Ask HN: How do I get by on less sleep? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do I get by on less sleep?

7 pointsquizbiz10 comments

I am a college student and after I did poorly last semester, I'm studying way more hours. Let's say 5 hours a day. I am often falling asleep as soon as I put down my books these days. On top of that, I'm working averaged out, about 5 hours a day. Add to that the time I spend eating, being social, in classes, and an hour here and there doing nothing and the day is long gone, It's 4 am and I get back and crash. I really milk my productive time but increasingly, I'm unable to be productive or study effectively because I'm tired.

I tried sleeping more but as a consequence, I felt no more awake (sometimes even more tired) and I got way less done ie: wasting several hours between sleep and productivity.

I have been trying to exercise but I do very little of that. Maybe twenty minute walks between campus and my apartment a couple times a week, but I could never find the motivation to go the gym.

Should I bike for 30 minutes every day? What that help?

I'm unable to be productive or study effectively because I'm tired.

If you're too tired to be productive, then there is only one productive thing you can do: Sleep.

First thing first, you need your sleep. If you don't sleep the brain stops working properly and everything becomes increasingly difficult. Short term (cramming before an exam) -- OK. Long term, don't do it, it's not worth it.

Better to look at productivity strategies which someone else will be able to help you with. You're right about the exercise as well, getting oxygen into the brain, and generally being fit, will help the brain work.

But please, sleep. If needs be do it in 2 or 3 shifts over a day/night, but one way or another you should have at least 7 hours in every 24.

Before exercise comes diet.

As a rule of thumb try not to eat anything that you couldn't get 200 years ago.

Cut out ALL sugar. (not literally, see comment thread) Make sure you get fiber. Make sure you get water. Dehydration manifests in a lot of ways.

Soda? Stop.

Coffee? Stop. No coffee? Consider starting. Be moderate.

Right after diet, of course, comes exercise. It can't hurt to bike 30 minutes a day.

How do you feel when you wake up on a saturday? When do you wake up? How consistent is your bed-time?

Quality of sleep is important. Are there too many lights on in the room? Too loud? Too cold? What kind of clothes do you wear to bed?

Also, while you're at it, it can't hurt to install f.lux:

http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/

> Cut out ALL sugar.

Considering sugar is fruits, vegetables and milk, this sounds like a bad call.

Thanks for calling me on that. I guess I shouldn't have emphasized 'all' because I don't literally mean all.

To not be misunderstood, I meant cut soda, froot loops, twinkies, candy bars, and other assorted not-really-food items.

I think he means sucrose (table sugar), not starch (glucose) or lactose. Sucrose, more specifically fructose (half of sucrose), has been targeted as the bad guy. See Robert Lustig's talk, among others. Obviously cutting out ALL sugars would be a bad call.

If you are trying to sleep more by sleeping in, that will happen. You need to wake up at the same time every morning and practice good sleep hygiene. If your body is used to waking up at 8AM most days and you try to sleep until 10AM, it will resist. Given that you say you go to bed at 4AM I imagine your sleep schedule is all over the place - that just won't work.

30 minutes of cardio every other day has done wonders for my energy levels, but I sleep 7-8 hours a night. People who exercise often sleep a little bit longer.

Get more of the right kinds of sleep by monitoring yourself.

A $1 way is the Sleep Cycle app for the iPhone: http://lifehacker.com/5441045/sleep-cycle-analyzes-your-slee...

The best way IMHO is the Zeo: http://myzeo.com

The Zeo can save you time everyday and help you wake up feeling better. Disclosure: I went to school with some of the founders.

A twenty minute walk is definitely not enough to be called exercise. I do a twenty minute walk just to get to the gym.

Nutrition, exercise, get no less than 7-8 hours sleep a day. Don't cut corners.

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