Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#101

Post by jasongullickson » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 7:18 PM UTC

liuliu wrote: post #100

jasongullickson wrote: post #22

I'm glad that I finally have something (albeit thin) to point people to when they feel the need to lecture me about my sleeping habits. As long as I can remember I've been happy with a mix of 4 and 6 hour sleeping sessions, two or three days of 4 followed by one night of more sleep (typically 6 hours) and then back to 4 hours again. Under the recommendation of my peers and physicians I have attempted to do 8 hour nig…

The problem of "when hungry, eat. When tired, sleep" is: In modern societies, our inner evolutionary traits still work, but the environment changed. For example, some food are more satisfying than others, and we feel less full when we indeed have enough (sugar/fat for example). The same is true for "tiredness". With TVs, iPads and mattresses, we may well be tired but we just cannot feel it strong enough. The distorti…

Yes you make a good point (one I have experienced myself). I spent a lot of time as a teenager learning to become aware of the subtle signs your body gives you to indicate what it needs to remain balanced (I got these exercises from a Marine hand-to-hand combat booklet if you can imagine). It takes practice and discipline (and it's easy to overlook when you're busy) but it is possible to "tune-in" to these subtle signals.

It also helps to remove yourself from "modern society" now and again. A few days in the woods away from artificial stimulus goes a long way in this regard.

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#102

Post by jasongullickson » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 7:21 PM UTC

jules wrote: post #89

jasongullickson wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely, if I can go "lights out" for 30 minutes during the day (between 1:00pm and 2:00pm works best for me) I can eliminate the need for the "catch-up" sleep.

I've tried this but I am unable to fall asleep unless I'm extremely tired (and I do mean very tired, one night without sleep is not enough). How do you fall asleep within half an hour?

I remove myself from my "work" situation (when I worked a rigidly scheduled job, I'd take a drive to a nearby park) and just lay back and relax. If the weather is cooperative having the car windows down and some nature sounds to listen to seem to help but I imagine listening to anything that you don't have direct control over (as opposed to music, other forms of entertainment, etc.) would work.

Also a large lunch at a Mexican restaurant never hurts...

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#103

Post by spydertennis » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 8:54 PM UTC

cynicalkane wrote: post #56

jasongullickson wrote: post #22

I'm glad that I finally have something (albeit thin) to point people to when they feel the need to lecture me about my sleeping habits. As long as I can remember I've been happy with a mix of 4 and 6 hour sleeping sessions, two or three days of 4 followed by one night of more sleep (typically 6 hours) and then back to 4 hours again. Under the recommendation of my peers and physicians I have attempted to do 8 hour nig…

For me, If I get all the sleep I want, I'm lethargic and unenergetic, but if I get less sleep I'm tired all day (but strangely more energetic). It's like there's no happy medium. I wonder if anyone else has this problem, and if there's a solution.

We're actually working on this problem over at WakeMate.

Basically the solution is to sleep just enough to accumulate the number of sleep cycles you need to feel rested. We're building a tool to tell our users what that length of time is. I'll write up a post on the thought process/science behind it and put it up tomorrow.

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#104

Post by Psyonic » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 8:58 PM UTC

jules wrote: post #85

matthavener wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that work? Non-sleeper's children are more likely to survive?

If not requiring a lot of sleep has an advantage in our society (which presumably it does) then all else being equal, a non-sleeper will produce more offspring. This is just evolution 101.

Just about the only advantage you need to reproduce these days is a willingness to do so.

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#105

Post by SupremumLimit » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 9:35 PM UTC

cynicalkane wrote: post #56

jasongullickson wrote: post #22

I'm glad that I finally have something (albeit thin) to point people to when they feel the need to lecture me about my sleeping habits. As long as I can remember I've been happy with a mix of 4 and 6 hour sleeping sessions, two or three days of 4 followed by one night of more sleep (typically 6 hours) and then back to 4 hours again. Under the recommendation of my peers and physicians I have attempted to do 8 hour nig…

For me, If I get all the sleep I want, I'm lethargic and unenergetic, but if I get less sleep I'm tired all day (but strangely more energetic). It's like there's no happy medium. I wonder if anyone else has this problem, and if there's a solution.

I'm in a similar situation, but I haven't always been like that. I linked it to stress (in the broadest sense) - very occasionally I get a great night's sleep if I'm completely relaxed and happy. However, eliminating stress to this degree just doesn't seem feasible. My optimum amount of sleep is 8 hours, and even a half hour either way has a very noticeable (negative) effect. However, a lot of the time even sleeping exactly 8 hours doesn't work well. I really wish I could find a solution!

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#106

Post by jules » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 9:56 PM UTC

Psyonic wrote: post #104

jules wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If not requiring a lot of sleep has an advantage in our society (which presumably it does) then all else being equal, a non-sleeper will produce more offspring. This is just evolution 101.

Just about the only advantage you need to reproduce these days is a willingness to do so.

That's only true for women. And it doesn't mean that there aren't still evolutionary incentives for women. If they are successful because they don't need to sleep, they can probably find a better mate (which will lead to an evolutionary advantage of the no-sleep gene long term).

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#107

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 11:42 PM UTC

Tycho wrote: post #15

Is this few-hours sleep business feasible when you need to think deeply about abstract things during the day, eg. programming? I can see it working if your success is tied to being energetic, on the ball, constantly negotiating, acting on information or leading lots of people. But what if you need to do the analysis yourself?

[deleted]

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#108

Post by Fargren » Wed, Apr 06, 2011, 12:03 AM UTC

Roritharr wrote: post #6

As someone whose blanket feels like its made out of lead every morning after 7 hours sleep i have to say: unfair. :(

If you don't feel rested after 7 hours you probably should make an effort to sleep an extra hours. You will be more productive and happy in 16 hours after a good sleep, than in 17 sleep-deprived hours.

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#109

Post by dfischer » Wed, Apr 06, 2011, 12:22 AM UTC

jasongullickson wrote: post #22

I'm glad that I finally have something (albeit thin) to point people to when they feel the need to lecture me about my sleeping habits. As long as I can remember I've been happy with a mix of 4 and 6 hour sleeping sessions, two or three days of 4 followed by one night of more sleep (typically 6 hours) and then back to 4 hours again. Under the recommendation of my peers and physicians I have attempted to do 8 hour nig…

Do you use an alarm?

Re: Why Some People Can Run on Little Sleep and Get So Much Done

#110

Post by stoney » Wed, Apr 06, 2011, 12:38 AM UTC

xiaoma wrote: post #86

matthavener wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that work? Non-sleeper's children are more likely to survive?

Even a small differential in reproductive rates would lead to a rapid increase in the prevalence of the trait. Just look at the example of blue eyes -- 15000 years ago nobody had them and now nearly 7% if the world's population do.

Do people with blue eyes reproduce more? I've not heard that before. I thought the ratio of blue to not blue eyes was due to the whole dominant/recessive gene thing (do I mean gene, or maybe allele? a long time since I learned this stuff at school).