is "asleep", there's not much content being generated and so you are less distracted.

2) You get the gym to yourself.

3) No alarm clock

Admittedly, all three are good things. But, I'm uncertain if it's a good trade off. I mean, I'd go crazy if I did what you do on a daily basis. For one, going to sleep at 5pm would completely cut me off from any after-work/school social aspect of my life. It just seems silly to do that just for the ability to make it easier for yourself to work at night. I for one, find it much better to just not mess around on HN/Facebook all day and just do what I have to do (use SelfControl). Just do it. My gym is very empty early, at about 8am, infact thinging about it now, your sleep timetable doesn't help you have an empty gym. Most people get up that early anyway for work.

I just don't get why you need to change your sleeping habits to something so backward that cuts you off from so many of the social aspects of life that aren't mingled in with work/school.

Not having to use an alarm clock, though, is good.

Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#23

Post by joonix »

mtkd wrote: post #6

Quite coincidentally - I've just come back from the butchers, who shared with me his opinion that 3am was the optimal time to wake up and 'get stuff done before people start getting in the way'.

Unless you are able to exist on < 8 hrs of sleep, how is this practical? Sleeping at 7PM every day?

Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#25

Post by cevaris »

ngokevin wrote: post #11
hdra wrote: post #8

isn't it lonely? i tried similar schedule, even though not intentionally few years ago, and i find it hard to find time to catch up with friends,

Yes, it can be. But with school and work, I have the same amount of social time as I did before. It is not too bad as much of my social network are classmates and coworkers. I have been doing it for a week so far, but I expect on dropping it once I graduate and once time frees up.

I would have to agree. Most of my social activities are with my classmates and coworkers, all between 10am-5pm. I code better after a good nights rest. Totally going to give this a shot.

Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#26

Post by ngokevin »

dave1619 wrote: post #21

I would imagine one of the weaknesses of this kind of schedule is the variations that occur when you have an evening function that you just need to go to, ie., birthday party of your best friend. And what happens when you have a few evening functions you need to go to in a week? I would imagine that would mess up one's rhythm. Sure, you could try to get back to your schedule with diligence and effort, but I can't ima…

I agree, this sleep schedule is not very sustainable due to can't-miss evening functions. But it is working out very well for me for now because it is late in my school quarter. I spend a lot of time studying and working, and I haven't had any things come up during the evening. Since I'm in school, my rhythm gets messed up easily regardless.

Another productivity hack, I use LeechBlock during the day so I limit my Internet breaks. I find myself compulsively visiting distracting websites. There's self-control, but why not delegate it to the browser.

I have only been doing it for a week and continue to keep it up for at least the next week. I think I plan on tweaking it towards something slightly more normal, like 8pm-4am.

Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#27

Post by taylorbuley »

For the very productive, I think there's a tendency to think oneself exempt from the rules of sleep. But only for "a small group of people—perhaps just 1% to 3% of the population" is sleep a waste of time according to researchers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870371250457624...

Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#28

Post by AndrewKemendo »

The author mentions it at the end but this schedule is really only good for the asocial. I submit that unless you truly have a aversion to social interaction, it will get lonely.

I know this because I used to work night shifts and pretty much had this schedule. You end up losing the period of socialization which is typically 4-10PM, where people go to dance classes, have dinners with friends, go get drinks etc... and things feel lonely.

Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#29

Post by nwh »

jeggers5 wrote: post #22

I'm uncertain of why anybody would do this to their life. You lay out some advantages: 1) The rest of the internet is "asleep", there's not much content being generated and so you are less distracted. 2) You get the gym to yourself. 3) No alarm clock Admittedly, all three are good things. But, I'm uncertain if it's a good trade off. I mean, I'd go crazy if I did what you do on a daily basis. For one, going to sleep a…

> The rest of the internet is "asleep", there's not much content being generated and so you are less distracted.

Thanks to the zones, that never happens.

Re: The Serenity of a 5pm Bedtime

#30

Post by dave1619 »

ngokevin wrote: post #26
dave1619 wrote: post #21

I would imagine one of the weaknesses of this kind of schedule is the variations that occur when you have an evening function that you just need to go to, ie., birthday party of your best friend. And what happens when you have a few evening functions you need to go to in a week? I would imagine that would mess up one's rhythm. Sure, you could try to get back to your schedule with diligence and effort, but I can't ima…

I agree, this sleep schedule is not very sustainable due to can't-miss evening functions. But it is working out very well for me for now because it is late in my school quarter. I spend a lot of time studying and working, and I haven't had any things come up during the evening. Since I'm in school, my rhythm gets messed up easily regardless. Another productivity hack, I use LeechBlock during the day so I limit my Int…

I was also thinking it might be difficult to keep up a 5pm sleep time during the summer months when the sun sets later. But if you had a sound-proof bedroom that was pitch dark (some crazy shades that blocked all light), then I would imagine that would help a lot.

An 8pm-4am sleep time sounds more manageable... although the 5pm-midnight sleep schedule is such a talking point. :)

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