What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
1–10 of 125 posts
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#2I cannot relate, I need 7+, but I can imagine how much more you could get done if you had 20 hours a day to do it in. My grandmother was a short sleeper, she usually slept from midnight to 4am her whole life.
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#3I am not a short sleeper, in some aspects I wish I was. The advantages seem huge as you would be able to be a lot more productive. I wonder though if the personality traits of restlessness and not being able to switch off are common among all short sleepers?
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#4I cannot relate, I need 7+, but I can imagine how much more you could get done if you had 20 hours a day to do it in. My grandmother was a short sleeper, she usually slept from midnight to 4am her whole life.
I'd probably just use the additional time to watch cat videos
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#5Unless I’m sick, I need about 5 hours a night—typically a few hours after midnight, and another couple after dawn. Like the woman in the article, I also don’t get hangovers beyond a mild headache and tiredness. It doesn’t make me significantly more productive, but it does give me more time to enjoy life, which is not nothing.
I like having people over for parties, because I can get up before everyone else and make breakfast, and people are always really appreciative. :)
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#6I cannot relate, I need 7+, but I can imagine how much more you could get done if you had 20 hours a day to do it in. My grandmother was a short sleeper, she usually slept from midnight to 4am her whole life.
Was your grandma a caffeine addicted? My mom is sleeping, since when I remember, just 4-5 hours each night but she also takes 3 strong coffees during all the day and if she forget even one she instantly feels much more tired than usual.
A shame I can't try because I am intolerant to caffeine that basically causes my stomach to hurt for hours... I would really like to halve my sleep need.
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#7So, the only thing I actually wanted to get from the article isn't in there: what does this genetic mutation do? What does the responsible gene code for?
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#8Unless I’m sick, I need about 5 hours a night—typically a few hours after midnight, and another couple after dawn. Like the woman in the article, I also don’t get hangovers beyond a mild headache and tiredness. It doesn’t make me significantly more productive, but it does give me more time to enjoy life, which is not nothing. I like having people over for parties, because I can get up before everyone else and make br…
I also get about 5 a night. The best part, to me, is the 11pm to 2am "shift" when I just read stuff online, or watch videos. I wouldn't say I'm any more productive because of the fewer hours of sleep, but it's those extra 3 hours at night that really lets me learn and discover new things.
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#9Unless I’m sick, I need about 5 hours a night—typically a few hours after midnight, and another couple after dawn. Like the woman in the article, I also don’t get hangovers beyond a mild headache and tiredness. It doesn’t make me significantly more productive, but it does give me more time to enjoy life, which is not nothing. I like having people over for parties, because I can get up before everyone else and make br…
[deleted]
Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep
#10I've always been fascinated by discussions surrounding the varying amount of sleep necessary for different individuals. I feel like "unlocking" the secrets of these folks who can get by on such little sleep would do wonders for humanity, though I'm unsure if that is even within our abilities.
As for a personal anecdote, I've experienced both ends of the sleep spectrum: in the past couple years I've had two 4-month long periods where I required little to no sleep to function as well as I ever have in both work and social settings. My personal belief is that this can be chalked up to a healthy diet, constant exercise, and an abundance of happiness. Also, I caution those who pine for the ability to function on less sleep: as the lady in the article mentions, it can absolutely cause issues in one's relationships. Other than that however, all positives in my experiences.
On the flip side, I've dealt with multiple bouts of varying degrees of depression that have caused my daily hours of sleep to skyrocket to ~10-12 hours/day. After experiencing both ends of the required sleep spectrum I'm convinced that, at least for me personally, happiness and health plays a huge role.