Can you function with only a few hours sleep a night?

[Lokithrsourcerer]

I aim to get about 5 hours unless I'm drunk.

studies have shown that more than 7 hours shortens your life span

 

[Kingshadow6]

I get roughly 3-4 hours of sleep a night on weekdays, but I hibernate on weekends. I'm talking ~11 hours a day.

 

[DasDestroyer]

I could function on 2-3 hours, but only 1-2 days in a row, after which I'd need a few days of sleeping in to recover.

 

[Yopaz]

Hi there,
that depends on the application of sleeping style,
you could get through the day(24h) with about 90 Min of sleep, Power sleeping,
15 Min every 4 h, but it is bad for your health(not really good in longer-term)
normal you should get between 4-8 h of sleep a day preferably 6h but not more then 10, because its proven that the longer you sleep, the faster you die.
speaking as a Biologist
Kouryuu

The irony is it is that if you don't sleep much (about 6 hours is recommended) you also get longer days or more time to live in, and you live longer. It's a win win.

I usually get somewhere between 5-7, I can function with it, though some days I just go with 0 and function with that too. Been up for 40 hours straight and figured I had to sleep though I wasn't actually sleepy...

 

[Perfice]

Hi there,
that depends on the application of sleeping style,
you could get through the day(24h) with about 90 Min of sleep, Power sleeping,
15 Min every 4 h, but it is bad for your health(not really good in longer-term)
normal you should get between 4-8 h of sleep a day preferably 6h but not more then 10, because its proven that the longer you sleep, the faster you die.
speaking as a Biologist
Kouryuu

Ah, I heard that you can get the same amount of sleep from 12 hours with 30 minutes every 4 hours. I never heard about 15 minutes, that probably is bad for you since you REM sleep last atleast 30 minutes.

it's basicly taking away the sleepeenes without actually sleeping.

the way to get trough some rough times( Final Exams ), but dangerous in long term

Marter, found this on Wiki, there are some basic explanation,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep
but you can always go on PubMed and read something more Science specific

Yes, but it says that he slept for 30 minutes every six hours. You can get just as much rest from two hours a day of sleep as in eight hours. The theory is that because in a normal eight hours you get two hours of REM sleep a night, which is the most important. If you start a schedule of sleep 30 minutes every 6 hours you can get as much sleep as 8 hours. It will take about two weeks to get used to it but it works.

I told someone about this one time and they got so mad at me and accused me of lying. I told them not to trust me, trust themself and look it up. They were so ignorant and just screamed at me that they didn't need to look it up because everything they knew about logic told them that was false. Looks like his logic isn't very good... Lol.

 

[Blackdoom]

I live on about 2 hours worth of sleep, which I do not recommend ever attempting.

 

[Lyri]

Yes, but it says that he slept for 30 minutes every six hours. You can get just as much rest from two hours a day of sleep as in eight hours. The theory is that because in a normal eight hours you get two hours of REM sleep a night, which is the most important. If you start a schedule of sleep 30 minutes every 6 hours you can get as much sleep as 8 hours. It will take about two weeks to get used to it but it works.

I told someone about this one time and they got so mad at me and accused me of lying. I told them not to trust me, trust themself and look it up. They were so ignorant and just screamed at me that they didn't need to look it up because everything they knew about logic told them that was false. Looks like his logic isn't very good... Lol.

I know someone who used to do this "micro sleep" (I think that's what he called it) for when he played MMO's and took regular naps so he didn't have to sleep for 8 hours.
It worked pretty well for him by all accounts, I still prefer the tried and tested method of just going to bed though.

I can go without sleep as long as I have something important to do, I could go to bed late and get up for work after little sleep if needed.
If I just want to get up early chances are I'll most likely wake up and them fall straight back to sleep.

 

[Slangeveld]

I didn't so well today. About 4 hours I think.

I'll be very tired in the evening, but till at least afternoon I will be able to function very well. I have several issues related to sleeping though.

 

[Perfice]

Yes, but it says that he slept for 30 minutes every six hours. You can get just as much rest from two hours a day of sleep as in eight hours. The theory is that because in a normal eight hours you get two hours of REM sleep a night, which is the most important. If you start a schedule of sleep 30 minutes every 6 hours you can get as much sleep as 8 hours. It will take about two weeks to get used to it but it works.

I told someone about this one time and they got so mad at me and accused me of lying. I told them not to trust me, trust themself and look it up. They were so ignorant and just screamed at me that they didn't need to look it up because everything they knew about logic told them that was false. Looks like his logic isn't very good... Lol.

I know someone who used to do this "micro sleep" (I think that's what he called it) for when he played MMO's and took regular naps so he didn't have to sleep for 8 hours.
It worked pretty well for him by all accounts, I still prefer the tried and tested method of just going to bed though.

I can go without sleep as long as I have something important to do, I could go to bed late and get up for work after little sleep if needed.
If I just want to get up early chances are I'll most likely wake up and them fall straight back to sleep.

Ah, he should have talked to my guy because I met him in WoW.

Anyways, I think most people can stay up as long as they have something to do. Snipers would stay awake for 3 days to a week just waiting sometimes in WWII. That and they would pee their pants instead of going to the bathroom...

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

I slept from about 5 to 8 last night. That's all in the AM, by the way. I then slept from about 5:30 to 9:30 pm, but that's still only 7 hours, and...Well, I'm up now, aren't I? (At 1am?)

 

[Irriduccibilli]

I usually only sleep around 6 hours a night, and I work pretty well. Except in the weekends I usually get around 10-11 hours of sleep. Gotta catch up with the amount of lost hours from the other days.

 

[Mistermixmaster]

Normally the human body requires 6 hours of sleep to function as it best can, however, if you're able to, the human body can work normally if you sleep 30 minutes for every 2 hours you're awake. (Meaning you'd be awake two hours, sleep 30 min, be awake 2 hours, sleep 30 min constantly.) However, with the way our society is, I doubt you'll be able to get away with sleeping at work or school or something.

But hey, what do I know? I'm just a med-school student.

 

[GrimTuesday]

I'm one of those freaks of nature who require little sleep at night to function well, I've always been this way. I average 4 hours of sleep on the weekdays and 8 hours on the weekends. I wake up in the mornings around 7 and go to bed around 3 in the morning, although daylights saving has kind of messed with my sleep schedule (whoever came up with it should be flogged with a comically oversized squirrel).

Oddly enough I have sleep apnea but didn't exhibit any of the normal symptoms besides snoring (and stopping breathing) and that didn't get noticed until I went on vacation with my family and had to share a room with all my brothers who complained about it.

 

[Hader]

What's sleep?

 

[Kouryuu]

...

I've hear the theory, but it seems to rely on having a totally insane sleep pattern. (essentially, 4 hours awake, 30 minutes asleep, or something along those lines.)

More common views suggests people need between 6-10 hours of sleep a day (varies by individual), and that the average is 8 hours 15 minutes.

It also suggests if you don't sleep for a while, you'll have to make up for it later. (and it's bad for your health. Sleep is more important than most people will admit to.)

It also seems to be the case that teenagers need more sleep than any other age group.

...

Huh. Really? 4? That doesn't sound plausible as a 'healthy' amount of sleep. But then again, I don't know the exact details of all the various research on this subject that has been conducted.
(But it seems reasonable to presume not all people have identical needs for something like this.)

The longer you sleep the faster you die... Well, I guess it's possible, but it sounds rather counter-intuitive.
Got any additional information on how that was deduced?

on the fly did not find the original study, but this pop-science is referring to it, so enjoy
http://care4yoursleep.com/longer-sleep-linked-dementia-age.html

 

[ronnom 666]

I work on a 2 hours of sleep and am still working fine, sort of. I just forced myself over time to adjust. Then when I get a full 8-10 hours of sleep in a row I have such high energy that I can stay up for a full 36 hours by mental power alone, no caffeine or extra sugars.

 

[dan-bri]

Went to bed at 7 in the morning yesterday, got up at 2pm. And havn't slept at all tonight.
I can operate properly with a minimum of sleep. As long as I catch up a bit at some point. Usually on a Tuesday or friday when I don't have any lectures.

 

[iLikeHippos]

I could sleep for two hours and be on the top of my height, except I start getting scared for no apparent reason. But, it's nice to do so once in a while.

The problem I have most is being woken up, that sucks! I really, really can't function properly if I am suddenly woken up for a job or school or some other bullshit event. So long as I get to sleep on MY terms, everything is all right. Even if it's one minute or 12 hours.

 

[sketch_zeppelin]

I can function for several days in a row with only 2-4 hours of sleep a day or i can go without sleep for about 36 hours straight but after either event i need about 12 hours to recover.

 

[Brandon237]

Not well. I have tried and when I get too sleep deprived, My body does not take it well. At all.
Also, getting up fast screws with me a little. I went to go brush my teeth this morning, as I'm standing up my vision get blurry, I can only see straight forward, I get really dizzy and the back of my head tingles. And this happens damn often