How to Sleep Less But Not Feel Sleepless

Intro: How to Sleep Less But Not Feel Sleepless

After much research and using myself as a guinea pig, I'm able to share my findings on how to sleep less, much less.

What do you need:
To realize how much time of your life you spend sleeping
To realize what can you do with 3 more hours a day
To realize that what you need is more energy, not more sleep time
A bed
Water

STEP 1: To Optimize Sleeping Time

You need to have the most natural light you can get.
You can start by leting your sunglasses at home, opening the windows as soon as you wake up and if you spend to much time indors, buy a daylight lamp, the ones that people with Seasonal Affective Dissorder use.

STEP 2: The Not So Fun Part

Drink 2 lt. water a day. This way the body use less effort to make what the body do during the night.

But dont drink or eat two hours before going to bed, so the body can rest without worrying about digestion.

Also (told you this was the not so fun part) avoid coffe and alcohol.

If you find life without coffe and alcohol and with 3 or 4 more hours a day is worth living, keep reading.

STEP 3: Optional Stuff

30 minute phisical activity a day make you sleep better and have more energy.

Also, if you can get a 15 minute nap, you can save easily 2 hours night sleep for each 15 minutes' nap.

STEP 4: The Almost More Important Thing

there is not such a thing as recover the sleep during the weekend. Every day should have the same schedule for the sistem to work.

STEP 5: The Most Important Thing

To wake up as good as you can with the less sleeping time, you nees to find the exact moment when a sleep cycle ends.

If you wake up in the midle of a cycle, you feel dizzy and tired.

To detect this precise time, try wake up 10 minutes early than usual. If you feel tired, try 10 minutes EARLIER.

I use to wake up at 7.00 am and take 2 hours to really wake up. now I wake up at 5.50 AM fresher than ever sleeping 6.20 hours instead of 8. I coud try to stretch my record, but i havent follow my oun instructable so fairly.

BUT YOU COULD!! right?

Comments

[Hazel19]

I have a different way of looking at sleep due to a medical condition. I have bipolar disorder (also called manic depression). I have found that an approximate 7.5 hours of sleep and waking up to a gentle alarm that mimics the rising sun (kind of like a Sun lamp but gradual and mimicking the sunrise, especially in winter months) wakes me up at the ideal time in my sleep cycle and I am ready to face the day! I recommend this to anyone with a circadian rhythm disorder, it's very helpful. I also agree with the advice above. Everyone is different but with a little bit of trial and error (and maybe the occasional melatonin) you can find what works best for you.

[VictoriousVixen]

What type of Alarm are you speaking of? I've never heard of an Alarm that mimics the rising sun. Where did you find it? Or do you mean a sound alarm that starts quietly and increases in volume? Very interested.

[Kekshexe]

Just hit "wake up light" into amazon (or any search engine)

I do have such an alarm and it works great - especially now, when waking up is way before sunrise.

[jake3_14]

Michelle,

I'm glad this strategy works for you, but the advice about drinking 2L of water/day has no basis in science.  In fact, the myth of drinking 8 glasses of water/day was recently and, I hope, definitively debunked: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=eight-glasses-water-per-day

[StupidGenius]

According to all 6 of my physicians, (Chiropractor, Phys. Therapist, Internist, Neurosurgeon, Oncologist and Urologist) the average human needs to consume enough water to create a minimum of 2 to 3 liters of urine per day. This is beneficial to cleanse the blood of urea, maintain a healthy metabolism, increase liver function, maintain a good memory, keep your skin healthy, reduce fatigue, reduce kidney stone formations (my fav), increase sexual function and many other benefits. Roughly 80% or more of American citizens are under hydrated daily and nearly all of those get the majority of the fluids from soda which has been proven to reduce overall well being and cause a multitude of health issues. I personally strive to drink at least a gallon per day (mostly for kidney stone prevention as I am a stone machine) but consume at least 2 liters minimum daily. Also it is recommended to get up to urinate at least once through the night to reduce mineral buildup within the kidneys and to help reduce the risk of bladder cancer and urinary tract infection. Your individual mileage may vary.

[jake3_14]

Well, of *course* people indoctrinated with nonsense who've dispensed that nonsense all their careers and could be sued for malpractice if they suddenly said anything else are going to keep spouting nonsense. That why they call such nonsense "articles of faith"; because there's no factual basis for believing it.

[SethY7]

Well if you suffer back pain, heat fatigue here in Miami, FL, anxiety, etc., even with a very healthy diet, around 80 ounces of water feels so refreshing. Especially of very purified water; it helps. Here in tap water toxic, air toxic, commonly food toxic, stressful, etc. America. Drinking any less would mean I would feel fatigue in heat easily, especially my parents'hot house. There are different approaches to peoples' health. Being on point and some with my diet, way of life, is very successful, but one may only feel so if one does any way of life, diet, successful. I am like some of the top athletes in that I am vegan. I have usually one or two processed foods in my whole day, if that, and I don't buy it either. I'll take over half a gallon then just when I start to feel really thirsty and the signs are already stating I'm off balance and wasted time not drinking water. (; Cheers.

[SethY7]

parents' hot*

[pilcinim34]

I understand how you feel in this, but the science is just not there to back you. Just because you yourself are not a doctor (who go through at least 4 years after college of medical school with a minimum of 3 years of residency after medical school all training them science based medical research) doesn't mean that you should be critical of their knowledge, especially on subjects which you know nothing about.

[siafulinux]

I found out a few years ago that almost always when I had a headache and I drank water it would go away. I also discovered that when I start getting a little tired in my day and start yawning, drinking a couple or more cups of water sets me straight.

The fact is, people get admitted into hospitals all the time due to dehydration. Wonder how that happens?

[MichaelR5]

Amen to the kidney stone production comments. I've passed seven. I now keep a water container at my desk and drink water throughout the day.

[VictoriousVixen]

Your link was broken. Here is the corrected link. :)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-you-must-drink-8-glasses-of-water-daily/

[CatalinRO]

2 liters of water will help cleaning the "good" stuff we ingested in these modern times

[bstraatman]

Thank you sir

[JohnTheBeloved]

but don't you know that Water increases Blood volume, and therefore blood flow to the Brain, Always tell my coworkers who feel sleepy after lunch, including my self that its because blood volume has shifted to Digestive system with the brain having less blood volume to work

[AmyleaS]

I found that pretty questionable, too. I get headaches and really groggy if I don't hit my gallon or near-gallon watermark too many days in a row. 2L is barely over a half gallon. At first I thought the article meant to drink less fluids.

[Noah Enesata]

Thanks for revealing this top secrete

, you are mostly bless

Thanks

[Noah Enesata]

Great

[oziology]

Thanks for the knowledge, it's all sound good, and i promise to put it to work from this moment on......

[mikes4222]

Actually, I found out that an apple eaten with breakfast will wake you up even better than a cup of coffee or tea, as it has B-vitamins that give a natural energy boost, and carbs that convert into cellular and brain energy. To wake up your brain, feed it! Fully 1/3 (or more!) of your calorie intake will be used by...

...Your Brain!