Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 96 posts

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#31

Post by afterburner »

pamelafox wrote: post #18

I often get told that I don't sleep enough (more like 6 than 8, if that), but for me, my dreams get stranger the longer I sleep, and my day is happier if I can wake up without strange dreams lingering in my head. For example, last night I slept about 8 hours (probably due to wine the night before), and my final dream involved me trying to evade certain death in a circus. I'd prefer to start off my day on cheerier not…

Maybe if you used an alarm you'd be forced to wake up during a part of your sleep cycle where you're not dreaming, and so won't remember dreaming.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#33

Post by sinker »

Interesting article, but the results don't reflect the performance of those who have adapted to alternative sleep schedules in the long term. The article states that subjects were to maintain their sleep schedule for two weeks. I reckon that any sudden shift in sleep schedules would have a good chance of causing fatigue. A more interesting experiment would be to see how those with alternative sleep schedules that have practiced them in the long term compare to those with 8 a day schedules.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#34

Post by mgkimsal »

ajkessler wrote: post #9
credo wrote: post #5

The report is interesting and it isn't surprising that partial sleep deprivation results in a cognitive deficit. I'd be more interested in understanding the long-term effects of insufficient sleep. Is the cognitive deficit a temporary problem that goes away after a few days (or more of) sufficient sleep OR will sustained lack of sleep (over a long period) result in a long-term problem that persists even after the sub…

Shorter lifespan: http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2002/02_08_Kripke.html Grey hair: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/foas-nla02230...

weird. I've had some gray (at least, some I and others could notice) since I was 18 (and quite a lot all these years later). One of my brothers is 15 and has some gray. It's not really saying why the hydrogen peroxide builds up though. :/

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#35

Post by rubashov »

credo wrote: post #5

The report is interesting and it isn't surprising that partial sleep deprivation results in a cognitive deficit. I'd be more interested in understanding the long-term effects of insufficient sleep. Is the cognitive deficit a temporary problem that goes away after a few days (or more of) sufficient sleep OR will sustained lack of sleep (over a long period) result in a long-term problem that persists even after the sub…

> I'd be more interested in understanding the long-term effects of insufficient sleep.

I will confidently guess it involves more infections/sick-days. More zits, and general inflammation. Higher cortisol/stress/angst. Higher rates of gastro-intestinal complaints (IBS, heart-burn).

If I skimmed the article correctly it measured ability to concentrate for a short time exclusively and ignored these others metrics.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#36

Post by sliverstorm »

ianl wrote: post #26

During my first year of university while I was running a start up our of dorm room (modest success) and doing a full course load I was running on four hours of sleep a night and an hour afternoon's nap just before supper. That experience taught me something very important, sleep is crucial. When you are tired you get tunnel vision and all you want to do is complete your task. The long term effects of this on your sta…

The worst part is you only want to complete the task, so that you can sleep.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#37

Post by jrockway »

kunjaan wrote: post #14
thebooktocome wrote: post #7

I've completely stopped going without sleep this since the last semester ended. Of course, we'll see if we last through the next semester... The thing I've noticed is that I have way more free time than I thought I did, because I wasn't explicitly thinking about things in terms of "hmm, I have five hours before bed, I should probably do X". Also, melatonin supplements are my friend. :)

"I've completely stopped going without sleep this since the last semester ended" That is a lie.

You are misunderstanding the sentence. He means that he no longer skips sleeping.

There is no reason to assume he is lying about this.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#38

Post by astrange »

pamelafox wrote: post #18

I often get told that I don't sleep enough (more like 6 than 8, if that), but for me, my dreams get stranger the longer I sleep, and my day is happier if I can wake up without strange dreams lingering in my head. For example, last night I slept about 8 hours (probably due to wine the night before), and my final dream involved me trying to evade certain death in a circus. I'd prefer to start off my day on cheerier not…

You can get a sleep cycle alarm which will take care of that. Sleep Cycle for iOS works, with the possible problem that you need a power cord long enough to put the device on your bed.

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#39

Post by Estragon »

jarin wrote: post #20

Strangely enough, I've found that since I increased my caffeine intake (to around 900-1200mg/day via energy drinks) I've been sleeping great. I usually go to sleep around 10pm, wake up naturally around 3am, and take a 1 hour nap around 3 pm. I've been drinking a lot of water as well, and I've had no problems focusing on work. I think the nap is the key though.

How long have you been living that way?

Re: How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

#40

Post by jarin »

Estragon wrote: post #39
jarin wrote: post #20

Strangely enough, I've found that since I increased my caffeine intake (to around 900-1200mg/day via energy drinks) I've been sleeping great. I usually go to sleep around 10pm, wake up naturally around 3am, and take a 1 hour nap around 3 pm. I've been drinking a lot of water as well, and I've had no problems focusing on work. I think the nap is the key though.

How long have you been living that way?

About 3 months, with the occasional "sleep in till noon" on a weekend.
Post reply on HN