It is possible to sleep less but not feel tired?

Question

Basically I get about 10 hours sleep each night, I have an office job, and am 28years old. I go to bed tired and wake up refreshed. People generally claim that 5 to 8 hours leaves them fully refreshed and rested.

Is there anything I can do to add a few more hours to my day (on a long term basis) without feeling exhausted? For example waking up 10mins earlier each week? Has anybody had any success at this?

Answer 1

It’s hard to become an early riser using the wrong strategy. But with the right strategy, it’s relatively easy.

The most common wrong strategy is this: You assume that if you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. So you figure out how much sleep you’re getting now, and then just shift everything back a few hours. If you now sleep from midnight to 8am, you figure you’ll go to bed at 10pm and get up at 6am instead. Sounds very reasonable, but it will usually fail.

It seems there are two main schools of thought about sleep patterns. One is that you should go to bed and get up at the same times every day. It’s like having an alarm clock on both ends — you try to sleep the same hours each night. This seems practical for living in modern society. We need predictability in our schedules. And we need to ensure adequate rest.

The second school says you should listen to your body’s needs and go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up. This approach is rooted in biology. Our bodies should know how much rest we need, so we should listen to them.

Both of them are wrong if you care about productivity. Here’s why:

If you sleep set hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough. If it’s taking you more than five minutes to fall asleep each night, you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying in bed awake and not being asleep. Another problem is that you’re assuming you need the same number of hours of sleep every night, which is a false assumption. Your sleep needs vary from day to day.

If you sleep based on what your body tells you, you’ll probably be sleeping more than you need — in many cases a lot more, like 10-15 hours more per week (the equivalent of a full waking day). A lot of people who sleep this way get 8+ hours of sleep per night, which is usually too much. Also, your mornings may be less predictable if you’re getting up at different times. And because our natural rhythms are sometimes out of tune with the 24-hour clock, you may find that your sleep times begin to drift.

If you aren’t sleepy and find yourself unable to fall asleep quickly, get up and stay awake for a while. Resist sleep until your body begins to release the hormones that rob you of consciousness. If you simply go to bed when you’re sleepy and then get up at a fixed time, you’ll cure your insomnia. The first night you’ll stay up late, but you’ll fall asleep right away. You may be tired that first day from getting up too early and getting only a few hours of sleep the whole night, but you’ll slog through the day and will want to go to bed earlier that second night. After a few days, you’ll settle into a pattern of going to bed at roughly the same time and falling asleep right away.

So if you want to become an early riser (or just exert more control over your sleep patterns), then try this: Go to bed only when you’re too sleepy to stay up, and get up at a fixed time every morning.

Answer 2

Yes. Why not.

I sleep 6 hours in 24. This is my routeen since I was 15. I have a nice body, good health, sharp mind. Try this:

1. I wake up early at 6am (before the birds wake up).
2. I do some excercise (jogging is my best).
3. Drink 1-5 glass of water before brakefast.
4. Exactly the time the sun rises I am on my brakefast table.
5. After that its full day, Office, daily work, luch at 1 to 2 pm blah blah blah
6. Play with my kids, go out for short drive or dinner or just a walk
7. Dinner at about 8 and than TV, computer, games or ...
8. I sleep at 12.

Answer 3

I think it all depends on your age and how you are living. I used to work 16-18 hours per day and sleep for about 4, I retired from work in 1994 and still only get a few hours of sleep. Last night I went to bed at 12-00 and read for an hour, turned off the lights and instant oblivion, I woke up full of the joys of spring at 5-30 and know I will pass through the day feeling fit and well after my few hours in dreamland.

Answer 4

Since my daughter was born two years ago I haven't had more than 6 hours of sleep at night. I try to find time durring the day to get a power nap in. If I sleep anywear between 25-40 minutes durring the day I notice a big difference. Give it a try.

Answer 5

Yes very much so for myself, I used to work 12-16hr shifts but some of the time I'd get 5hrs sleep/rest but mostly it was 4hrs.
What you need to realise is that your brain never sleeps wither in conscious mode or sub conscious mode if it did you'd be dead.
But your body needs rest,so as long as your body rests adequately then hopefully you'll be okay with less rest but again its an individual thing possibly learned with sustained exposure to12-16hr shifts when you have no choice it becomes habit forming.

Hope this helps

Answer 6

In your universe your word is law. Whatever you tell yourself is, is what will be. Ten hours is a lot of sleep. When you fall in love, have you noticed that somehow it is suddenly possible to have much less sleep and feel great.

Also, maybe you are not eating well. I would see a nutritional therapist and get advice on diet and nutrients. Someone so young should not have to sleep so much.

Answer 7

Nutrition can have a huge impact on your energy levels - as well as a little bit of exercise (even if it's just a brisk walk with the dog or somethin'). Large meals (especially at lunchtime) can also make a person tired.

10 minute increments sounds reasonable, so your body can acclimate itself to the new schedule.

Answer 8

yes....getting a ful sleep cycle is actually better than ending in the middle of a sleep cycle... sleep a sleep cycle is about 3 hours so u shuld sleep 6 or 9 hours a night.

Answer 9

You know what, it was said that 0 hrs was the perfect hour for anyone. Just for one extra hour, read a book or watch a TV show.

Answer 10

Try a bit of speed a day you will soon wake up in the morning, it helps me get through loads...lol