I have a friend who sleeps five hours a night, every night…
FIVE.
That just seems kind of insane to me…but he’s an upstanding citizen with a good job who has his act together, so I guess it works for him.
But still…five hours? Seems like it would be hard to do…
Let’s hear from people on AskReddit about how they survive on less than eight hours of sleep every night.
1. Being awake is good!
“Average of 6 hours per night. Got used to it after one or two weeks.
8 hours feels good but enjoying my free time awake for 2 more hours sounds better.”
2. Yikes.
“You just stop caring about your health.
That’s how…”
3. Just perfect.
“6-7 is good.
When I sleep more than that I actually have a headache and feel groggy for the rest of the day.”
4. Be careful, dude.
“Coffee and c**aine and energy drinks.
To keep me running on 4 hours of sleep.”
5. Rinse and repeat.
“I sleep in on the weekends. During the week I get 5-6 hours the most.
Gradually I become more and more agitated and s**cidal until Saturday when I just lay in bed all day and Sunday when I have a minor existential crisis and stay up all night.
Monday rolls and rinse and repeat.”
6. Don’t even notice.
“You dont even notice. No caffeine needed, no sugar needed.
I never get into REM, so I dont really ever get that same rested feeling others get. Been like this for years and body is just used to it.
I envy people who can sleep a straight 8 hours, that sounds magical.”
7. Bring on the coffee.
“7 hours is more than enough for me.
Sleeping 8 hours gives me a horrible headache.
I also drink lots of coffee.”
8. Don’t even need it.
“I survived on around 3-4 a night sometimes I skip a night or 2 of sleep and I’m awake for 36-50 hours
Last night for example I got 2 hours and 11 minutes
I didn’t realize this was a problem until I met my husband who needs like 11 hours of sleep he encouraged me to go to the doctor I later found out that I have short sleeper syndrome so I literally don’t need more sleep I rarely ever feel tired.”
9. Whatever works.
“No exaggeration, 4-5 hours.
I’ve talked to doctors about it and I’m not sure what it is. I’m not terribly tired during the day so I have no complaints.
I took up running a few years ago and I’ve read a lot of books since I need to do something to k**l the time between 4-6 AM.”
10. Here’s the plan.
“I can’t sleep beyond 6 hours, it doesn’t seem to matter how physically exhausted i am before. After 6 hours, body says go.
Exercise every day. Sleep in cold room. Use haunting memory of past failures to prevent oversleeping.”
11. College life.
“Undergrad time back in ’15 – ’17. Hectic times, consumption of coffee was nearly 15 cups per day (espresso shots).
Sleep was cut down to max 4 hours weekdays. During the holidays after exams, I slept like a d**nk baby.”
12. Now it’s permanent.
“In college my job started at 7am and I had to study…4-6 hours of sleep is still drilled into my brain years and years later…”
Now we want to hear from you.
Tell us how much sleep YOU need to survive.
Thanks a lot!