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Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

dealbook.nytimes.com

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Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#141

Post by Encosia »

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...

Unless I'm mistaken, water poisoning is only a credible threat when you consume exclusively those high volumes of water and nothing else to raise the salinity of the water in and around your cells. Over the course of a day, most of us get (much) more than enough sodium from other sources to eliminate any risk of water poisoning from 3.8L of water per day.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#142

Post by robg »

TravM wrote: post #139
robg wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean that people report (and their activity data suggests) sleeping but that the sympathetic response - "fight-or-flight" - didn't seem to turn down significantly from being awake. The best analogy, I think, is that your body should flip to idle during sleep, but we see that you're still running very hot.

This is fascinating, and it makes a lot of sense. Do you have any links to any research regarding this, for those that would like to learn more?

We've been looking but besides the clinical reports of sleep disturbances and night tremors, we're not finding physiological evidence of sympathetic activation. It's where we get excited by doing the research as a community of users.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#143

Post by hueving »

6cxs2hd6 wrote: post #98
rcthompson wrote: post #29

I wish I could take naps during the day when I get fatigued, but unfortunately I have severe sleep apnea, so unless I sleep with a CPAP machine, I don't actually get any rest. And my CPAP machine isn's something I can bring to work.

If you're in the US, I think the ADA means your employer needs to accommodate you in this regard. (To be clear, I'm not suggesting you get "all lawyered up" and obnoxious. Just ask for a meeting with HR, to discuss ways to make it work for both of you. Pointing out that you use a medical device should help get across the point that this isn't a frivolous request to doze.)

Your employer don't doesn't have to accommodate you're sleeping requests.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#144

Post by d23 »

I'm jealous of those high-energy folks that seem to be running around on even 7 hours without feeling exhausted. Whether I get 7 hours or 12 hours, I feel the same: sleepy.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#145

Post by enraged_camel »

dang wrote: post #69

Robg, who posted this, is a longtime HNer whose current startup makes a watch that monitors your stress level. He wears the watch all the time and told me that one of his biggest lessons from it so far was about sleep. Rob, do you want to repeat that here? I thought it was interesting; maybe others would too.

I was super-interested in the watch, so I went to the website. The price seems... high, to say the least. The first question that popped in my mind was "why is this so expensive?" and the FAQ doesn't seem to address that.

I get the sense that it is not aimed at mass market, at least not yet. It would be great if there was a mailing list I could subscribe to that would alert me when it becomes affordable.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#146

Post by rev »

eru wrote: post #134
daniel-cussen wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You mean computer garbage collection, or some kind of mental equivalent?

That's what studying compiler construction does for your brain!

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#147

Post by hyperion2010 »

hndude wrote: post #116
hyperion2010 wrote: post #59

I always try to get 8 hours a night no exceptions. I gave up caffeine 2 years ago and really haven't needed it. Many of my colleagues get about 6 hours a night and tell me they feel like shit. That said, my PI is one of the rare people who only needs 3-4 hours a night and the guy has published over 500 papers and has read nearly everything published in or tangentially related to neuroscience. On average he probably g…

PI... principle investigator?

Yes.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#148

Post by chondos »

This article just reminds me of how it is human nature to think that "everyone is like me". Most people cannot sleep on demand no matter how hard or what methods they try.

Others are more alert and do better in testing with less than 8 hours of sleep. Some of the greatest minds in history slept 5 hours a night on average.

Everyone is different. Only you know what works well for you. I am tired of people telling others to be like themselves. This most likely will not work. Of course a handful of people will come out of the woodwork and say "this changed my life". This causes even more people to try it. Bummer is that only those handful of people actually benefit from it because we all are vastly unique and there is no one size fits all umbrella formula.

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#149

Post by lifeisstillgood »

daniel-cussen wrote: post #121
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.

Are you suggesting (and I love the idea) that sleep is a garbage collection cycle and learning efficient methods from CompSci enabled your own brain to more efficiently garbage collect it's own memories?

I love the idea - which book were you reading ?!

Re: Sleep as a Competitive Advantage

#150

Post by tripzilch »

tnorthcutt wrote: post #66
simonh wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Towards the end of the nap, very slowly and deliberately count up to 20 How do you do this while you are asleep? Or do you mean do this after you wake up?

The latter. I read about this elsewhere (except it was counting down from 10, but the details don't matter). It's psychologically priming yourself, "I'm going to get UP at the last count!".

Part of it is about how it's easier to make such decisions when it's not right now, but somewhere in the future. The second part is that when the count is up, you actually do it without thinking.

I tried it a couple of times and it does seem to help with the "uggh no just one more minute" false reasoning. Haven't managed to turn it into a habit though.

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