In this chapter, we are going to talk about how you can sleep fewer hours and feel even better.
Wait - what?
I know, I know. All the common sense says you should be sleeping more, not less. Sleep is so hugely important for every aspect of your health - physical fitness and recovery, brain health, focus, and more. But what if I told you that for most people, sleeping 8 hours is actually worse than sleeping 7 and a half? Or that sleeping 7 hours is worse than sleeping 6?
It sounds strange, but it is actually true. You see, for most of us, we have 90-minute sleep cycles where we dip in and out of deep sleep. If you wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle, you will actually feel groggy and exhausted throughout the entire day, even if that means you slept more.
I figured this out when one of the companies I invested in was launching during the same week I was leading an executive board retreat. I only had time to sleep 4 and a half hours each night, but somehow, I felt amazing in the morning. I just needed about a 20-minute nap in the afternoon and I was ready to bounce back.
It turns out I was unknowingly experimenting with something called polyphasic sleep. In this case, I was on a biphasic sleep schedule, which turns out to be healthier and more natural than monophasic sleep.
You see, because of modern electricity and the fact that we work in offices, not out in nature, we have become
accustomed to waking up in the morning and staying awake until the evening - but that is really not natural.
In experiments where people are secluded without clocks or distractions, they actually naturally gravitate towards sleeping twice a day. You can probably relate to this, because you probably get really tired every day at around 3 o'clock.
In my other course, I give a lecture just about sleep and napping. I am a huge advocate of napping - and I take a 22-minute nap almost every single day. This nap has allowed me to sleep on average 6 hours a night for the last few years. Your math is correct; my day is about 2 hours longer than yours. Occasionally, I sleep in on the weekends, but for the most part, I have found it to be true that for every sleep cycle I cut out of my nightly sleep, I need one 22-minute nap.
This coincides with a lot of research and experimentation from other polyphasic sleepers, some of whom take it to the extreme and cut all complete sleep cycles, instead taking only six 20-minute naps every day. I definitely do not recommend this approach, but I do recommend you start adjusting your sleep to be in multiples of 90 minutes. If your lifestyle affords it, you should try cutting your sleep down by one sleep cycle and squeezing in an afternoon nap.
Even if you cannot cut sleep cycles, you can optimize your sleep in other ways so that you do not need to sleep 8 hours. By the way, the "8 hours"
number we have all been told is totally bogus. In tons of military research in dozens of countries, it is been determined everyone has different sleep requirements, and for many of us, 6 hours is a perfectly fine amount of sleep, especially if napping is available. It should be noted, though, on average, women need a little bit more sleep than men need for biological reasons that we will not get into.
You should optimize your sleep by following these important rules:
-Make sure your room is as dark as possible, with no LED's or light coming in from the street
-Avoid blue light at night - buy adjustable smart LED light bulbs if you can afford them or yellow-colored light bulbs if you cannot, install f.lux on your computer, and avoid using your phone in bed. Blue light tells the brain it is daytime and keeps you awake
-Sleep in a cold room with a warm blanket - you can go as low as 64 Fahrenheit or 18 degrees Celsius, though that might be a bit cold for you
-Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day
-Have a snack immediately before bed. Depending on if your goal is to lose weight or gain muscle, this snack should vary, but it is not a bad idea to have a natural fat source like peanut or almond butter before bed. This will keep your body nourished and prevent the "exhausted" feeling in the morning
-Take magnesium before bed to help your body sleep
-Never use a snooze alarm! Instead, use an adaptive alarm like Sleep Cycle which measures where you are in your sleep Cycle, and wakes you up at the optimal time to prevent grogginess
-If you can afford those smart LED bulbs or some other kind of smart lighting system, use light to wake you up. Getting light into your eyes releases the hormones which wake you up and make you alert - so this also means try to avoid using sunglasses first thing in the morning
Anyways, I am going to link you to some podcast episodes I have done with the world's top sleep experts.
I will also link you to the apps I mentioned above, as well as some great articles about polyphasic sleep and
light. Check them out and see how you can optimize your sleep to be more effective and efficient.
For Further Research:
Polyphasic sleep – Wikipedia
http://jle.vi/sleep1 Beginners Start Here | Polyphasic Society
http://jle.vi/sleep2 Sleep Cycle for iPhone
http://jle.vi/sleepcycle1 Sleep Cycle for Android
http://jle.vi/sleepcycle2 Sleep Hacking Course on Udemy
http://jle.vi/sleephacking 11 Tricks for Perfect Sleep – Huffington Post
http://jle.vi/sleep3
Philips Hue Wireless Lighting, Starter Pack 110V (US/CA) – Amazon
http://jle.vi/philipshue1
Philips Hue Wireless Lighting, Starter Pack 220240V – Amazon
http://jle.vi/philipshue2
Jonathan's Podcast Interview with Sleep Coach Nick Littlehales
http://jle vi/sleep-coach
Jonathan's Podcast Interview with Sleep Expert Dr. Kirk Parsley
http://jle vi/kirk-parsley