People Who Survive On Less Than 8 Hours Of Sleep Explain How They Do It
Ideally, everyone should try to get at least eight hours of sleep.
But for some people, that simply isn't possible.
Be it having multiple jobs at varying hours, children waking you up every hour, or being plagued by insomnia, some people will simply have to do their best with what little sleep they can get.
But, how do they do it?
And better yet, should they be doing it?
Redditor Neftroshi was eager to learn the answer to these questions, leading them to ask:
"People of reddit who survive on less than 8 hours of sleep, how?"
One Does What One Must
"Hatred and the need to pay bills."- Inside_Ice_6175
"Hate myself, decide I'm going to bed earlier tonight, fail, repeat."- cmac4ster
Two Easy Steps
"Step 1 : ignore all the cries for help your body releases."
"Step 2: there is no step 2."- Lacrus314
We'd All Like To Know...
"I have a co-worker who is a cleaner in a psych hospital who is 50, only works nights and says she only sleeps 3 or 4 hours a day."
"Don't know how she does it."- weezybreezy747
You Find Ways Of Compensating.
"I do this neat little trick where I borrow a few hours from the end of my life every time I don't get enough sleep."
"Been doing it for years and I don't see any potential problems or downsides."- MatTheScarecrow
Sense Memory...
"I remember one time in my life were I woke up feeling fully refreshed and I've never forgot that moment ever since."- Able_Visual955
Just Act Like It's Not An Issue
"I usually get somewhere between 5-7 hours sleep, there is a constant feeling of tiredness but at some point you just learn to ignore it or get used to it and carry on."- the_starlight_girl
A Professional Opinion
"Friendly neighborhood sleep scientist stopping in."
"Most adults need 8-9 hours to function optimally."
"This is supported by a pretty robust body of research."
"Shorter sleep duration than this is associated with performance decrements across a variety of domains, and there is evidence for negative impacts on physiological health in the short and long term as well."
"Sleep is key to processes like restoration in various physical systems."
"There is also growing evidence that short sleep interferes with the consolidation of memory from short- to long-term storage."
"Sleep and relationships also appear to affect each other reciprocally."
"Good relationships promote good sleep, and bad sleep can hurt relationship functioning."
"Tl;dr—it’s bad for you bro (for the vast majority of people, anyway), even if it feels like it isn’t."
"Sleeping too much is also associated with negative outcomes."
"For example, sleeping more than 9 hours is predictive of elevated cardiovascular risk."
"There is limited but growing evidence that some people are true 'short sleepers' who may experience fewer or no apparent negative cognitive effects of short sleep."
"This phenomenon is poorly understood, but is being investigated increasingly."
"Research is slowed in part by the difficulty of finding participants who are true short sleepers, but it is clear that most of us are not in this category, even if we think we are."
"The truth, according to the best available evidence, is that the vast majority of adults NEED 8 hours for best results."
"It is also critical to note that it is not clear whether people who feel like they experience no negative effects from short sleep are at lower risk for well-established physiological costs of short sleep, such as elevated cardiovascular risk."
"Emerging evidence is beginning to suggest that even if you feel you are not experiencing psychological or physical costs of short sleep, your actual physical health costs may be the same as for people who do feel the cognitive effects of short sleep."
"See for example, Williams et al., 2021."
"You can improve the quality of your sleep by prioritizing 'sleep hygiene'.”
"This includes having a regular bed/wake time each day, even on the weekends."
"There’s no such thing as catching up on lost sleep, not in a true sense."
'You can’t undo the damage completely."
"Further, some evidence is beginning to indicate that the tempting practice of sleeping in on weekends to try to repay sleep debt has negative effects beyond the sleep that has already been lost."
"A consistent bed/wake schedule is one of the best gifts you can give yourself."
"Other tips you may have heard include minimizing light exposure, especially to blue light, for a few hours before bed."
"There is limited evidence about the effectiveness of things like phones’ native settings for blue light reduction, so consider getting some filter glasses to put on when you are approaching bedtime, and avoid screens."
"Other good resources are available via you googling it."
"You may think you are getting more sleep than you are."
"Smartphones and wearables can help track your sleep to try to assess how much you’re getting."
"Alexa can alert you if you snore at night, which can indicate sleep problems."
"This tech isn’t as good as research-grade sleep actigraphy or polysomnography, but it’s getting better."
"If you go this route, be sure you don’t get obsessive about the data and quantifying or gamifying it."
"Good sleep is the goal, not making your phone happy at all costs."
"Caffeine is definitely worth thinking about when thinking about your sleep hygiene as well."
"For example, my sleep is fairly delicate, but getting better, thanks to science!, so I won't start a new serving of coffee after noon or finish one after 2 p.m."
"Caffeine can compound sleep problems because, although it can help you get through the day, it is very easy to then have it interfere with nighttime sleep latency.'
"How long it takes you to fall asleep, quality, or quantity."
"If you are using caffeine to get through the day because you're tired and dragging, it may well feel useful within days, but be detrimental to your sleep and performance across days."
"It's like putting a bandaid over a fresh wound to cover it immediately, but then ripping it off that night before the underlying problem has healed."
"If caffeine is interfering with your sleep quality, consider switching to something caffeine-free to fill that space as an afternoon ritual."
"You may find that the break in your routine still helps refresh you without interfering with a good night's rest."
"You can use your phone or other smart devices to remind you to start winding down and getting ready for bed in advance of your bedtime."
"I have my spare speakers remind me with phrases like 'You're a sleep scientist, go to bed, it's important' and 'Go to bed now; it promotes a healthy immune system'."
"Additionally, pretty much any flatscreen TV has, buried in its annoying, hard-to-navigate settings menu, an auto-off timer feature."
"Do some quick googling to figure out where this setting is on your TV and set it to turn off at a certain time each day."
"Similarly, if you have smart plugs or switches in your home, you can set them to turn lights off at a given time."
"Mine are set to go off in advance of my Mandatory Bedtime."
"You only have to set this up once, and then every night, your smart home will help nudge you toward bed."
"Sure, you might be tempted to turn the TV on to finish an episode or to turn the lights back on and finish the chapter you're reading, but anything you can do to decrease friction in the direction of your target bedtime and good sleep hygiene will help."
"I once heard a very eminent colleague speak on this subject and he said 'If you were a sleep scientist, if you understood sleep and its importance the way I do, you would never shortchange yourself on another night of it'."
"I found that quite sobering because I am a sleep scientist, I do understand the importance, and I was still shortchanging myself."
"Many cultures today have succumbed to the 'glorification of business,' in which it is seen as some kind of badge of honor to not 'need' much sleep."
"For almost all of us, however, 8-9 is the magic number and we can't shortchange that fact...just ourselves."- LilSebastianFlyte
As Maria says in The Sound Of Music: "strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers".
Even if you can't get a solid eight hours, try making a good night's sleep a priority.
It will make your morning coffee taste oh-so-much better.
They say you can never have enough of a good thing, but we all know there's plenty of stuff that you'd like to just go, "Oh, no thank you" about and that would be that.
Unfortunately, that pretty much never actually works.
Try telling the electric company "no thanks" when the way too high bill comes, or just putting up a hand to decline work for the next week or so because you're just kind of over it.
Consequences and repercussions, folks. But you've got to admit some stuff would just be better if it was... less.
Reddit user DuckyMomo_12 asked:
"What’s something that would be 100% better if it was slightly shorter?"
Time At Work
Excited Happy Hour GIF by Boomerang OfficialGiphy"Average work hours"
- friendofjay
"Seriously. My current company has us work 37.5 hour weeks with a paid hour lunch. I don’t know if I could go back to the 40 hour/unpaid 30 min lunch again. It seems like such a small change but it feels like a lot."
- cageygrading
"Everything is getting more expensive right now because of corporate greed. Don't buy the bs that it's just inflation."
"Your bosses are making profits and squeezing you for everything you're worth in the process. Remember that while you bust your @ss for them."
- ravenfire47
"So would you take a pay cut so you can work less?"
- Pathwil
"If you work less, yes. But if you do the same amount of work in less hours, no."
"I moved to US a the beginning of this year and that is something which drives me crazy. People are so inefficient when they work, here."
"Why not just do your job rapidly, with great care and concentration then leave to have your life?! I was in Germany, UK and France before and that's what people do. You do your job and when it's finished, around 3 or 4 pm, they just go home or to gym, or other places. Having time for you is the reward for working well."
- OnTheGoodSideofLife
"Yeah that's a good way to look at it"
- Pathwil
Unwanted Hair
"My nose hair."
- HunterRemarkable550
"Dude... tell me about it. I didn't need excessive nose hair at 26, why TF do I need it at 36."
"Seriously, I can trim for minutes and the next morning I got nose hairs coming out my nose tickling the sh*t out of me!"
"Oh and there is one cheeky hair all the way up in my left nostril that will grow all curled up in my nose and all of a sudden it just starts poking out, seriously now, this thing has grown to about 2 inches long. if i pull on it, I swear to god it feels like it tugs on either the back of my head or my left eye."
"I got nose hair for days."
- Osborne85
"I just bought a beard/hair trimmer that has a nose/ear hair accessory, my nose hairs weren't excessively long but I feel like it looks much better now!"
- radekvitr
"This is fortuitous cuz I wondered if I'd ever get to tell this story! Literally, cleaning/fixing things in my new home about 3 hours ago."
"My nose got tickled and I i couldn't rub it because I had wood glue gloved hands. So I'm washing up and staring in the mirror at all the stuff my (generally maintained, but neglected because I can't find sh*t) nose hairs kept out of my system. It was AMAZING! DUST WAS DANCING IN MY NOSE HAIR LIKE I'VE SPUN CHARLOTTE'S WEB."
"I, honestly, felt lucky to get a chance to appreciate my nose hair. And I hope 1 day you do, too. As for me? I'm still left in awe like that'll do, pig, that'll do."
- unbridledboredom
Lines For Fun
Episode 2 Waiting In Line GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"Lines at any amusement park."
- TheNonMurderingSort
"Go during September or October. The lines are much shorter and the weather isn't too hot or cold"
- darkaurora84
"One year my father's company and maybe a couple others rented Disneyland for one night. There were enough people that it didn't feel empty, but not so many that we couldn't just walk right up and immediately get on any ride. I was old enough to be on my own."
- cutelyaware
"One of the big perks of staying at one of the Disney hotels is they have certain nights that the park closes for everyone but the people that are staying there. We chilled at the hotel for most of the day then went in late and walked up to every attraction we wanted. My kid loved space mountain and we must have ridden it 10 times in a row. Glorious."
- olcrazypete
Personal Height
"Me. I hate hitting my knees on the seat in front when using public transport"
- hdhdhdhdzjursx
"Tall gang represent. Got the opposite problem tho, 31 inch inseam, all my height is torso. Crack my head on every ceiling in every personal vehicle I've ever owned bar one"
- Megalon84
"I don’t fit on airlines. Flying sucks…"
- Jak_n_Dax
"Frequent festival go-er, I always stand in the back because I hate blocking other peoples view"
- Zymper
"You took the words right out my mouth"
- LateTeenAnubis
This One Is Advance
"Queues. This is a two for one, as the word queue would also be 100% better if it was shorter."
- kriminellart
"The word queue is just the letter Q with a bunch of extra letters waiting in line."
- ecodrew
"Underrated."
- PM_meyourGradyWhite
"I've seen people using 'cue' like 'cue up', but idk if they're just americans that suck at using the right word because we don't call lines 'queues' as often."
- souleaterevans626
Rest
Tired Baby GIFGiphy"The amount of time you need to sleep"
- WomenAreNotReal
"How I wish 5 hours was enough..."
- 1ne3hree
"I honestly wish I could sleep more, maybe it would help with my loneliness. I usually need 6 or 7.5 h based on prior activity"
- Sad_But_Realistic
Court Appointees
"Supreme court appointments."
- Debasque
"Justices should serve an 18 year term, with each one staggered every two years."
"A: that is still plenty of time so that the court can be "above" politics, but a lot more sensible than a lifetime."
"B: it would eliminate this hair-on-fire panicked emergency that happens every time one of them suddenly dies and needs to be replaced. Every president gets to appoint two new justices per term like clockwork, predictable and calculable. No more political wrangling over who controls the Senate vs who is president vs how much time there is before the election and all that BS."
- DerCatzefragger
"Agreed. Lifetime is a bit much... I do believe in term limits across all branches of US govt . By all means make a difference for the people that voted for you or for the party that appointed you. But, a lifetime appointment. 🥺🙄"
- slowclicker
NFL
College Football Running GIF by Boomerang OfficialGiphy"Football (American) games. Especially things like replay reviews and timeouts after kickoffs and change of possession. Sure, guys would get more tired and worn down late in the games but that would be part of the strategy."
- sometimesimtoxic
"I grew up watching football with my dad. I always hated it (and still do) and always thought why do people enjoy watching a minute play with five minutes of whatever after before the next one, it's so goddamn boring to me."
- cozyroof
"A football game is played in 4 quarters, each 15 minutes long, with a 12 minute halftime in the middle. So do the math and a football game lasts. . . 3 friggin hours!?!? And the last 3 minutes of the 4th quarter accounts for 45 minutes of that time!"
- DerCatzefragger
"As a big American Football fan, I completely agree. I think the biggest culprits are the endless commercials but 3 hours is just too much. The players would adapt and you would likely see some reduction in size, especially on the line. Being 400 Lbs with that amount of PED assisted muscle is questionable as it is."
"Same thing with baseball but the purists like the pitchers taking 20 minutes before each pitch for whatever reason. I like Soccer too and watching a match get knocked out in 1.5 hours and getting on with my day is great."
- DustinAM
More Days To Enjoy
"Work week, 4 day work week, 3 day rest would be fantastic"
- Piemaster113
"I used to do 4 day work week, and I preferred it more than 5 day work weeks. Sure, I had to spend 10 hours at the office, but that 3rd day off gave me a day I could take my Mom to the doctor if needed."
- ryukin631
"The job I worked the longest at had me on a 4 on/4 off schedule. 12 hour days. I was there for 8 years, honestly loved that job, and one of the cool things about working 12 hour days for 8 years was that it made transitioning to 8 hour days a breeze. The downside was 2 day weekends f*cking suck."
- Mister_McGreg
"I would love that. You need the middle day. Then you get a day to rest/decompress, a day to have fun/do things, and a day to do chores/get sh*t in order for the week."
- pamplemouss
New Movies
"Most recently, Gray Man. They need to chill with the 2+ hour movies."
- olnog
"If the writers really knows what they are doing with the story and the actors nail the, well, acting, I don't mind 2hr movies."
"For me the main issue is that they tend to cut short, as if they halfway through filming realize that 'Oh shoot, this movie will end up 4hrs long'."
"I'd rather have a 4 episode mini-series with hour long episodes instead."
- ActualTechSupport
"I feel like any bollywood movie not clockin in at 3 hrs is pretty short. But the good ones make it seem short. Ex: Three Idiots, PK"
- rabid-
Block
"Unskippable ads on YouTube."
Fabulous_Parking66
"Not all of them, but maybe 50-60% of 'unskippable' ads actually are skippable. Hit the little '(i)' icon in the bottom left of the screen, then 'stop seeing ad.' Don’t fill out the reasoning, just hit cancel and it skips the ad series."
GeminiTitmouse
"Use adblock plus and you never have to watch an ad on youtube again."
Fakedduckjump
Just Vote
"US political campaigns. The worst part is l live in Pennsylvania which is a state that is usually a battleground state so we are hammered day and night with TV ads for months and months. We will be voting for Governor and U S Senate candidates this November’s election. I’m so glad l’m computer literate so l have an escape."
namvet67
Look Up
Big Mouth Eyebrows GIF by NETFLIXGiphy"From the perspective of a man over 50, I’m going to say my eyebrow hairs."
mr_dbini
"I love my wizardly eyebrows."
BangBangMeatMachine
Health
"Colds."
Fearless_Link_3464
"Do you smoke? Cause my colds last weeks. When I didn't smoke they rarely lasted more than 2 days."
JasonIsBaad
"I don't smoke. But, colds are very annoying. Stay home from work, no kissing, and just staying away from everyone so you don't spread. Also, everyone will ask if it's COVID."
Fearless_Link_3464
Transactions
"Tax Code."
blazze_eternal
"The United States Government shall implement one and only one tax assessment on all transactions. There are no exceptions. That tax rate shall be N%. Now congress can fight over that number. People can understand what they are taxed. When some wants universal healthcare or a new AntiBallistic Missile system they can work it out in packs of cigarettes."
"The rich don't get to not pay as each stock sale, money to transfer, equity dodge gets assessed. The illegal immigrants are now paying their fair share. Everyone pays one number. And businesses are accountable for keeping clean books and much better at it than Joe Shmo. If they aren't then they are breaking laws and the IRS gets to crack some knuckles."
enigmaunbound
Short Term
"A full-term pregnancy."
SuvenPan
"Relative to our size humans should actually be pregnant for 1.5-2 years. That's why when human babies are born they are practically defenseless and can't walk compared to other animals that can walk within the day. So a full term pregnancy is already much shorter than it should be technically."
tradtrad100
Dreams
Brad Pitt Laughing GIFGiphy"Any movie where the character realises that it was all just a delusion at the end (with that cut out)."
Significant-Garlic87
"Fight club is fine because only the character was a delusion, but the events actually happened. Nothings worse than finding out the entire move was a dream."
flpacsnr
How To...
"Most, if not all, YouTube tutorials/how-to videos."
Pulseweaver
"I gotta disagree here, some things really do need the extra detail/background information. Now if it's how to replace X part on Y device sure totally agree I don’t need your life story just gimmie the info. But if I am looking up details on a networking protocol I want allllll the details."
Deadlydragon218
Which of these resonated with you most?
More importantly, what needs to be on this list that you don't see?
Gripe with me in the comments, folks! It's always a good time.