Comments on: Not getting enough sleep? http://blowingoutlanterns.com/archives/18/not-getting-enough-sleep Apophenia isn't just a mindset, its a way of life Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:31:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: nekomimi http://blowingoutlanterns.com/archives/18/not-getting-enough-sleep/comment-page-1#comment-16 nekomimi Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:16:21 +0000 http://blowingoutlanterns.com/archives/18#comment-16 Thomas Edison and Mark Twain were both noted for polyphasic sleep patterns and dozing off in social settings. It was also thought that DaVinci practiced this sleep method but nothing factual to back up that claim was ever found. In the January 08’ edition of WIRED there was a small blurb on polyphasic sleeping – basically living on 2 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. The basic rule of thumb for this strategy was 20-minute naps every 4 hours. The idea behind it is that you reach REM in order to make the nap effective. Supposedly, it will take about a week for one to adjust to this type of sleep schedule. There was a study done by the journal Sleep that stated anything more or less then 20-minutes would leave you feeling groggy and restless. Interestingly enough, according to that same study over the last couple of decade our average number of sleep hours in a 24-hour period has not changed significantly. Something like 0.7% decrease in the median minutes an average person sleeps in 24-hours. Makes one wonder who is getting all that extra sleep the rest of us are lacking? Thomas Edison and Mark Twain were both noted for polyphasic sleep patterns and dozing off in social settings. It was also thought that DaVinci practiced this sleep method but nothing factual to back up that claim was ever found. In the January 08’ edition of WIRED there was a small blurb on polyphasic sleeping – basically living on 2 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. The basic rule of thumb for this strategy was 20-minute naps every 4 hours. The idea behind it is that you reach REM in order to make the nap effective. Supposedly, it will take about a week for one to adjust to this type of sleep schedule. There was a study done by the journal Sleep that stated anything more or less then 20-minutes would leave you feeling groggy and restless.

Interestingly enough, according to that same study over the last couple of decade our average number of sleep hours in a 24-hour period has not changed significantly. Something like 0.7% decrease in the median minutes an average person sleeps in 24-hours. Makes one wonder who is getting all that extra sleep the rest of us are lacking?

]]> By: Etruscan http://blowingoutlanterns.com/archives/18/not-getting-enough-sleep/comment-page-1#comment-15 Etruscan Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:37:15 +0000 http://blowingoutlanterns.com/archives/18#comment-15 Plenty of studies in the US have indicated that a break during the day to sleep, or even a mandatory nap policy, have shown significant increases in both productivity and overall worker output. There's been a handful of companies that have started using these techniques. I think the key issue is the point you make about the difference in culture. Western culture values short-term achievements and benchmarks, so if you have to burn out a few employees to get there, so be it. Other cultures have more of a focus on the potential output of an employee over the life of their career, hence lower level employees are included inemuri. I think its a fundamental difference in how we view an individual's contributions in a corporate environment. Plenty of studies in the US have indicated that a break during the day to sleep, or even a mandatory nap policy, have shown significant increases in both productivity and overall worker output. There’s been a handful of companies that have started using these techniques. I think the key issue is the point you make about the difference in culture. Western culture values short-term achievements and benchmarks, so if you have to burn out a few employees to get there, so be it. Other cultures have more of a focus on the potential output of an employee over the life of their career, hence lower level employees are included inemuri. I think its a fundamental difference in how we view an individual’s contributions in a corporate environment.

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