Sleep Less but Right?

Preface

I live in the suburbs and study in central Moscow. I study 5-6 days a week, and classes often start at 8:30 AM. The commute one way takes 2-3 hours (bus + metro or commuter train + metro). Two things about this schedule really bothered me.

1) Most of the day is spent commuting (an average of 5 hours per day), during which you can't study or pursue any hobbies. You can only listen to music. The schedule of woke-up-left-studied-came-back-homework-sleep (homework can be crossed out) didn't suit me at all, but there was no time or energy left for anything else.

2) I have to get up early and go to bed late — just to get anything done. Often by the end of the week, coffee and energy drinks were the only things keeping me going. Terrible.

Of course, there are various solutions to the problem, but they were all rejected. The dorm has awful conditions, renting an apartment is expensive, I like my university, and I want to live a full life.

So I came to the conclusion that problem 1) could be solved by sleeping less (leaving more free time), and problem 2) could be solved (hello, Captain Obvious) by getting better sleep (as in quality of sleep, not falling apart).

Surprisingly, I found that both problems can be solved simultaneously. I studied a certain amount of literature and arrived at a program I've been following for over a year now. Since then, I've been sleeping 5-6 hours a day (when needed, and it's needed quite often — 3-4 hours). I feel great, wake up easily in the morning, haven't had coffee or energy drinks in a year. My mind and muscles are fresh even at 10 or 11 PM. I'd like to share with you what I do.

I. GENERAL THEORY OF SLEEP

You've heard that an adult needs 8 hours to get proper rest, and a child needs 10? Forget it. It's not true. If you meet a person who needs to sleep half as much — they're not a zombie or a superman. They simply have the right routine and lifestyle.

Sleep phases.

In brief, sleep occurs in the following phases:

— Light drowsiness. This is when, for example, you zone out in front of a monitor or during a lecturer's voice, and when you snap out of it — 5 minutes have already passed.

The second phase is proper sleep, but not deep. It's characterized by rare bursts of brain activity. Doctors say that in this phase, "the brain tries to shut itself down."

The third phase is deep sleep. The most important part of sleep. During it, the brain and body relax, and the most intensive restoration of the body's resources occurs. Heart rate slows, body temperature drops. Brain activity is virtually absent.

The fourth phase is REM sleep. In English, it's called Rapid Eye Movement because, specialists say, in this phase the pupil frantically darts back and forth under the eyelid. The body also rests during this phase, but not as intensively as during deep sleep. In 95% of cases, this is the phase when you dream.

This cycle of four phases occurs multiple times during sleep, not just once. Moreover, the further you go, the larger the share of the fourth and first two phases becomes, and the faster the deep sleep phase passes, although in the very first cycle, deep sleep lasts the longest.

Thus, at this stage the conclusion is simple: the more DEEP SLEEP you get, and the DEEPER it is (i.e., essentially the lower the brain activity, the lower the body temperature, and the slower all processes in the body), the better for deep sleep.

Oh, and by the way, the cycle begins with the REM phase...

That's not all you need to know in this section. First, I want to draw your attention to the effect of body temperature on your alertness and drowsiness. The relationship is simple: higher temperature (within reasonable limits, of course) means higher activity. If you think a person maintains 36.6°C (98.6°F) throughout the day — you're wrong. It fluctuates quite significantly, sometimes with an amplitude of up to two degrees! (say, from 36 to 38°C / 96.8 to 100.4°F). Hence the conclusion: during the day, temperature should be high so the body works well; at night it should be low so the brain can enjoy more deep sleep.

And finally, a fairly important thing — melatonin. Have you heard of this hormone? It's found in the pineal gland and, to a slightly lesser extent, in the retina of the eye. In brief, its effect on our topic: the more of it that's released, the more we want to sleep. And it's released when our eyes are in low-light conditions (which is why it's sometimes called the "vampire hormone"). In bright light, it breaks down — which is exactly what we need.

II. MY DAILY ROUTINE

So, here's the set of things I do.

1) Consistent sleep schedule.

WHAT? I recommend waking up at the same time every day. If you need to get up at 6 AM on workdays, then you should do the same on weekends. At least approximately. Not at six, then at seven or seven-thirty for sure.

WHY? The reason is simple. The body "gets used to" waking up at the same time + sleeping the same amount. Don't forget what was described in the general theory about wake-up time.

IMPORTANT! You should wake up during the REM phase. How do you find it? Simply move your alarm back and forth by 10-20-30 minutes over the course of a week. You'll definitely find a time when it's VERY easy to get up.

2) Morning exercise.

WHAT? Serious exercise, not lame 10 squats, toe touches, and sit-ups. Serious exercises that will make you sweat (don't forget to shower afterward). My personal program includes pull-ups, push-ups, lots of ab work, lifting weights (light ones but many reps), all at a fast pace for no less than 20 minutes.

WHY? See the first part. Exercise significantly raises body temperature, and therefore the productivity of your body and brain — if your brain is part of your body, that is.

3) Master, we need more light.

WHAT? Yes, you need lots of strong, bright light. Preferably real sunlight; if that's not possible, bright (but obviously not blinding) light at your workspace.

WHY? See the first part of my post again. Melatonin breaks down in light, so you feel less sleepy. If you work in less than bright conditions, go outside for lunch somewhere in the open air (well, not when it's -20°C outside, of course).

4) Physical activity throughout the day is needed.

WHAT? Well, if you have the opportunity to go for a run after work (or during? that's even better), hit the gym or pool.

WHY? Same thing. Keep body temperature high enough so the body stays active and the brain stays fresh.

5) Drink lots of water.

WHAT? Come on, don't pretend you haven't heard this before. It's said in many places, it's useful for many things. For sleep — too.

WHY? The body needs a lot of water. I don't remember exact numbers, but at least a couple of liters a day just for normal kidney and liver function. When the body has everything it needs, it can relax sufficiently during sleep.

P.S. We're talking about WATER, not just any liquid.

6) Don't consume: alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, energy drinks.

WHAT? The hardest one, probably, right? I'll be honest — I've never smoked, I broke up with caffeine and energy drinks easily (I was never attracted by their taste), but I couldn't give up alcohol :) However, I tried to minimize its consumption as much as possible.

WHY? The above substances/liquids very negatively affect your sleep system. The body can't relax during sleep, and if you're heavily dependent on the last two, then without them the body won't be able to pull itself together either. Just that simple and unpoetic.

7) If you feel sleepy at lunchtime, take a nap... for 20 minutes. Maximum 30.

WHAT? Exactly so. Another reference to the first part. During the day, you can certainly take a nap if you really can't resist. The key is to wake up BEFORE your body enters the deep sleep phase. Otherwise, the rest of the day is ruined. I think you're familiar with the situation when you lie down for a good daytime nap and still walk around feeling wrecked.

WHY? During the REM phase — which is what you should focus on in this case — the body also rests and relaxes quite well. By the way, drowsiness hits right after lunch — at this time, most people experience a slight dip in body temperature. Don't ask me why — I don't remember.

HOW? Well, you might not have the opportunity. I personally do this when I'm riding a bus. A soft seat + noise-canceling headphones = not such bad conditions for a nap. The main thing is not to forget to set an alarm for 25-30 minutes. If you have a private office at work and an hour lunch break, you can use half of it for sleep. Totally fine.

III. INSOMNIA AND SLEEP

I think many of you have encountered the problem where you're tired from the day, your eyes are closing, but you lie down in bed and can't fall asleep. I have advice on this too, again in bullet points, so the lazy ones can just skim the bold text.

1) The bed is for sleeping!

WHAT? You heard me, no need to ask again every time. You should only sleep in bed — and have sex. Don't read in bed, don't turn your bed into a home office, or anything else.

WHY? Your body should associate the bed with a place where you sleep, not where you're awake.

2) You can't sleep because you're thinking, and you're thinking because you can't sleep.

WHY? Most often, what prevents us from falling asleep is lying in bed thinking about something: about problems or victories, about the past and future day. This is natural — a person can only stop thinking when asleep. But how do you fall asleep then?

WHAT? Try to unload your brain as much as possible about 20 minutes before sleep. That means finish all your work, put away documents, turn off the computer, TV, and put away the chess board. Just sit on the couch without straining your brain with reading or thinking.

3) Don't do anything before bed that will raise your body temperature.

WHAT? You heard me. Contrary to popular belief, a hot bath and exercise won't give you sounder sleep. On the contrary, body temperature won't be able to drop properly and your sleep won't be all that deep. However, an hour and a half to two hours before sleep, you can totally do something like that, because an unscheduled temperature rise is followed by an unscheduled drop — and that's exactly what we need.

4) Sleep in a cool room.

WHAT? Obviously, the temperature should be comfortable enough not to be cold, but cool.

WHY? How many times do I have to say it. Body temperature and sleep depth are directly proportional. This way, we use external means to lower body temperature.

5) Sleep in complete darkness.

WHAT? Try to make sure no light falls on you. Not from a streetlight, not from the early-rising sun, not from a lamp or anything else.

WHY? So that you won't be noticed and woken up before your time :)

5) And importantly: if you can't sleep — don't sleep.

WHAT? WHY? HOW? Just like that. If you've been lying in bed for 20 minutes and can't fall asleep — maybe you don't need it.

IV. CONCLUSION AND DISCLAIMER

For me, this collection of methods and tricks works perfectly. All elements of the program are important. There are no mandatory and optional ones among them.

It seems like there's a lot, but in reality, these are mostly small things that won't burden you.

IMPORTANT. I am not a medical professional or any kind of credentialed specialist. I cannot guarantee that you won't have some individual reactions to this program. But I think it's unlikely.

I'll remind you that there is a theory that lack of sleep shortens your life. I don't believe it, but I'm not forcing you not to believe it either, so decide for yourself.

Thank you, and good luck. I hope the hellish effort of writing (and more importantly, compiling) all of this won't go unnoticed.