train 4 less sleep?

[natalie-1984]

Is it possible to train your body to need less sleep? I seem to be a 10-11 hour kind of gal, and I'm asking because I will be getting a job soon and might have to work swing or graveyard shifts.

I googled some info on sleep deprivation and found out that if you go a certain amount of time without sleep you can DIE! And some guy currently holds the record for 11 days without sleep! I have gone 3 days without sleep, very odd, I started hallucinating and my hearing was loud and ...echoey.

okay, nap time!

-nat

[Korpo]

Hello, Natalie.

I wouldn't recommend going without sleep. I personally wouldn't even recommend trying to train your sleep patterns. You could try something like this:

Instead of trying to tell your body when to sleep and how much, train to listen to your body when it has to sleep. Work out your schedule, when you have to get up, and so on, and then trust into your body knowing when you have to get to sleep to fulfill its needs.

Because most of the time we ignore that. We also ignore signals of the body to get up. So, when you wake up and have to pee, go and do so, and if you feel awake, don't talk yourself into going back to sleep, but simply stay awake.

This way you can work out a way to give your body what it tells you it needs, and you might discover it is much less if you actually give it when it is required. Stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, alcohol) might mess this up as do set schedules. Try what works for you.

My sleep need varies from 5-9 hours at times. At the time it's longer, it seems like for the time being I simply need that sleep. But at other times I went with much less sleep and wasn't missing anything.

Cheers,
Oliver

[natalie-1984]

That's great advice!

except that I can't go to sleep when my body wants to, and I can't stay in bed if I need more sleep. I have a one year old and a two year old, so when they are up - I am up! But I have found that since I started working out and eating better I feel a little less lethargic every day.

Thank you for your reply, I never thought about it that way before! I usually just try to fight sleep with caffeine, now I think maybe I wont anymore!

[Korpo]

Yeah, toddlers have unlimited energy, don't they? :)

Cheers,
Oliver