First this isn’t a scientific blog post, it’s an opinion piece. I’ve recently began a new sleep schedule 10:30 Pm – 4:30 am, that’s only 6 hours, yet I’m completely awake and productive throughout the day why? One simple thing that you’ll find out later.
How should we define sleep? Most people use it to kill time, or because it makes them feel good but I’m of the opinion this is the wrong position to take, I believe redefining sleep is the first step to gain the full benefit of this sleep system, and the way to redefine it is as a necessary part of the human existence, a need not a want. If you treat it this way you’ll be less likely to overdo it.
Why is overdoing it bad? Because it adds up, if you sleep 9 hours a day that’s 3.35 years of sleep every ten years, or 0.335 years of sleep every year or a third of it, that’s more than an entire seasons worth of sleep, basically every year you’ll have slept from Halloween to leap day. If you sleep 6 hours a day that’s 2.6 years every 10 years or 0.26 years every 10 months, basically you’d be sleeping 3 months a year instead.
That may not sound like a lot of difference, but if you live to be 100 you’re saving up 13 extra years worth of time where you don’t have to sleep – what does that amount to? 114,000 hours – that’s a lot of time, enough time to learn 31 different languages, learn guitar and piano, become a doctor, a professional chef, write 10 books, and get a black belt in Brazilian Ju Jitsu, and still have a few thousand hours to spare.
So since we’ve redefined it how best to go about using this new knowledge, simple – set a specific bedtime everyday and stick to it, especially a specific wake up time. For example mine is 10:30 – 4:30, and I stick to it.
Something to remember is that it takes the body 15 minutes to fall asleep fully, that’s without a phone or any kind of distraction. So that means I get to bed at 10:15 and remove distractions like my phone from my area.
Another item to use is melatonin, as it helps you fall asleep faster into a deeper sleep, I’ve been taking melatonin for awhile, my rule of thumb is it takes 30-45 minutes to kick in fully, so I take it right around 9:30 so that I fall asleep on time.
The major thing that keeps me going are naps, one 30 minute nap around 1:00 pm keeps me going until the evening. I’ve found I’m tired as fuck, and can’t stay awake if I don’t.
So that’s my secret, go to sleep and wake up at the same time, take melatonin, remove distractions, and get a good nap in daily.
Ricky J. Smith 