Do you rather work on your business or do you rather sleep?

[johnp]

I must be crazy...

and not value my health.

I was one of the people who posted about getting sick. So just to clarify..

I wasn't sleeping at all. I would get 1 hour per night for weeks straight. I was living off redbull, coffee, and chicken fingers.

I killed my immune system and acquired a damn auto immune disease that makes itself look a lot like colon cancer (which I don't have)..so imagine how fast the doctors rushed to test me. Now I get tested 2 times per year at around 12k per test.

Sometimes I do get so sick that I can't leave the house. It sucks.

All because I didn't take care of my health.

But...right now I only get around 5-6 hours of sleep. My health has improved. I agree with Allen that there is nothing wrong with sleeping 6-7 hours. My only warning is not to cross that line of one hour of sleep for days upon days (don't give up sleep completely). And don't live off of chicken fingers and redbull while building your business.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

FWIW...

43 years old

lost 60 lbs in the last year

best health I've been in since my early twenties

lowest level of cholesterol... ever

optimal blood pressure levels

run circles around most 20 somethings

boundless energy... even with less sleep

mental clarity and focus off the charts

only 6.5 hours max sleep per day with rare exception

years prior I was sleeping 8-10 hours per day

have generated the most revenues in the last 6 months than in the previous 3 years combined

More can be said about eating and living clean contributing to success than more sleep

"The man with an argument is never at the mercy of the man with experience."

I was one of the people who posted about getting sick. So just to clarify..

I wasn't sleeping at all. I would get 1 hour per night for weeks straight. I was living off redbull, coffee, and chicken fingers.

I killed my immune system and acquired a damn auto immune disease that makes itself look a lot like colon cancer (which I don't have)..so imagine how fast the doctors rushed to test me. Now I get tested 2 times per year at around 12k per test.

Sometimes I do get so sick that I can't leave the house. It sucks.

All because I didn't take care of my health.

But...right now I only get around 5-6 hours of sleep. My health has improved. I agree with Allen that there is nothing wrong with sleeping 6-7 hours. My only warning is not to cross that line of one hour of sleep for days upon days (don't give up sleep completely). And don't live off of chicken fingers and redbull while building your business.

Oh man, talk about a recipe for disaster. Glad you improved your health.

 

[RazorCut]

Again, I am not suggesting a consistent lack of sleep. 3 hours of sleep every day for any extended period of time is not good and in fact can be harmful. You won't see me post about only getting 3 hours sleep very often. I'm certainly not advocating sleep deprivation.

It's all about balance though isn't Allen? We have all burned the midnight oil I'm sure. We have all gone a few days without sleep. When I was in college I would often start assignments the day before they were due and often work through the night. Even recently I worked from 5:30am till 11pm without a break. Then was up at 5am and worked straight through again till 9:30pm. I didn't want to work those hours but I HAD to get the work done in the time required. We do what we have to do but long hours and little time off takes its toll in the end.

People, don't buy into that 'sleep and you lose' nonsense, that's just Eric Thomas sensationalism. Your health is more important than all the money in the world but you will rarely realise that until it's too late. Caveat emptor.

 

[RazorCut]

Hell @johnp, didn't see yours or Allens last post as I hadn't refreshed my page. You are living proof that health is more important than money I'll bet. Hope you keep improving man.

 

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[Toushi]

Sleep is different for every one. Science has shown women and teenagers need more sleep than adults. What people aren't accounting for here is the quality of sleep, everyone varies on this. I read studies that have shown sleeping on 6 hours for weeks continuously leads to an equivalent of being drunk at 0.1% blood-alchohol. People that slept 4 hours, started falling asleep during the study. It also takes roughly a week to reset your sleep clock. The people whose cognitive functions had been affected by sleep deprivation were not aware of it.

What's interesting is that too much sleep is just as bad for your health as too little.

 

[Solrac]

Just depends on what you can handle honestly. Some people can go for days without sleep, then sleep 12 hours and repeat. Some people get sleep 6 hours and be fine. I like to sleep 7-9 hours. Preferably 8, and I never feel like I don't have enough time. I usually have 16 hours in my day. I manage a job, school, and business. Works great. But I really can't function if I get less than 7, everything changes for me. I become a lot slower.

So yeah I just think it's up to your body, and then your discipline after you wake up.

 

[smarty]

Cute meme.

I wonder how many people worth multiple 7 figures and up would say they've never sleep less than 6-7 hours while building their businesses?

Cute reply.
It's not how much you sleep, it's rather how much you work.

 

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[Journey2Million$]

I'm not going to deprive myself of sleep unless I have to.
I need to function at my best and I can't do that if I'm sleep deprived.

 

[AllenCrawley]

The Surprising Sleep Habits of the Rich and Famous

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243275

 

[Digamma]

I came to the conclusion that if I follow the "7 hours at least" crowd I'll never get anywhere. I simply cannot function if I sleep more than 4/5 hours tops. I don't wake up on time, I'm groggy all day, tired.

Usually I go to sleep around midnight, stay awake in bed (I'm insomniac and have trouble falling asleep) until 1am, and wake up at 5am.
And I honestly feel awesome.

I don't know if it's healthier to sleep more, as they say. But what's the point if you can't get anything done?

 

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[Journey2Million$]

Last night I was really into my business and I just kept working until I was too sleepy to continue, because I decided I was going to keep working as long as I could.

 

[James Fake]

Nice info there @AllenCrawley

 

[Formless]

I came to the conclusion that if I follow the "7 hours at least" crowd I'll never get anywhere. I simply cannot function if I sleep more than 4/5 hours tops. I don't wake up on time, I'm groggy all day, tired.

Usually I go to sleep around midnight, stay awake in bed (I'm insomniac and have trouble falling asleep) until 1am, and wake up at 5am.
And I honestly feel awesome.

I don't know if it's healthier to sleep more, as they say. But what's the point if you can't get anything done?

Good stuff. Ultimately you gotta listen to what your body is telling you and go by that.

 

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[Digamma]

Good stuff. Ultimately you gotta listen to what your body is telling you and go by that.

And the rewards are big. I just wrapped up today - local time 11pm.
I kept hammering a script that could be a game changer for a side hustle I'm working on, and that I had projected would have taken at least 3 days. But no, finished in one day, around the clock. Feels good.
The awesome thing is that, except for my eyes, I'm not tired. I'll read for an hour, then off to bed.

 

[marklov]

I rather my sleep because without it I get a super annoying twitch in my eyelid.
Ofcourse I am young and could torture my body now but I bet ill pay for it in my later years.

Instead of losing sleep I go to bed early and begin my day at about 5:00 am then work in short concentrated bursts maybe a power nap thrown in to muscle through the rest of the day.

 

[Mattie]

I'm really bad with my sleeping schedule. I want to work around the clock on my projects, and hate going to bed. I usually sleep for six hours, but I'm one of those people that once you start working on an article, book, or something, I have to finish it, or I'll sit there wide awake anyway thinking I need to be doing something. So, If I complete it first, I will go to sleep easier.

 

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[pds]

I used to wakeup with just enough time to get ready and run out the door to work. About 6 months ago, I started waking up at 5am and it's been so much better. I get the most important tasks out of the way first thing, with no distractions while everyone is sleeping, or I get a workout in and feel energized the rest of the day. It's a common trend I've heard from successful people. Your mind and body is at optimal state those first few hours after waking up so utilize it to tackle your most important tasks. Power naps mid-day help to re-energize.

 

[theag]

“She lies there in the night with you, looking at you, one eye open.
Money never sleeps and she is jealous.
And, if you don’t pay close attention, you wake up in the morning and she might be gone forever.”

On topic: I try to sleep 5-6 hours. I can do less or all-nighters no problem but I try to avoid it.
More then 6 hours and I wake up feeling like a piece of lazy sluggish shit that wont amount to anything in this life. So I avoid that too.

 

[The-J]

If you cannot get enough work done between 5am and 10pm then you've got problems that have nothing to do with getting too much sleep.

100% agree. If you can't get your shit done in 16-17 hours, then you've got some serious time management issues that need to be addressed before you even touch sleep.

 

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[mt_myke]

I came to the conclusion that if I follow the "7 hours at least" crowd I'll never get anywhere. I simply cannot function if I sleep more than 4/5 hours tops. I don't wake up on time, I'm groggy all day, tired.

I'm one of those people who always feels awful when they wake up. I followed a Tim Ferris tip that suggested low blood sugar is the problem. Sure enough, eating a few bits of dried fruit right after I wake up dramatically improves things within a few minutes. It's much easier to for me to get going now.

There's a certain famous self-improvement blogger who advocates only eating once a day (or less), in the evening. That makes no sense to me whatsoever.

 

[Digamma]

I'm one of those people who always feels awful when they wake up. I followed a Tim Ferris tip that suggested low blood sugar is the problem. Sure enough, eating a few bits of dried fruit right after I wake up dramatically improves things within a few minutes. It's much easier to for me to get going now.

There's a certain famous self-improvement blogger who advocates only eating once a day (or less), in the evening. That makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Opposite for me. Breakfast is a big no, makes me distracted - probably because of the sugar. In the end, it's all about what works for you personally, I guess.

 

[mosdef]

do you guys wake up easy? I dont even know what im doing when i try wake up everything is just black and cant think straight, cant tell myself to wake the F*ck up!

 

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[Formless]

do you guys wake up easy? I dont even know what im doing when i try wake up everything is just black and cant think straight, cant tell myself to wake the F*ck up!

Not sure how healthy this is because I have not researched caffeine, but here is what works for me:

1) Sleep with open blinds so that the sun gets into the room asap
2) Have a cold coffee ready by the bedside, the moment my alarm clock rings, down that cup
3) Have all my clothes, towels for showering, everything is ready to be grabbed without cognitive effort
4) Eat a no-carb, high protein and fat breakfast, and stop eating when I start asking myself 'am I actually still hungry, or am I just eating because it's on the plate?'

I'll try not to drink the coffee sometimes, but it's a great aid to have.

 

[Digamma]

do you guys wake up easy? I dont even know what im doing when i try wake up everything is just black and cant think straight, cant tell myself to wake the F*ck up!

Only if I sleep less than 6 hours. If I go over I find myself waking up a couple of hours after the alarm went off, without any recollection of waking up and shutting it down.

 

[mt_myke]

3) Have all my clothes, towels for showering, everything is ready to be grabbed without cognitive effort

This is key, it's also how you deal with many other unpleasant tasks. Once you've got it down to something you just do - rather than having to think and do - then all you have to do is decide to start. The rest is auto-pilot. There's a book (sorry forgot title) that has a "rider and elephant" model of this, the rider is your cognitive brain - can make complex decisions but is limited, especially in getting things done by sheer willpower. The elephant is your brain in auto-pilot mode, your subconscious and everything else. If properly guided by the rider it can get a ton of stuff done - as long as no higher-level decision making has to happen.

 

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