The more productive you are, generally, the richer and happier you will be. Let's discuss how we can all improve productivity quite easily with an extra seven hours a week.
I've been a little more active on Twitter recently and I noticed something quite interesting. Starting at around 10pm PST, the chatter goes silent. I tend to stay up until midnight to 1am and it's interesting to observe how activity ebbs and flows online.
I usually wake up sometime between 5:30am-6am and spend time checking e-mail, responding to comments, stretching and seeing what's going on online. Again, absolute silence until about 7am PST when things start coming alive. Where is everybody during the silent times? Sleeping?
Improve Productivity By Waking Up A Hour Earlier Every Day
There was a time where I'd sleep 7 or more hours a day, but no more. For the past 20 years, my body automatically gets up after 6 hours of sleep and never later than 6:30am on the weekdays, and 7:30am on the weekends no matter when I go to bed! Poker until 3am? Good morning sunshine at 7:30am!
Actually, I wish I could sleep in until 9am sometimes, but I just can't. Part of the reason for my automatic clock is that I eat regularly, and therefore have the desire to use the restroom regularly. Time to go, my body says and I get up.
Unconsciously, there must also be a strong feeling of guilt that I'm wasting my life away sleeping. Whenever I have something urgent to do, my body naturally gets up earlier. Further, when it comes to blogging, there's usually always something exciting to wake up to.
A Extra Seven Hours A Week Is At Least 28 More Hours A Month
Imagine if you had 28 hours more a month to do what you wish. What could you accomplish? I bet you could accomplish a whole lot of amazing things.
If you read 60 pages an hour, you could read six, 300 page books a month! If it takes you one hour to burn off 500 calories, you could shed 15,000 calories or 6-8 pounds a month! Whether it's mastering a musical instrument or building a business, an extra 30 hours a week is an incredible competitive advantage. There is no doubt in my mind you would become a top 1 percent in something.
It's a ridiculous fact that we spend 1/3rd of our lives sleeping. If you live until 90 years old, doesn't it make you sick that 30 of those years were spent sleeping? It makes me sick, because I'm so conscience about the brevity of life.
To put it another way, let's say you want to “increase” the length of your life by extending the conscience portion. By sleeping one hour less every day, you increase your conscience life by 15% (60 years to 69 years), assuming you sleep 7 hours a day! Suddenly, it's as if the 90 year old is living until 104 years old (104 X 66% = 69 years old)!
Perfect. At least get a fantastic mattress!
Improve Productivity By Working While Others Are Playing
Small changes (wake up one hour earlier) leads to great changes over time (a 9 year longer conscience life span). It may be tough to wake up earlier and sleep only 5-6 hours a day at first, but trust me when I tell you that your body will get used to it and start wanting to wake up. Maybe you'll have to cut down your late night drinking and partying, but it'll be worth it in the end.
My mother used to tell me growing up, “Use your summer vacation wisely and work when others are playing.” At the time, all I really wanted to do was hang out with my buddies and go skateboarding. She was right of course, because as soon as I started buckling down and focusing, I was able to exceed expectations.
Yes, you might find me corresponding at 6am PST on certain days, don't worry. It's me, and not an automated robotic sending something out. In fact, I can't wait to wake up every single morning and check my messages and see what's going on in the world. There's so much activity, sometimes I wish I didn't have to sleep at all!
Getting up earlier to improve productivity is wonderful. Once you start waking up one hour early, you might just start waking up two hours early one day. And if you do, your productivity will skyrocket! After lunch, just take a nice 30 minute nap and you'll be recharged.
Related: A Productive Morning Will Make You Richer and Happier
If You Want To Quit Your Job
If you want to leave a job you no longer enjoy, I recommend negotiating a severance instead of quitting. If you negotiate a severance like I did back in 2012, you not only get a severance check, but potentially subsidized healthcare, deferred compensation, and worker training.
When you get laid off, you're also eligible for up to roughly 27 weeks of unemployment benefits. Having a financial runway is huge during your transition period.
Conversely, if you quit your job you get nothing. Check out, How To Engineer Your Layoff: Make A Small Fortune By Saying Goodbye. It's now in its 6th edition to help you break free.
It's the only book that teaches you how to negotiate a severance. In addition, it was recently updated and expanded to 200 pages thanks to tremendous reader feedback and successful case studies. Use the code “saveten” at checkout to save $10!
While getting less sleep may seem like it makes you more productive due to the increase in number of conscious hours, it can have some major health implications ranging from reduced focus and cognition to an increase in risk for heart disease. Neither of which actually makes you more productive and can actually reduce a person’s overall productivity.
Yes, some people can function well on a few hours of sleep, but it’s not for everyone. Just be careful with depriving yourself too much. :)
https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/24/health-sleep-quiz-forbeslife-cx_avd_0924health.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/08/AR2005100801405.html
I wake up without an alarm everyday. I’m just following my body’s own natural lock.
A good way to increase productivity is to scare people into sleeping more though. I agree with that approach and am all for it !
I’m with you 100% on the sleep thing. Tim Ferriss said it best with this line: “scientists know embarrassingly little bout why we spend roughly one-third of our lives asleep.
A few months back I spent a weekend out of town partying with a cousin. We went out into the late hours of the night and had a blast. I woke up, ate, worked out, wrote a blog post, responded to emails, and he was still asleep. I was shocked by how much I could do before he woke up.
My problem growing up was that I couldn’t fall asleep.. and then I couldn’t wake up! What I do now is work myself until I know that I’m going to pass out. Then I wake up after 4-6 hours. If I’m every really tired, I believe in taking power naps of 20 mins or so.
Right on man! It seems so OBVIOUS how to get ahead, I just don’t get folks who complain sometimes. When the world is sleeping on average 8 hours a day, you can make huge progress with just 7 more hours a week!
I just can’t do it Sam. I biologically need 7 to 8 hours of sleep and feel like total shit if I’ve been on 6 hours or less for more than a couple of days. At the same time I also feel like shit if I oversleep to 9 or 10 hours, so I think 7 to 8 is the sweet spot for me.
I donno man. I think the media and society have got inside your head! ;). Just know that if one day you need more time, you’ve got it!
I’m with you on this one!
I actually wake up at 4:30am 4 times a week (when I work!) and go to bed around 10:30pm. 6 hours of sleep is more than enough if you are in good shape and eat well. You can do a lot more than others with those extra hours in your day!
On top of that, I have noticed that people sleeping 8,9 hours are always looking to sleep more. Therefore, they feel more tired than me!
I sleep for 5 – 6 hours, and, my wife is saying I developed dark circles and wrinkles. At the age of 35 its due to lack of sleep. I need to sleep more or else body won’t take it any more. I have to give up 30 hrs a month, looks like
Bad wife! lol. 5-6 hours is not much. The real test is, how long can you sleep until you naturally wake up. I’m at 6-7 hours max…. so that’s what I go with. I never have to set an alarm again.
I once read a science fiction book (love ’em) where everyone in the world except the first person speaker in the book had some kind of shot that let them stay up 24/7. Mostly those folks just frittered away the time. And of course the poor guy without the no-sleep shot couldn’t get any sleep due to all the racket the rest of them were making!
My point? Get the sleep your body needs and use the rest of the time you have the best way possible.
Great post! Hadn’t thought about it that way before. I’m just such a big fan of sleeping…
I average about 7. I feel really good if I get 9 but then the day goes too fast so I tend to only sleep more than 7 if I’m fighting a cold. I try not to nap much either because I get too groggy afterwards and always end up napping for longer than I intended. -Sydney
I am a napping machine and don’t think I can do without! I can sleep anywhere any time and on the floor too :)
I can function on 5-6 for a few days, but anything under 8 for more than a week starts to wear on me. I don’t feel quite at peak performance unless I’ve slept for 9 to 10 hours. I guess everyone is different! :)
In college, I had a night job that took a toll on my body. I would walk around like a zombie on 2-3 hours of sleep, and my body fell into a constant state of depression. I think part of my sleeping habits these days is still paying for that.
Yeah, 2-3 hours would be tough. Perhaps one strategy is to make everyone sleeping 9-10 hours a day, so that your 8 hours a day then blows everyone out of the water! Everything is relative.
This is really interesting! I used to get at least 8 hours and LOVED my sleep. Now I get much less as my youngest daughter wakes up at 6.30am or earlier, sometimes as early as 5am. I very rarely get to bed before midnight as my partner works late and if I go to bed early we don’t see each other, so I get between 5-7 hours sleep but I always feel so tired! I have to get one early night a week or I think I would collapse :-)
I always used to wish that I was one of those people that could cope on 4 hours of sleep a night, but then during my second pregnancy I got insomnia and couldn’t sleep and it is a very lonely existance when everyone else is in bed and you are wide awake at 4am! It gets boring very quickly.
I don’t think we think we need 8 hours sleep because that it what society tells us (that is just an average) but I do think we should listen and look at our bodies. Quite often we ignore the signs that are telling us we need to catch up on some sleep because facebook or our favourite tv show is more interesting.
Mel
thank you so much for sharing this article. it inspired me to now sleep 6 hours. I have discovered over the past 2 days that my body is ok with it as long as I am motivated and excited to wake up to work on something cool or to build upon something great.
Looking at my friends, I have an 8-day week because of the way I have arranged my time – i get an extra 24 hours compared to them! Hope you don’t mind me quoting you here:
I aim for at least seven hours. I’m happier when I get eight hours. I’m even happier than that if I get eight and a half or nine hours.
I’ve found that I get more done late at night, but I can’t train my body not to wake up when the light hits the window. That means if I work until 2 a.m., I’m awake first at 6 a.m. and for good by 7:30 or 8 a.m. Not enough sleep. If I want to make deadline, I have to force myself to bed no later than midnight.
.-= Donna Freedman´s last blog ..Carnival knowledge. Also: A new way to subscribe. =-.
I can’t wake up at 5am… too early for me :) There needs to be some sunlight.
.-= admin´s last blog ..Nick Vujicic Shows Us How to Get Up And Never Quit =-.
I think I’ve been the proud beneficiary of some of your early morning emails. I had to check the timezone once to try to work out how you could be up!
Personally I sleep a pretty consistent 7 hours. I’d like to get 7.5 hours as I think I’m better for it, but I’d never sleep more than that. I rise like clockwork too — about 7.45am each day.
I have friends whose greatest luxury at the weekend is to sleep through both mornings. If they’re working all week to buy some unconsciousness at the weekend then in my view something has gone very wrong indeed.
(Alcohol-related unconsciousness once in a while is acceptable! ;) )
.-= Monevator´s last blog ..Naked short selling: All shout, no trousers =-.
7:45am? Mate, you’re a slacker! lol
I’m impressed if someone can sleep for 12 hours or longer. That is literally impossible for me.
.-= admin´s last blog ..Nick Vujicic Shows Us How to Get Up And Never Quit =-.
I have a friend that sleeps 14-16 hours on the weekends…
My sleep is sacred and when I try to go under 8 hours for a while, I ALWAYS end up paying later–usually be sleeping through an entire weekend at some point. I think it’s just my body.
That said, I agree with you on getting an early start and working when others are not. My husband and I have always been early risers. We’d go into work by 6AM on a regular basis because we had somewhat flexible hours. When you get to work before anyone else is there, you can save so much time, it’s ridiculous. Just ridiculous. I think that colleagues can be the ultimate distraction/time wasters. When you’ve got a project to work on, this kind of thing can work wonders. Then, if people try to schmooze you later in the day, it’s not such a big deal because you’re already ahead of the game.
.-= Simple in France´s last blog ..Where would you pinch pennies if you had to? =-.
I like this concept! 30 extra hours sounds like a lot, that’d be nice. I average about 8 hours of sleep. Not sure I could feel good with just 7 a day every day but there are definitely days when I only get 7.
There’s one thing I was thinking about everyone. It’s not so much how many hours a night you sleep, it’s whether we can all each CUT the amount of sleep we currently have by one hour? If we can, whether it’s going from 8 to 7, or 9 to 8, we can be that much more productive, and I don’t think our bodies will really know after a certain amount of time.
Best, Sam
.-= admin´s last blog ..The Dark Side Of Early Retirement =-.
I get about 6.5 to 7 hours sleep daily. Sometimes I get less sleep. Unfortunately, I have significantly decreased productivity when I get much less sleep, so I tend to avoid it. With an extra 30 hours, I think I would likely do the same things I always do: read, write, work out, and work.
.-= Roshawn @ Watson Inc´s last blog ..Yakezie Round Up & Uncommon Money News (Vol. 94) =-.
I’m a big believer in getting enough sleep, and not shortchanging yourself in that area. Health, Wealth, and Relationships are all interrelated in my opinion. If you don’t sleep enough, you impact your health, which has effects that could cascade throughout your life.
That said, I don’t always get enough sleep:) So, its a classic case of do as I say and not as I do.
If I get 8 hours of sleep, I feel noticeably more alert and energetic throughout the day vs when I get 6.5 hours of sleep.
If I NATURALLY needed less sleep, I would spend the time on creative projects, learning, and fitness. I’m assuming that this “extra” time would be while kids are sleeping. Otherwise, that’s where my time would go – and happily so, I might add!
.-= Squirrelers´s last blog ..List of Tips on How to Save on Taxes – Now =-.
My research shows that most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Sleep deprivation can lead to diabetes, a depressed immune system, high blood pressure, obesity, low energy, poor memory and even traffic accidents. Most people I know who get by on less are coffee addicts and are chronically sick.
I guess I must be an anomaly then as I don’t drink coffee, soda, or any caffeine and I’m seldom sick on 6 hours of sleep a night. I’m really just so excited just to wake up!
.-= admin´s last blog ..Pretend You Have Arrived So You Can Become =-.
Lucky you! I have a friend who seems to be fine on 5-6 too.
that’s the sign of “true” happiness and a clear conscince! I heard all about this in a sermon on the way to work today! :) Congrats!:) True happiness is not something everybody has!
Oh yeah? Sounds good to me! :) I smile a lot in real life too, and I don’t even know it. People ask me what I’m smiling about all the time… *shurg*!
.-= admin´s last blog ..Nick Vujicic Shows Us How to Get Up And Never Quit =-.
I love this topic! I try to get between 6 and 7 hours of sleep a night. I used to religiously get 8 hours a night, thinking that that was the magic number for me. Well 8 hours of sleep after working 10 hour days and an hour long commute home leave me with hardly any free time. So I started getting between 6 and 7 and I actually feel BETTER at work. Weird, I feel more awake with less sleep! Works for me!:)
I would LOVE the extra time, I wish I could go off just 4 hours of sleep! Just THINK of the possibilities!:)
Oh – forgot to mention (must be tired!) – forget sleeping less as a means to lose weight – there’s been quite a bit of research that says the less sleep you get, the fatter you’ll be. I used to be into bodybuilding, and they all sleep A LOT.
.-= Single Mom Rich Mom´s last blog ..The Average Joe Financial Show (and tell) =-.
I used to get by on only 4-5 hours of sleep all the time up to about 35 y.o. and was one of the ‘party all night go straight to work’ types in my 20’s too.
It took me at least 6 months to train myself to get 6.5-7.5 hours a night, which is about where I’m at now.
I thought I was being much more productive, yet once I realized that I’d rather be 100% alert and work smarter (and less) rather than being 70% alert and just putting more hours in, it was a no brainer to try and sleep more. I also did a lot of research into the sleep research at the time and can tell you honestly that whoever thinks they’re being more efficient on less sleep is probably lying to themselves (there are exceptions like you Sam, or people in the manic phase that are bipolar). :-) People could test themselves by playing a game like Brain Age and see how well they do rested vs. not. I know my brain is a lot “older” when I’m tired.
There’s been cases where people have been so dopey going into work, thinking they were okay and left their kid in the car, forgetting to drop them off at daycare. You can imagine the effects of that in 100 degree heat. There are over 100,000 accidents and 1500 auto deaths per year due to people driving while sleep deprived. It’s not worth it, might as well be driving drunk.
Besides, Martha Stewart only gets 4 hours of sleep a night and look how cranky she is.
.-= Single Mom Rich Mom´s last blog ..The Average Joe Financial Show (and tell) =-.
Interesting stuff. So you actually “trained” yourself to get 6.5-7.5 hrs a night? Were you sleeping more or less before?
I honestly can’t sleep past 6:30am, hence why i never use an alarm clock anymore on the weekdays. I really don’t know what it is, I’m just excited to wake up, and my body just snaps into life!
If one is cranky and stuff, that’s definitely a no no to sleep less. Sleep more. Everybody is built differently.
.-= admin´s last blog ..The Dark Side Of Early Retirement =-.
I have found that saying, The older you get, the less sleep you need, to be bunk. I definitely need more. At least 8 hours. I’ve always been envious of all those people who flourish with only a few hours of sleep at night. How great to have all those productive hours. Although I do agree with an earlier comment about sleep itself being productive in its own way…tapping into deeper regions than our waking hours.
.-= savvysavingbytes´s last blog ..Tales of Big Apple Shoplifters =-.
I agree with Andrew. I find the amount of sleep I need is directly related to how much physical and mental activity in my life. I need more if I’m working out a lot..or the job is really stressful. It truly is a way to recharge.
I went for years on 6 hours..not by choice but because I was working and going to school FT. It was not enough and I cherish the days when I can get 8 or 9 hours uninterrupted…especially now with little kids waking me constantly…it is something you start to covet if it’s taken from you unwillingly.
My husband does the 5 hour sleep thing and he says he’s been like that since he’s been a kid. He’d read books under his bedcovers with a flashlight while his brother slept hours more every night. I think there definitely is a genetic component. I even see a difference in my two kids.
Hmmm, good insight regarding your hubbie and your kids. That’s such a joyful picture in my head of a kid reading under the blankets with a flashlight!
I wonder in retirement, when I don’t have an exact daily deadline whether I’ll then start sleeping my life away more? Hmm.
.-= admin´s last blog ..The Dark Side Of Early Retirement =-.