"Stress and sleep loss are shortening your life..." - you don't say?!
I guess I'm fortunate in this regard - my body will take its 6-9 hours a day no matter what - when I'm really tired, nothing short of an imminent physical threat can stop me from falling asleep - it's pretty annoying, actually...
I'm the same way. Ive always wondered if it was just me or if other people are like this. Even if I have a deadline the next day I can only stay up to a certain extent and then I shut down. Why age group are you in? I'm just about 19.
It seems like most older teens are able to fall asleep quickly almost anywhere. I see high school students get on a noisy, lurching, city bus who fall asleep within two minutes of sitting down.
22 year old here. I fall asleep instantly around 11-12, and up until recently, I couldn't nap during the day. A few weeks ago I took a nap after coming home from work at 4pm, woke up at 5pm and was amazed at how good I felt. So now I try to make that a daily thing. It not only gives me more energy for the rest of the day, but it also boosts my mood an incredible amount.
I'm 22. Fortunately, when it comes to deadlines, if I need to sleep, I'll just take a 30-90 minutes nap, then work another several hours. I'd have to catch up and sleep like 12 hours later, though...
The response to a post like this is balance; however, the main problem is people do not know what is "balance". The easiest thing to do is to create time boundaries
Corporate culture (including some startups I know) value face time over outcomes (input vs. output valuation). If something goes wrong, managers tend to point to face time rather than the host of other factors, so people work even when there is no need. Face time = working hard. It is a vicious cycle and creates a huge inefficiency.
The solution is to create firm... let me repeat FIRM boundaries on things you value, whether family time or time at the gym. While this creates a constraint and seems bold, it improves efficiency because most of the time we spend in the office does not create value. It is pointless meetings, calls that go to long, and mindless Facebook scrolling. If your employees or your manager knows that you will leave at X time, it is remarkable to see how efficient your colleagues become.
I just want to add that balance is what I do now but in a different way. I have read a lot of articles about how to go to sleep early and how to go to gym regularly etc. That worked... sometimes. When someone recommended "balance", I always understood that I need a fixed schedule and to stick to it. But I really can't do that (I want to go to sleep early but I'm not that tired. I will not sleep even if I go.).
What really works is what Marissa Mayer recommended: find your rhythm. So if I want to stay late and work for hours I will do just that. I also realize that maybe the next day I will not be able to work that much or at all. So I just do something relaxing the next day. Sometimes I can work a few days in a row like that. But I always know that there will be one day in which I will not even start the computer. So I think of something to do outside the house. Changing environments helps a lot. That's the rhythm.
I hate articles such as this. They talk about stress and lack of sleep like you can just magically solve them once you know it is unhealthy - which I'm afraid is not reality.
I would love to sleep well; I give my body over ten hours to try and get some but it never happens. I get about one or two good nights sleep a year and shocker: that makes me more on edge and stressful.
So studies which show I am going to get sick and die sooner aren't exactly comforting. Actually it makes me more stressful, perhaps I won't sleep tonight!
I'm equally sick of people who just blindly accept the fact that they don't sleep well.
Like any hacker endeavor, do the research and put the time in. If you keep digging, you will eventually find something. I have my sleep issues under control mostly, and it changed my life. In my case, I found I have chronic sinusitis that inhibited my ability to breathe at night. I take allergy medicine before bed, and arrange my pillows a certain way to support my neck.
Sleep is mysterious, but it's not black magic. The Zeo was helpful in diagnosing a lot of things.
Some hackers prefer fast iteration, or perhaps the ADD-ness of many hackers can't focus on anything less.
For people that prefer to measure their testing times in milliseconds, trying to 'debug' your sleep patterns, where it may take weeks to notice anything is just not going to be feasible. On top of that, trying to divorce your sleep issues from the rest of the issues in your life to isolate root causes, it just becomes a losing battle for many of us.
I can't agree more. I never got a zeo, but I did test multiple factors in isolation trying to end onset insomnia.
All my sleep troubles went away when I jailbroke my iPhone and installed f.lux. Already had it on the computer, but blue light on the phone turned out to be the weak link.
I find that people are surprisingly willing to dismiss personal shortcomings as "just my nature" instead of taking the time to address said shortcomings. With regards to problems sleeping, this doesn't involve just visiting the doctor and ending up with sleeping pill prescriptions. It involves putting time and effort into getting better sleep every day. Eat a little earlier, stop working a little earlier, turn off the TV and computer a little earlier, and see what makes it easier and easier to go to sleep every night. Most importantly, prioritize personal health.
You're right. "Just my nature" is usually rationalization for "I'm lazy." (I say it too.)
Nobody seems to talk much about wellness. Instead, healthcare focuses on dealing with the 'inevitable' illnesses, despite the fact that your body gave you multiple symptoms leading up to them.
Than I realized I'd do anything if it helped me enjoy life more.
I mean honestly, when my sleep starts getting shitty I start changing things in my life. Quitting jobs, taking breaks from relationships, creating new ones, trying new programming languages, anything.
Burnout can be fucking terrible, and I will give up every possession I have before I endure that again.
If sleep is that difficult, you may want to see a doctor. There are many reasons for insomnia, some more serious than others. Sleep apnea (difficulty breathing) is a common cause. Sleeping your back can aggravate breathing difficulties.
Small doses of melatonin and avoiding "screen time" (computer or TV) for an hour before bedtime can help, too.
I recommend reading Dr. Andrew Weil's recommends for insomnia:
I'm starting to nap at 3pm and its making me feel much better. I feel more able to solve the problems I work throughout the day. I try to powernap at 3pm. I have tried to exercise more and that has help me much more with my stamina.
I think with the sleeping problems I have that naps are sometimes a better solution or at least a stopgap measure to reduce stress.
My experience with sleep and stress is that I have to always be making sure I get the sort of sleep that causes an emotional GC regularly. Otherwise, I feel like I'm dragging around the emotional debris of days past. It will eventually crush you.
No idea why you are getting downvoted on this. While I don't regularly have to take naps I've done it from time to time and found it helpful. There is a bit of information that I've seen that supports this as well.
When I made my comment is was appearing as a lighter comment. I don't know how much (can't see anymore than you can) but by the time I posted the above comment it was back in the black. (I just had no idea what in that comment would cause it to be downvoted and was curioius as it was up for 5 hours by the time I saw.)
For me this article simply confirms my conclusions on the subject from my own anecdotal experiences. Stay up all night, 50% chance I'll get sick. Go through sustained high stress periods, I _will_ eventually get sick. Funny enough I didn't get much sleep last night (or most of this week), had huge levels of stress before bed and low and behold, I awoke with a nasty Cold.
For the record, I consider myself to be fairly healthy. I don't normally get sick but when I do it's almost always because of lack of sleep / stress. I'm quite good when it comes to diet and exercise and although it has helped me have good quality sleeps and lowered my levels of stress, it requires real discipline to keep it up. For anyone who suffers from stress or sleepless nights I definitely recommend a good cardio workout 2-3 times a week and serious dietery changes (no sugars, low carbs, no junk in general, no processed foods, lots of greens and a well researched cocktail of supplements).
I love good coffee but I find that it is usually a lot worse for my stress levels than something comparable like an energy drink; although, both are really bad.
I find it fascinating how something as simple as a food colouring can completely ruin your sleep for the night, and the worst thing is you'd never know what ruined it for you.
I was also going to recommend melatonin. I have a hard time falling asleep, and Melatonin really helps avoid the late night brain rush that keeps me awake. Though I'm honestly not clear on all the side-effects.
This is not a particularly good argument. After all, the body also produces opiates naturally, but it's generally not a good idea to take them long term.
I take melatonin sometimes when my sleep cycle is off. It's really helpful for correcting it, but I don't like that, even with small doses, I feel vaguely like I'm walking around in a dream world until noon or so the next day.
While we're sharing our anecdotes, at the suggestion of a coworker I took 5mg melatonin each night for a few months, which worked wonders for actually staying asleep at night. In my experience the important part was taking it at the same time each night to mimick how the brain naturally releases the hormone. I never, for example, used it to sleep during the day after an all-night flight, just to regulate my day/night cycle.
> I feel vaguely like I'm walking around in a dream world until noon or so the next day.
How small are your small doses? Melatonin is often sold in 5 mg tablets, but Dr. Andrew Weil [1] recommends 2.5 mg at bedtime as an occasional dose and a much lower dose, 0.25 to 0.3 mg, for regular use.
What is "sleep loss"? How can you lose something you never really had? Is it lack of sleep? Is it inability to fall asleep? Is it insomnia? Is it using an alarm clock to wake up early? I don't understand.
I keep meaning to figure it out, but it would be nice to know if the average hours (years) gained by not sleeping as much are more or less than the average hours (years) lost by the health issues.
Even if the hours gained is merely equal to the hours lost, consider the extra sleep as a time machine. You may not get to live more waking hours, but you get to live to a later date and see more of all the cool stuff the future may bring. :)
I wonder, does the time you go to sleep factor in health? If you sleep eight hours, but you sleep them all during the day, are you worse off in terms of health than others who sleep during the night and wake in the morning?
"... Would you prioritize sleep if you knew it kept your immune system strong? ..."
While "rest is a weapon", I can sleep when I'm dead. Longest hours awake, 78hrs. Longest stretch of 4/24Hr, 10 weeks. For staying awake long hours, Yoga is good. For little rest, the "art of the catnap" must be mastered.
"found that those who cut back their sleep to less than six hours of sleep a night are at 4.5 percent greater risk of having a stroke compared with those who slept 7 to 8 hours a night"
4.5% greater risk is meaningless unless you know the actual risk likelihood in the first place.
If the risk is 1 in 1 million, 4.5 % increase of that risk is negligible.
Another article written by non-scientists who have no idea what to make of numbers. This is typical from mainstream press.
48 comments
[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 90.4 ms ] threadI guess I'm fortunate in this regard - my body will take its 6-9 hours a day no matter what - when I'm really tired, nothing short of an imminent physical threat can stop me from falling asleep - it's pretty annoying, actually...
(Admittedly, it's an hour-long trip twice a day.)
Corporate culture (including some startups I know) value face time over outcomes (input vs. output valuation). If something goes wrong, managers tend to point to face time rather than the host of other factors, so people work even when there is no need. Face time = working hard. It is a vicious cycle and creates a huge inefficiency.
The solution is to create firm... let me repeat FIRM boundaries on things you value, whether family time or time at the gym. While this creates a constraint and seems bold, it improves efficiency because most of the time we spend in the office does not create value. It is pointless meetings, calls that go to long, and mindless Facebook scrolling. If your employees or your manager knows that you will leave at X time, it is remarkable to see how efficient your colleagues become.
Here is GOOD's post on sleep for entrepreneurs http://www.good.is/post/don-t-fall-asleep-at-the-wheel-succe...
What really works is what Marissa Mayer recommended: find your rhythm. So if I want to stay late and work for hours I will do just that. I also realize that maybe the next day I will not be able to work that much or at all. So I just do something relaxing the next day. Sometimes I can work a few days in a row like that. But I always know that there will be one day in which I will not even start the computer. So I think of something to do outside the house. Changing environments helps a lot. That's the rhythm.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/223723?Source=Taboola
I would love to sleep well; I give my body over ten hours to try and get some but it never happens. I get about one or two good nights sleep a year and shocker: that makes me more on edge and stressful.
So studies which show I am going to get sick and die sooner aren't exactly comforting. Actually it makes me more stressful, perhaps I won't sleep tonight!
Like any hacker endeavor, do the research and put the time in. If you keep digging, you will eventually find something. I have my sleep issues under control mostly, and it changed my life. In my case, I found I have chronic sinusitis that inhibited my ability to breathe at night. I take allergy medicine before bed, and arrange my pillows a certain way to support my neck.
Sleep is mysterious, but it's not black magic. The Zeo was helpful in diagnosing a lot of things.
For people that prefer to measure their testing times in milliseconds, trying to 'debug' your sleep patterns, where it may take weeks to notice anything is just not going to be feasible. On top of that, trying to divorce your sleep issues from the rest of the issues in your life to isolate root causes, it just becomes a losing battle for many of us.
All my sleep troubles went away when I jailbroke my iPhone and installed f.lux. Already had it on the computer, but blue light on the phone turned out to be the weak link.
Nobody seems to talk much about wellness. Instead, healthcare focuses on dealing with the 'inevitable' illnesses, despite the fact that your body gave you multiple symptoms leading up to them.
Than I realized I'd do anything if it helped me enjoy life more.
I mean honestly, when my sleep starts getting shitty I start changing things in my life. Quitting jobs, taking breaks from relationships, creating new ones, trying new programming languages, anything.
Burnout can be fucking terrible, and I will give up every possession I have before I endure that again.
Small doses of melatonin and avoiding "screen time" (computer or TV) for an hour before bedtime can help, too. I recommend reading Dr. Andrew Weil's recommends for insomnia:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02004/insomnia
I think with the sleeping problems I have that naps are sometimes a better solution or at least a stopgap measure to reduce stress.
Here is one item:
http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/02/22/naps_boost_learnin...
OT, but how do you see downvotes on others' comments? I have adequate karma to up and down vote, but I only see my comments' scores.
For the record, I consider myself to be fairly healthy. I don't normally get sick but when I do it's almost always because of lack of sleep / stress. I'm quite good when it comes to diet and exercise and although it has helped me have good quality sleeps and lowered my levels of stress, it requires real discipline to keep it up. For anyone who suffers from stress or sleepless nights I definitely recommend a good cardio workout 2-3 times a week and serious dietery changes (no sugars, low carbs, no junk in general, no processed foods, lots of greens and a well researched cocktail of supplements).
I love good coffee but I find that it is usually a lot worse for my stress levels than something comparable like an energy drink; although, both are really bad.
I find it fascinating how something as simple as a food colouring can completely ruin your sleep for the night, and the worst thing is you'd never know what ruined it for you.
Note: we cut pill in half for our 10 yr old. It was a life changer for us!
How small are your small doses? Melatonin is often sold in 5 mg tablets, but Dr. Andrew Weil [1] recommends 2.5 mg at bedtime as an occasional dose and a much lower dose, 0.25 to 0.3 mg, for regular use.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02004/insomnia
2. Writer links to wrong source, so we can't fact-check ourselves.
3. The program for Sleep 2012 is 500 pages long. This is just the abstracts. Finding the actual study is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Can't win hey?
While "rest is a weapon", I can sleep when I'm dead. Longest hours awake, 78hrs. Longest stretch of 4/24Hr, 10 weeks. For staying awake long hours, Yoga is good. For little rest, the "art of the catnap" must be mastered.
4.5% greater risk is meaningless unless you know the actual risk likelihood in the first place.
If the risk is 1 in 1 million, 4.5 % increase of that risk is negligible.
Another article written by non-scientists who have no idea what to make of numbers. This is typical from mainstream press.