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Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

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Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#121

Post by daniel-cussen »

rayiner wrote: post #5

The key takeaway is this: > The research is overwhelming that the vast majority of us require seven to eight hours of sleep to feel fully rested, and only a small percentage require less than seven. I'm sometimes envious of people I meet that can function well with little sleep, but I resign myself to the fact that I wasn't dealt that particular card. You can't compete with those folks by simply trying to ape their h…

I used to sleep nine hours a day. Two things, I noticed, reduced that: stimulants, and learning more about garbage collection algorithms. The first is pretty obvious in its effect, but the second surprised me: I was sleeping about 50 minutes less per data. It might be a coincidence, but there it is.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#122

Post by vanderZwan »

aqme28 wrote: post #112
vanderZwan wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm naturally a night owl. Many people are unnatural night owls, thanks to blue light sources in the evening - perhaps that applies to you too. Have you tried f.lux? http://getflux.com/

Night-owl here, and that's not the problem. I will keep myself awake until 3AM whether I'm on my computer or not. I'll often read until 3AM because that's when my body seems to want to go to sleep. edit: and I don't drink caffeine after 5.

I'm not denying the existence of night-owls of course, it's just that these situations are hard to judge until you've checked all possible causes.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#123

Post by robg »

wainstead wrote: post #103
robg wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure! It took me a decade as a neuroscientist to realize that sleep is the inverse of stress. That's physiologically speaking - stress is the sympathetic system; sleep is the parasympathetic system. We're seeing a type of high stress sleep. We don't know what it means or why. But the aim is to continue to drill in - a kind of citizen science of how sleep and stress interact. What questions would folks what to see ans…

I have been a fan of power naps for the past year or so; I work from home so taking 25 minutes to nap in mid-afternoon is not a problem. I just completed the program in "Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan" (Williams, Penman) and found in those eight weeks I didn't feel a need to nap in the afternoon. I just didn't get sleep late in the day.

Our users who meditate report the same thing. What's really interesting to consider whether like sleep, meditation helps open up the glymphatic system for garbage collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glymphatic_system

http://www.nbb.cornell.edu/neurobio/Fetcho/NBBjournalclub/wa...

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#124

Post by jotm »

The quality of sleep is important, too. Sometimes, you get that 6 hour sleep that feels like an eternity and you are reborn when you wake up. Most of the time, we get 8 hours of mediocre sleep - guess which one's better?

There also seems to be a Ballmer's peak to sleep - too little and you're deprived, but too much and you're groggy and slow. 7 hours seems to do it for me - I am well rested, yet still on that invisible edge that makes my body push harder when I need it, unlike a seemingly good 9 hours of sleep, after which I just can't seem to engage that certain drive that makes me think quick and be creative.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#125

Post by bentcorner »

simonh wrote: post #26
johnward wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can never take short naps. I always end up wanting to sleep the rest of the day.

Here's a few tricks I learned a few years ago. 1. I never nap for more than 20 minutes. If my body goes into a deeper level of sleep or relaxation, I get up feeling groggy and disoriented. 2. Properly nap. Force yourself not to think about work. Focus on other things such as the weight of your body sinking into the chair/couch, the distant sound of traffic, etc. 3. Towards the end of the nap, very slowly and delibera…

> 1. I never nap for more than 20 minutes. If my body goes into a deeper level of sleep or relaxation, I get up feeling groggy and disoriented.

> 2. Properly nap. Force yourself not to think about work. Focus on other things such as the weight of your body sinking into the chair/couch, the distant sound of traffic, etc.

I think these are the most important, and they should be considered together.

Set a timer for 15 minutes, and lie down. Even if you don't fall asleep for those 15 minutes (I probably end up in deep sleep for 5-10 minutes), get up when your alarm goes off. Even closing your eyes for 15 minutes can be beneficial.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#126

Post by huherto »

rayiner wrote: post #5

The key takeaway is this: > The research is overwhelming that the vast majority of us require seven to eight hours of sleep to feel fully rested, and only a small percentage require less than seven. I'm sometimes envious of people I meet that can function well with little sleep, but I resign myself to the fact that I wasn't dealt that particular card. You can't compete with those folks by simply trying to ape their h…

The real advantage is to be able to sleep and rest. Think of all the productivity you loose when you are tired.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#127

Post by incision »

pyre wrote: post #90
incision wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>' You just don't remember how different is it to sleep longer.' Exactly. Not too long ago the combination of child, work and school forced me to completely re-evaluate how I was spending my time and what is actually important to me. One big change I ended up making was getting to bed at the same time every night and clocking a consistent 8 hours. Within a week or so the difference was remarkable in both my mood and…

> At least 8 ounces per waking hour for me. That's 3.8L per day [(24 hours - 8 hours sleeping) * 8 fl oz = 3.8L]. Recommended intake is 2-3L[1]. Just be careful of water poisoning... [1] http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healt...

Sure.

My case is a bit unusual as I'm far above average in height and weight. On average, the recommendation for my size is around 5.0L/day. In relation to that, the top of my head figure of 3.8L seems like a good lower bound.

It's always interesting trying to do conversions in a world made for folks are 5'8" and <200lbs. I'd be shredded to the bone if had a 'healthy' BMI and I'd be dropping pounds a week on a 2000 calorie diet.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#128

Post by dageshi »

makeset wrote: post #82
vanderZwan wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm naturally a night owl. Many people are unnatural night owls, thanks to blue light sources in the evening - perhaps that applies to you too. Have you tried f.lux? http://getflux.com/

Blue light may be interrupting sleep patterns, but I assume people who call themselves night owls share with me a certain feeling of mental haze during daylight hours, regardless of sleep schedule. I'm also about 5% weaker at lifting maximal weights until late afternoon. For what it's worth, I don't consume caffeine (allergic) and I do use f.lux.

For what it's worth, in my opinion the haze = noise. During the day every damned thing is causing too much noise, even if you block it out with music & headphones it's still noise/distraction. So when you get to the evening and definitely past midnight the ambient noise drops considerably, everything is quiet and there's far less to subconsciously distract you.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#130

Post by rahimnathwani »

johnward wrote: post #10
kordless wrote: post #2

I'm a big fan of naps. I take one around 2PM or so, usually for about 15-20 minutes.

I can never take short naps. I always end up wanting to sleep the rest of the day.

Have a cup of coffee just before you take a nap. The caffeine will kick in at around the same time your 20-min alarm goes off.
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