Can you function with only a few hours sleep a night?

[Eisenfaust]

last night i got by on 1.5 hours, probably something to do with not actually entering rem sleep within that time... most of the time i get between 3 and 5 during the week and crash for about 8-10 on the weekends

and OP: the sleep schedule in the cracked article is forcing rem sleep to be immediate upon sleeping, regaining energy and not needing the full amount of time. it makes some sense, but there's too much we don't know about sleep as a biological process to say for sure... best way is to try it and see

i had originally decided to attempt one, sleep half an hour 4 times a day, but i realised that having to take a half hour break every six hours (because presumably missing a break would knock you out pretty fast) would be a little disruptive, especially given my current situation of 8 hour uni days and shift work

 

[Rayne870]

I do it a lot rotating shifts really screws up my sleep schedule. Today was even worse, apparently my boss doesn't know my laptop bag from a suspicious package and doesn't think to call me and ask if I maybe left my laptop bag out instead of calling the police to investigate a possible bomb. Yeah I don't appreciate phone calls at 9 in the morning for my bosses stupidity and total lack of observational skills.

So yeah, today about 2 hours of sleep. My usual is about 4. And I function ok.

 

[ldbmikey86]

I usually get 5 hours on weeknights, n like 10 on weekend nights. I used to stay up for 48 hours, sleep 12, rinse n repeat...ugh. man I Do not miss that schedule. it Became a hard habit to break.

 

[Hashime]

I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea, which is of course strange considering I don't drink, smoke, and am not fat. So, my only option is a cpap machine. My first night with one is tonight. YAY?

My point is that for a bout a year I had poor sleep. My average dropped 30% and I barely function. Sleep people, it is totally worth it.

 

[theultimateend]

Being tired is much like being drunk.

You suck at everything you do while you are tired but you THINK you are awesome at it.

You mentioned cracked and I think they are one of the places that discusses the whole "You are basically a sober drunk."

I'm VERY uncomfortable when I drive tired, if I'm driving alone without other cars on the road driving at about 30 MPH feels like I'm going to break the speed of sound. Especially on Expressways.

 

[geldonyetich]

From what I read on multiphasic sleep studies, it was determined that the whole idea of being able to go through life with tiny naps was some ludicrous claim made by people trying to sell systems that never really susses out in the long run.

Conclusion

* Healthy humans cannot entrain polyphasic sleep without a degree of sleep deprivation. It is not possible to sleep polyphasically and retain one's maximum creativity, alertness, and health in the long run

* Whoever claims to be on a perpetual polyphasic schedule must be either suffering from a sleep disorder, or be a liar, a mutant, or a person with a mulishly stubborn iron-will that lets him plod through the daily torture of sleep deprivation

* All the hype surrounding polyphasic sleep can be delegated to the same lunatic basket as miracle diets, scientology, homeopathy, water magnetizers, creation "science", electrolytic detoxifiers, or Sylvia Browne. If you are interested in any of these, visit the most entertaining site on the web run by the indefatigable guru James "The Amazing" Randi

* If you do not believe the arguments presented in this article, or if you think the author is biased, ignorant or driven by a hidden agenda, please read the follow-up. If you still plan your own polyphasic experiment despite its harmful effects on health and your mental performance, please contact me. I may suggest how you can now effectively measure the impact of polyphasic sleep on your brain.

* If you want to maximize the time spent in productive wakefulness, read about free running sleep. Let your biology work for you, not against you

(Source) [http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm]

 

[Bags159]

I generally get around 6 - 9 hours of sleep a night.

 

[Death on Trapezoids]

Sure, there are probably people out there that have the will to function on a small amount of sleep. However, I am not one of them.

I generally sleep between slightly less than 7 and 8 hours a night on weeknights, and anywhere from 8 to 11 hours on weekends.

Used to have problems with eating lunch and then drowsing for about a half hour on weekdays, but not anymore.

 

[Paksenarrion]

I have changed from about 6 hours on weekdays to 4 and less than that on weekends. I think others around me are starting to tell. My world has become a bit gray, I do not laugh as much I did before. I think I have even made my boyfriend wonder if I am starting to lose interest in him. I have just told them all that I need more rest, but some how I do not think they believe me.

I know the feeling. Whenever my bf wants some luvin' and I'm too exhausted to do anything, I'm reminded of that one scene in Ponyo when Sosuke asks Ponyo to make his candle bigger, but she's too sleepy to do magic.

 

[Perfice]

Hi there,
that depends on the application of sleeping style,
you could get through the day(24h) with about 90 Min of sleep, Power sleeping,
15 Min every 4 h, but it is bad for your health(not really good in longer-term)
normal you should get between 4-8 h of sleep a day preferably 6h but not more then 10, because its proven that the longer you sleep, the faster you die.
speaking as a Biologist
Kouryuu

Ah, I heard that you can get the same amount of sleep from 12 hours with 30 minutes every 4 hours. I never heard about 15 minutes, that probably is bad for you since you REM sleep last atleast 30 minutes.

 

[Sn1P3r M98]

Like most others here, I aim for 5-6 hours a night. That keeps me feeling fine all day.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I get like 6 hours on average, and that's if I get a decent amount of sleep. I have insomnia and anything more than that is heaven to me, and since I have weird work hours, early mornings to late nights, I don't get a normal pattern.

Which probably explains my insomnia, I hate it, but then again I'm so used to it, it doesn't bother me that much anymore.

 

[blankedboy]

I've had some 1s and 0s before and the 0s are a hell of alot easier to cope with than the 1s. 1 hour is horrible, not sleeping is pretty much fine, except for a lazy day and early night the next day.

 

[Tdc2182]

I usually go about 4 hours every night due to self caused Insomnia. Whether it's emotions, computer keeping me up, or I just can't bring myself to sleep, I rarely get enough.

Except on Weekends, where I believe I end up more than making up for it.

I do believe I am Nocturnal. I function perfectly at night and am pretty unfocused during the day.

 

[Kouryuu]

Hi there,
that depends on the application of sleeping style,
you could get through the day(24h) with about 90 Min of sleep, Power sleeping,
15 Min every 4 h, but it is bad for your health(not really good in longer-term)
normal you should get between 4-8 h of sleep a day preferably 6h but not more then 10, because its proven that the longer you sleep, the faster you die.
speaking as a Biologist
Kouryuu

Ah, I heard that you can get the same amount of sleep from 12 hours with 30 minutes every 4 hours. I never heard about 15 minutes, that probably is bad for you since you REM sleep last atleast 30 minutes.

it's basicly taking away the sleepeenes without actually sleeping.

the way to get trough some rough times( Final Exams ), but dangerous in long term

Marter, found this on Wiki, there are some basic explanation,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep
but you can always go on PubMed and read something more Science specific

 

[GuitarSlingingManiac]

I have insomnia so I take sleep when I can get it so to answer your question, yeah I can function.

 

[Eldarion]

I'm used to working nights and sleeping during the day. I can go 3 nights with no sleep at all or I can live on about 4 hours of sleep at any point in the day.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Hi everyone

so how many hours of sleep do you get per night? do you think it is enough and is it possible to function on small amounts of sleep?

I say this because for a past few days now I havnt been getting barley any sleep..yet I feel ok, last night I probabl didnt get to sleep untill 2 or 3, however Im also not waking up early so that probably has somthing to do with it, also I dont really have a set routine right now

anyway I read somwhere, I think it was a Cracked.com article that it is possible to function perfectly fine on 2 hours sleep and that you can train yourself to be able to do this

anyway does anythign cause insomnia? or is it just common sense to cut down on the caffine?

I've hear the theory, but it seems to rely on having a totally insane sleep pattern. (essentially, 4 hours awake, 30 minutes asleep, or something along those lines.)

More common views suggests people need between 6-10 hours of sleep a day (varies by individual), and that the average is 8 hours 15 minutes.

It also suggests if you don't sleep for a while, you'll have to make up for it later. (and it's bad for your health. Sleep is more important than most people will admit to.)

It also seems to be the case that teenagers need more sleep than any other age group.

Hi there,
that depends on the application of sleeping style,
you could get through the day(24h) with about 90 Min of sleep, Power sleeping,
15 Min every 4 h, but it is bad for your health(not really good in longer-term)
normal you should get between 4-8 h of sleep a day preferably 6h but not more then 10, because its proven that the longer you sleep, the faster you die.
speaking as a Biologist
Kouryuu

Huh. Really? 4? That doesn't sound plausible as a 'healthy' amount of sleep. But then again, I don't know the exact details of all the various research on this subject that has been conducted.
(But it seems reasonable to presume not all people have identical needs for something like this.)

The longer you sleep the faster you die... Well, I guess it's possible, but it sounds rather counter-intuitive.
Got any additional information on how that was deduced?

 

[Sparcrypt]

Lack of sleep catches up with you over time - there is a small percentage of the population that can handle less then 6 hours of sleep per day, but it is just that - a very small percentage.

Almost everyone needs 6-8 hours per 24 to be able to function properly (I'm talking both in the long and short run). Anyone who claims to get by just fine on 2-4 hours is fooling themselves or part of an extremely lucky minority.

If I could be bothered I'd find all the resources for this, but I did research it quite extensively when I found myself unable to get more then 2-3 hours a sleep a night for a while. Just go google it.