Hello. 23M here. Upon considering my routine, I found out that If I need to do well in my studies and overall life, I can allocate myself only 4 hours of sleep at most. And I need to continue this for at least 4 years.
Though I had been skipping sleep for all sorts of loser-oriented reasons, from my high-school days. Binge watching a series or gaming all night etc. But never too strongly on a regular basis that can be considered as insomnia or anything.
Scientists, upon researching individuals with sleep found out various life-concerning symptoms and outcomes when they weren’t getting “Enough” sleep on a regular basis. Even though symptoms weren’t reflecting that quickly, but some brought devastating outcomes later on life. These results are found in journals and research papers.
But I want opinions and advices from people who weren’t a part of the research. Just regular guys who chose to focus on life too seriously by less prioritizing sleep.
My question is specifically towards the elderly people. Those who used to sleep less, around 4-5 hours daily for some years in their teenage, post-teenage years like me.
Did any of you guys face concerning health complications later in life that were then diagnosed as a lack of sleep in your teenage era?
Additionally, I have a slight memorization problem. I can’t remember more than 90% of what happened to me back in my high-school era( 2016-2021 ). I used to vaguely remember until 2023 when I started to forget.
So I don’t want to have any more cognitive complications by sleeping less hours in my thriving time.
Considering that I only need to continue this for at most 4 years and not more, How severe of a health complication I might face in future?
This is my unified reply to all of you guys giving enlightening advices.
This post, or my decision on starting a 4 hour sleep routine is still just a strong decision. I haven’t acted upon it yet… Hence this post to get what the elderly and experienced people have to say who did maintain this kinda routine when they were in my age.
It isn’t that I don’t understand the underlying biological damage that would have caused on me if I really were to stick on this routine for long.
I was angrily gritting my teeth( imaginatively ) against the people( my parents ) who ( kind of ) made me to push myself to this negative extreme. That’s why I suppose, was taken back by my ego or something like that and decided to make this self-damaging routine to follow.
I had other plans in this routine that’d suffice in the psychological way( meaning, to avoid burnout, crashing out, snappy temper etc ).
But, after reading your comments, who are experienced and lived through this kinda phase, I realized that for my mental health, maintaining other sorts of psychological assistance while avoiding enough sleep is like, feeding my stomach with side dish like salad dressing instead of eating actual salad.
From where I am, now it’s night time. Tomorrow is a big day for me. And after reading all of your comments, I’ve decided to fully drown myself in sleep without setting an alarm. I’ll let myself be.
Probably I’ll wake up with a clear head, and with a reason not to keep myself deprived of sleep that much.
I’ll give an update. Thank you everyone.
That is quite literally the goal of so many friends in my life. In between work, kids, holidays, yard work, vacuuming, groceries, and then more hours at work…it’s a treat that makes that long laundry list of a life manageable.
Make plans to sleep regularly. You won’t regret it.
I appreciate that you have listened to others advice.
I will say that I have known people who do this sort of thing, who do things like pulling double all nighters to study for exams or work on school projects. Iirc, there was a sort of fad sleep schedule for extreme productivity bitd where you would work for 2:40, then take a 20 min power nap, on repeat, forever. Sounded hellish, but some people credited it with getting them through their ChemE degrees. And the reality is, if your actual chokepoint actually is time, then sleeping less could be a tradeoff to achieving your goal.
On the other hand, based on what you have written, what you actually need to do is just distance yourself from your parents. I also dont get along with my parents. My solution is that I moved to a different city, only talk to them on the phone maybe once or twice per year, and don’t visit for holidays or anything else. Their opinions on my life mean nothing to me.