Are you sleeping your way to the top?

That’s right … I want you to sleep your way to the top.

We all know how important it is to sleep. After all, we’ve been told by dozens of adults, teachers, and coaches to get our 7-8 hours every night.

This is wise advice. And it’s scientifically sound. Although each individual’s precise sleep needs vary over time, the typical person requires 7-9 hours for optimal performance and productivity[1].

Now I’m about to blow your mind. What I’m about to share will change your perspective on sleep, and more importantly, how much you actually sleep. Well … that’s the goal of this article, anyway.

Gary Vaynerchuk says that people can “get by” on 6 hours of sleep per night. Steve Harvey says that successful people “don’t sleep.”

Now, Gary and Steve may be in the 3%, or in the 1%.

That is, less than 3% of the population functions well on 6 hours of sleep[1].

And around 1% of the population functions well on 4 hours of sleep[2].

Unfortunately, more than 35% of people fail to sleep at least 7 hours per night[3]. And that’s not the worst part of the equation – this 35% only accounts for those who self-reported their insufficient sleep.

In fact, one sleep study found that people typically overestimate their sleep by 48 minutes[4]. With this overestimation, I’d imagine that significantly more people fail to sleep 7 hours per night.

But is this really a problem?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes. Because …

6 hours of sleep (or less) just ain’t enough. No matter how many times you reassure yourself, the truth of the matter is that 6 hours of sleep is NOT sufficient for your health, productivity, or performance.

Take a look at Sleep’s sleep deprivation study[4]. Yep, you read that correctly – a sleep study was published in the journal, Sleep.

Ultimately, this study found that six-hour sleepers performed just as poorly as four-hour sleepers, and even all-nighters, after a short period of 10-14 days. For clarification: the “all-nighters” were deprived entirely of sleep for the first few days of the study, then they were permitted to sleep after the initial few days. And for further clarification: it wasn’t until around Day 10 or so that the six-hour sleepers’ performance slumped as sharply as the four-hours and all-nighters.

Even with these clarifications, this study is alarming. In just a span of a week and a half, six-hour sleepers functioned just as poorly as four-hour sleepers AND all-nighters. In ONLY 10 days, six-hour sleepers were entirely compromised in terms of cognitive performance. Just imagine how many people have been six-hour sleeping for 10+ years … that’s a LOT of wasted time, energy, and performance potential.

What’s even more alarming is that the six-hour sleepers didn’t report their sleep as being “all that bad,” even as their performance slumped.

Why is this study so alarming?

At least 35% of people receive six hours of sleep (or less) per night. Due to overestimation, this percentage is likely higher. Not only are these individuals performing suboptimally, but they’re largely accepting of their current sleeping habits.

Not only is lack of sleep a significant problem in terms of health and productivity, but it’s a problem that many people don’t recognize as a problem. And that, in itself, is the biggest problem of the situation. If we’re not identifying lack of sleep as troublesome, then we won’t be able to correct our behavior.

At a macro level, sleep deprivation costs the United States $411 B annually.

At an organizational level, companies are losing over 1 M workdays from their employees due to sleep deprivation. Throughout the year, sleep deprivation causes workers to sleep in late and miss critical morning work hours. Additionally, lack of sleep is responsible for health effects (i.e. illness) that deprive companies of available workers on any given day.

At an individual level, the average employee sacrifices over $2,000 in lost wages and 11 days of productivity[5].

Lack of sleep is a problem. It impacts countries, companies, and people … all over the world.

Are you willing to kick 6 hours to the curb? Can you up your sleep to 7, 8, or 9 hours per day?

With sleep deprivation’s adverse impact on health, productivity, and performance, how can you afford not to get 7-9 hours per night? It’s easy to shorten our sleep to get more done, but are we actually getting these things done “well” when we’re sleep-deprived? According to research, we’re not. But according to many of us, we are. We six-hour sleepers tend to overlook the negative consequences of our sleeping habits.

Our sleep is not “fine.” It’s not “okay.” It’s harming our professional, personal, and social lives.

Recognize this problem with me. Commit to 7 hours per night over the next two weeks. And after these two weeks (or 10 days), you may just realize how much healthier and more productive you are in ALL areas of your life. Maybe we’ll realize that we can’t afford to miss our sleep, but we can certainly afford to sacrifice a few time-wasters to add an extra 30-60 minutes to our nightly sleep.

And maybe if we framed sleep as “health hibernation” or as our “productivity pill,” we may be more inclined to sleep more.

I know I’m sold. What about you? Will you sleep your way to the top? To the top of your health, productivity, and performance?

*Also, for the 3%er 6-hours and the 1%er 4-hours out there … your elite sleeping ability is largely genetic. You’re much more likely to be in this elite sleeping category if one of your direct relatives is also a “short sleeper.” These naturally short sleepers are superheroes in their own right. But they’re VERY rare. Please don’t trick yourself into sleeping less if you’re not an elite sleeper. A great way to find out what works best for you is to experiment with your sleep quantity, and quality, over reasonable durations that provide feedback on your health, productivity, and energy levels.

**Also also, I’ve been doing some research on light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep, as well as methods on how people minimize overall sleeping time but maximize their deep sleep through 3-4 hour sleep nights and several 20-minute naps throughout the day[6]. If you have any experience or perspective on this, I’d love to read about it in the comments!

Cheers to you, and to your sleep :)

References:

[1] https://www.helpguide.org/articles/sleep/sleep-needs-get-the-sleep-you-need.htm

[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/some-people-only-need-a-few-hours-of-sleep-2015-12

[3] https://www.livescience.com/53770-americans-sleep.html

[4] https://www.fastcompany.com/3057465/why-six-hours-of-sleep-is-as-bad-as-none-at-all

[5] https://www.tuck.com/productivity-and-sleep/

[6] https://kantantechnology.com/how-i-added-five-more-ultra-productive-hours-to-my-day-and-how-you-can-too-cf2749b6fd1e