You’ll Sleep Plenty When You Die 

“I’m not very productive today; I didn’t get my 8 hours of sleep last night”. I’ve heard this line countless times. Who says you need 8 hours of sleep a night? Some doctors who write medical journals? How frequently do you see medical professionals in top-notch condition? Have they ever tried sleeping less than 6 hours a night for a long period of time? I don’t think so. From the time I was a youngster, it continuously pontificated upon me that if I didn’t get at least 8 hours of sleep I would get run down and eventually get sick.   

Techniques 

If you eat properly and exercise consistently you will find out exactly how much sleep, you really need. I cut my sleep down to 4 hours a night. **Note: I don’t recommend this to anyone else. In order to cut back on your sleep, you must eat right and exercise regularly. I can’t stress this point enough!  Not many people can honestly say they fit into this category. There is no reason why you can’t experiment to find your minimum.  

If you want to cut back on your sleep you must take it gradually. Figure out how much sleep your body needs to function at its optimum level. Average it out for about a month and stick to it until it becomes habitual. Train your mind and body in the same way you would build endurance in the gym. Just think if you had an extra hour each day to do what you want. That extra hour will allow you to accomplish so much more than you ever thought possible. The fact that you gave up your sleep for it makes it that much more sacred. I guarantee you’ll make the best of that additional time. When people ask me “Wouldn’t you like to sleep a few extra hours?” My response is always the same.  I will sleep plenty when I die. Hey, I’m human. There are days when I push myself so hard it warrants a 10–20-minute power nap if my schedule permits, of course. 

Just get tough! Set the alarm earlier and get your lazy butt out of bed. There’s nothing else to it. If you do it every day and don’t hit the snooze button, you’ll get used to it. It might be difficult for the first few weeks. Just remind yourself of the things you could accomplish in that time. More importantly, start doing those things to fill that time as you are experimenting. Then you will immediately anticipate using that time to accomplish those goals.  

Excessive Sleep 

Why do some people sleep more than 8 hours? Everyone is different, but I’m not talking about small amounts of time here. Some people sleep 9-10 hours. I think boredom is the culprit. If life isn’t exciting or fulfilling, then we get bored. I can’t defend what I’m saying rationally, but I believe it. One of the signs of depression is excessive sleep. It’s not that extra sleep is necessary; it’s more likely that sleeping through a difficult time is easier than facing reality. It provides an escape from life. When I was in my teens, I slept 8 hours a night on weekdays and 10 hours a night on weekends. I was no different than any other teenager. As I was acquiring discipline my confidence was growing along with my list of goals. I decided that excessive sleep was a waste of time because I had too many things I wanted to accomplish.  

When We Can’t Sleep 

Why do we have trouble sleeping the night before that first day of school or when starting a new job? It’s the excitement and anticipation of the next day.  Sometimes your mind is so full of thoughts that it simply keeps on going, totally screwing any plans of sleeping you may have had. We’ve all been there, watching the clock wide-eyed until about 2 hours before you must go to work. I quit fighting it years ago and just got out of bed and got busy doing something instead of wasting those hours tossing and turning in bed.  Once your mind gets focused on something else, then you’ll be able to get back to sleep sooner. The quality of your sleep will be better as a result. If you’re unlucky like me, you spend the better part of those 2 hours dreaming about whatever you were thinking about, which seems more brutal than not having slept at all.         

Make It a Goal 

I treat sleep as a goal; as opposed to a physical necessity just because people say you need a certain number of hours of sleep a night. I established a goal to cut my sleep down gradually (30 minutes at a time) until I achieved my goal. It was a very aggressive goal and I didn’t know how my body would react, so I went slowly. Every time I cut back on my sleep, I would give my body 3-4 weeks to adjust before taking on any more. Why 4 hours? I really don’t know, but it’s worked for over 30 years now. Please note once again: I am not recommending 4 hours of sleep for anyone. 

Sleep is a necessity and requirement, but the amount of sleep is something you can play with. Tell your mind it’s just a number and nothing more and that too much sleep is a waste of time. Repetition is important again here. 

For myself and I think for many people out there it’s fun to challenge yourself with numbers: 

• With your salary at work – how high can I go? 
• With weightlifting – how much weight can I lift? 
• With field and track events – how many seconds can I shave off my time – how low can I go? 
• With your savings account – how high can I go? 
• With my GPA – how high can I go? 

Managing your life by numbers is fun and challenging. So why can’t we do the same with the hours we sleep? You can!