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joubert

1) 9 - 10 hours sleep

2) reduce multitasking

3) eat like a bird

4) exercise

5) don't commute more than 20mins each way

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1. I understand sleep is important, but how in the world do you guys get 9-10 hours of sleep?

Between a full time job (8-10 hrs, salary so when a client needs help, off I go!) and trying to hack the latest and greatest of my ideas in my spare time, family, friends, chores, and relaxing for a moment at the end... I don't have 9 hours left before I have to be at work the next morning.

3. Am I missing something, can someone enlighten me about this eat like a bird? If anything I need to gain weight.

5. I live a block from the office :)

He didn't say he/she has a work. Anyway, you can decide to work on your projects on certain days and go out with friends in others (weekend perhaps). There's no way you can do everything in the same day and still sleeping 10 hours.

I think Means "eat less, more frequently" when he say eat like a bird.

>> 5) don't commute more than 20mins each way

I walk to work. Free 1.5 hr of exercise every day and I don't have to spend money on transportation.

You can get to work some quicker way and run instead. Running is much more valuable than walking.

Well, you have to factor in changing out of your running clothes and showering if you're in a "professional" environment.

Also I have bad knees that make even the mile I walked to the job I just quit a little difficult. I doubt they will ever heal enough that running is a good idea.

You can try bicycling, it's faster and you won't sweat unless you have to go uphill. Also, if your office has showers (a rare but nice feature) you can go running/bicycling and have a shower.

Indeed. Id recommend using a fixie - http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_250/268_fixed-gear...

If showering is not an option, choosing the right apparel can get you through the day. http://shop.outlier.cc/index.html

The compromises are an inconvenience, but IMO the subsequent healthier and happier life is worth it.

A fixy is the shortest route to blown out knees. Especially if they were bad to start with.

I had bad knees for years, but found that running exclusively up-hill on uneven ground for about 2 years completely cured them. This might not be practical or work for you, but I found a steady improvement after I started walking gently down hills and only running up. I also made a conscious effort to minimize the impact of each footfall. After 2 years, I found I could even run downhill again without pain or injury.

Do you run striking with your heels or a more sane part of your feet?

I could jog on my way home, but since I sweat a lot, running to work is probably not a good idea. I've thought about biking, but it'd be a hassle because of the narrow staircases in my building. The subway is just slightly faster than walking (when it's on time anyways)

In any case, I do ~6 hrs of martial arts per week, and I find that walking is a nice low-impact type of activity to complement it.

I agree that sleep is very important, but like I said before, I'd like to try polyphasic sleep. That would be an impressive hack, giving me more time and maximizing REM phases.

Reduce multitasking - that is, focus in a single task at a time, agreed!!

Eat less, exercise more - agreed! That is in fact one of my pending points.

Don't commute more than 20mins each way - I would add... unless you can do something useful while you are commuting!!

Thank you!!

I highly doubt the effectiveness of polyphasic sleep. I myself found myself physically fatigued when I tried something like that.

So, based on my own (little) experience, my muscles need the long rest that a good night's sleep gives.

And doing "something useful" while commuting... Well ain't there a sure sign for disaster?

Hmm. Now don't get me wrong, but your post seems to be coming from a guy who's heading enthusiastically straight into a total mental burndown...

I think the original commenter was envisioning a bus/train/van-pool/subway/ferry commute rather than a car/bicycle/walking commute. My last job involved a long subway trip and I found that a Kindle really helped. The trains were too crowded to make reading on, let alone working on a laptop feasible.

I understood that he meant being in a bus/train/van-pool/subway/ferry. The point that I was trying to make was that trying to do "something useful" while commuting is, at least to me, pretty annoying - there's so much distraction going on around you that your chances of actually having attention to the task you're doing are slim.

And time without attention is time wasted.

Ultimately you might find yourself using 24/7 of your time in practicing things - and realizing that you've understood nothing.

And then you're ready to welcome the burnout

Yes I meant a bus/train/van-pool/subway/ferry, and yes I was thinking in listening to an audiobook/podcast, reading a book, perhaps doing some brainstorming with a Moleskine (well, it depends on the crowdiness of where your are), and if you have a table perhaps working on your laptop...

"And doing "something useful" while commuting... Well ain't there a sure sign for disaster?"

Podcasts and Audiobooks. You can learn new things, keep on on recent events, or, even better, just enjoy the time with a good book. You can do this while driving even, without problems.

The only downside is you tend to not mind the traffic during the commute.

I came across this finding often while doing some research on sleep deprivation - Sleeping for more than 8 hours daily can be harmful.

Quoting an article from Time - "Studies show that people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night, as they report, live the longest. [...] Sleeping 8.5 hr. might really be a little worse than sleeping 5 hr."

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1812420,00.ht...

This study may show that more sleep may reduce longevity, but it doesn't say anything about daily well-being, alertness, and general state of mind. If I had to choose between more sleep and feeling better and being more productive everyday (what 9-10 hours/night does for me) and living longer but feeling crappy all the time (6-7 hours/night), it's no contest.

Research suggests that 6-7 hours of sleep correlates most strongly with longer life.

Not that your way doesn't sound great (it truly does), just a matter of priorities :)

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