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Comment by spdionis | Hacker News Reader

I'm lucky enough that I haven't cut on my sleep much during my adolescence or my college studies. Today I feel awful every time I sleep less than 7 hours, and moderately dysfunctional if I don't sleep 8 a few days in a row.

By "awful" I mean that I just think slower. It's like playing a game with lag, not fun. I wonder if/how many people who claim they can sleep 6 hours a day and feel fine have just gotten so used to the lag that they don't notice it anymore.

Only thing I'm afraid of is children...

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I have a different journey with the exact same results.

In my adolescence/college studies, I thought fast, and slept little. I could stay up all night with friends then go to class the next morning. I spent the first 5/6 years of my career being a top performer on 4 hours every weekday, and catching up on 8-10 hours of sleep over each weekend night.

Then, 3 things happened almost at the same time:

1) I got a much tougher job that challenged me like I never had before (FAANG)

2) I turned 30

3) I lost the ability to sleep in on the weekends. I wake up at 8am now every day regardless of what time I go to bed.

Until #3, I got by with coffee and still using weekends for recovery - way more coffee. #3 ruined it.

I still got by - and was even successful.

Then,

#4) I got promoted.

Now the challenges are out of this world, and I can't sustain my lifestyle any more. I'm struggling to adjust to going to bed early because my brain and all my instincts are still in the mode of "Nighttime is for creativity and fun! We can sleep when we're dead!"

But it's starting to affect my work, which in turn is stressing me out, because I really love my job and I want to excel at it. The effects are just as you describe - lag. I'm slow. I'm not as smart as I used to be.

So...gradually...i'm learning to force myself to sleep. I welcome tips. :S

I can definitely relate to everything you've said, minus FAANG. One thing that helped me a lot is finding a job that allows my schedule to be flexible. Minus oncall, I can come in at 8am or noon, and no one bats an eye as long as work gets done. It removed a lot of anxiety and rushing in the morning.

Maybe not having to be in early might remove some morning anxiety and make it easier for you to sleep in?

I have struggled with falling asleep a lot. This has been helpful recently: 1. 2-3 hours before bed, put away all electronics (including phone and TV/netflix) 2. Read a _real_ book for 1-2 hours 3. If I can't fall asleep, I put on Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Podcast with a sleep timer of 10 minutes. I usually get absorbed into his story telling and it helps take my mind of things. 4. No alchohol during the week 5. No caffeine after ~1pm; and only 1 coffee when I arrive at work

Admittedly, my week is a little boring this way and I still haven't worked up to doing it consistently, but it's been much more effective than anything else.

Number 3 is exactly what I also do to fall asleep, putting on Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast with a 10 minute sleep timer, works like a charm!

Reading (and thus avoiding the TV and my phone) before going to sleep has done wonders to me. I can recommend this so much. I'm sleeping so much better thanks to this step alone.

If we were to get solid sleep every day, it would essentially mean commuting from work, eating dinner, taking a shower and going to bed. Every f----ing day. Basically working for the weekend and feeling like there is nothing else in your life. I don't know how to do it.

Liking a job doesn't really cut it. It's a great start, but no matter how much you like something, it will get to you if you have to do it every day 10 hours a day. That and sleep.

The average American commutes ~30 minutes each way [1]. Given a 9-hour workday (8-5 or 9-6), and 8 hours of sleep, that leaves 6 hours to eat breakfast, dinner, and get ready for work/bed plus occasional errands/exercise. This is also really only applicable Monday through Thursday, because Friday night and Sunday give you more flexibility. I'm just pointing out that for many people, there is quite a bit of time.

It is better to start with a healthy amount of sleep and figure out ways to optimize your other time, rather than thinking about what you want to do and using your sleep time as an adjustable lever. The truth is that if you feel like there is nothing else in your life besides work while you're getting a healthy amount of sleep, you need to make other life changes (if you have the option). Limiting your sleep will just ruin your mental and physical health.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/02/22/the-a...

Still, that is terrible and depressing. Factor in maybe 2 hours for all of your meals (If you make them yourself) and you are looking at 17% of your day that's truly yours——less if you have errands.

One thing I do to help myself sleep is to think about it in a long term versus short term framework. I don’t know about you, but for me, sleeping less is usually better in the short term. I can get more done, or have more fun, today. But when I look at the longer term, I think that getting more sleep ends up being the better investment. Not just in terms of health, but in others areas too - I make better decisions, create better relationships, and think deeper about problems.

Since most things that end up being successful for me over the long term are due to optimizing for long term outcomes, framing the problem that way helps me stay focused on getting proper sleep.

The book "Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams" gives some insight about what we know about sleep.

My body really dislikes 8 or more hours of sleep. I've found the magic number for me is 7 hours of sleep. With this I wake up feeling good. 8 hours of sleep makes me tired all day. 6 hours is also better than 8 hours for me.

I think it's because sleep cycles run at 90 minute intervals.

what people mean when they "can" sleep only 6 hours a night is that it doesnm't get painful to be awake and talking. They are still going to be slow and have just gotten used to it.

Regarding children. It helps to sleep in a different room a few days of the week. Especially if they are still sleeping in the regular bed room.

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