Posted: 2/1/2005 10:11:57 AM EDT
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For some people, sleeping is a recreational pasttime. Some take it seriously (I have a daughter in training for the US Olympic Snooze Team). However, to me it's a necessary inconvenience. It's something I have to do to function. It interrupts things I can be doing. Spending 1/3 of my life unconscious just doesn't sound like a good use of my time. Have any of you guys heard of any methods for reducing the amount of sleep a person needs? |
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I understand that there have been studies done where people were put into REM sleep only for the nomal time a person gets per night. IIRC, you only get about two hours a night and this is where the most rest/regeneration occurs. The studied people were just as rested as those that got the normal eight hours. Please correct me if I am wrong. |
That would be a little slice of heaven. Read, write, clean guns, count ammo, work on the house, detail the motorcycle, clean guns, count ammo, solve the world's problems, build some bookshelves, clean guns... |
How were the people put into REM sleep and kept there? I'd like to try it.
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My problem is different. If I go to bed too early, i wake up at 3 a.m. with nothing to do but sit and think about whatever is going on in life...usually the very worst of whatever life holds at the moment is where my thoughts go. SO I just don't ever go to bed until I am physically drained. |
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Having spent several years in the Navy and having a 10 month old, I've learned to maximize my sleep time. You can adjust to less sleep, just about everyone in the military does it. Of course most of the guys that are in the Navy for 20 years are about 40 and look 50. However you usually don't have a stable sleep pattern and a bad diet. Exercise is a big factor also. When I hit the gym everyday I sleep very little and have way more energy. My dad eats pretty healthy, small meals and a few healthy snacks a day. He sleeps about 4-6 hours a day. He's been doing it for decades. He'll be 52 this year. He works as a carpenter/construction worker at a US embassy and works out with the Marines. None of them believe he's over 50. He worked in a steel mill for quite a while and has worked construction most of his life so it's not like he's had a nice easy life. Most importantly, he's single.  I read a study a few years ago that has helped me. A few things that help you get better quality sleep are, the right temp, darkness and quiet. The right temp is supposedly around 70-75* F. It's not always an option to have all three things, but they can help if it's possible. The study also stated that if you have a set sleep pattern and you miss a few hours of sleep you can actually slow down mentally. It can get to a point of temperarily losing a few IQ points. If it continues over a few weeks you can lose up to 15 IQ points, again it's temperary. The average person has an IQ of 100. Minus 15 is 85, borderline retarded. I haven't found anything else on this so I don't know if it has been verified by additional studies. If all else fails, drink coffee and tell yourself you'll get all the sleep you want when your dead. |
Thus the necessity of spending 1/3 of each day unconscious, drooling and snoring. My goal would be maintaining health and functioning, but with less snooze time. |
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Here's my thing: Weekdays I need about 10 hours. I usually go to bed at 11, fall asleep by 12, wake up at 8:00 and am tired until about 2pm, then get fully conscious and stay that way till around 10pm Weekends I can sleep up to 12 hours no problem. I have a friend who works 8am-5pm (desk job) every day, comes home and drinks 6-10 beers, goes to work again from 8pm-11am(supermarket floor cleaning) and has more energy than anyone else I know. |