How many hours of sleep do you require a night to be able to get your act together the next morning and seize the day?
Eight? Ten? Fifteen?
Okay, hopefully it’s not fifteen…
But some people do just fine when they sleep less than the standard eight hours a night.
Let’s hear from folks on AskReddit about how they do it.
1. The routine.
“I haven’t been able to fall asleep before midnight since I was a child.
Doesn’t matter how early I get up.”
2. Get used to it.
“After awhile you get used to feeling like a zombie and get more energetic because being chronically sleep-deprived feels like you had a couple of drinks.”
3. Ignore it.
“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.”
4. Getting dumber.
“Your IQ takes a hit when you are this tired, so much so that you don’t notice after a while.
Your abnormal state starts to feel normal, but your performance on all tasks is much more diminished than if you got 8 hrs.”
5. Feelin’ fine.
“Six or seven is good enough for me.
I feel fine with that much sleep.”
6. Oh, boy…
“Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.
Slowly d** of exhaustion.”
7. Gotta do it.
“When you work 12 hour shifts with an hour commute, you don’t have much of a choice.”
8. Too much.
“Optimal sleep for me is just over 7 hours.
8 hours makes me feel like s**t.”
9. The secret.
“I have 3 toddlers 3 and under, sometimes I’m asked how I’m not tired.
I like to use the line from what the Hulk said in the first Avengers movie…. “that my secret, I’m always tired”.”
10. Workin’ for the man.
“14 hour days not including waking up before work, plus eating/showering before bed, doesn’t leave much time to sleep.
On good nights I get 5/6 hours and then backup and do it again the next day.”
11. Get used to it.
“You get used to feeling like s**t.
I’ve fallen out my gym routine, but I would feel so much better when I was active.
The times that I wouldn’t go for a few days or when I would eat junk food, I felt noticeably worse. But over time, it becomes the new baseline.”
12. What’s the harm?
“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.”
Can you survive on less than 8 hours of sleep?
Talk to us in the comments and let us know.
We’d love to hear from you!
