Sleep
Submitted by angie on Fri, 08/17/2007 - 9:53am.
or lack of ? I have noticed in alot of people in the high tech industry as well as myself that we tend to respond to emails and reply to posts as late as 2 AM. (cough cough Matt ^_^). And Im sure most of us have to be up early in the morning as well. Anyone opinions /comments?
It seems like I never get enough sleep. I'm not a morning person though. I have trouble getting to sleep at night but trouble waking up in the morning too. It seems like I am the most creative in the evening, but maybe that is just me.
You know, I found myself creative in the evenings too, but I had to be careful. If I was coding past 11pm, sometimes what I wrote was so messed up that the next night was spent redoing / refactoring it. It made perfect sense at the time though.
So I self-imposed a rule to stop at a decent hour to save myself from... myself.
Speaking of creativity, just between you and me and the rest of the listening audience, the shower is where I end up thinking and arriving at sound technical conclusions. (yes, I had to rewrite that last sentence many times.) But it's true. Is it the water? Many times I wished I had a waterproof notepad in there.
OK, maybe I've said too much. Oh well.
Matt
--
[Zzzzz....Zzzzz....]
Wha? What? Are you talking to me? Ahem.
Usually I'm up until about midnight or so, working on various projects. I tend to be a night owl, and therefore morning sloth (keeping the animal metaphor going). Last night was a bit different, since I fell asleep on the couch until midnight, and subsequently made the mistake of washing my face before bed. I woke right up and here I was until 2am or so.
I've come to realize I have a day-long sleep buffer. That is, if i stay up real late one night, and have to get up early that morning, I can do it. However, that evening, I'm out at 9pm; gotta refill that buffer :)
Matt
--
When I worked at Freescale, I did my best work during my crunch-time all-nighters. At my next job, though, that will not be a possibility because working from home will not be an option. Probably a good thing. I will be driving my daughter to Kindergarten every day, so that means an earlier start to my day and very little room for all-nighters.
I get most of my work for the day done before 10 am. I fade out around 3 in the afternoon and then come back to life around 7. My Austin Texas Live Cast is usually number on on justin.tv in the morning or at least in the top 5 then slides off the charts later in the day about the same time I start fading out.
I stay up late and get up early,very sleep deprived. Maybe I'll try napping. Is anyone here in to taking "power naps"?
Yes, power naps are the way to go!! Proven study.
What does the study say about how long you should "power nap"?
15- 20 minutes
Is there a reference for this study, Brooke?
Yes, I will look up some websites for you...not like I'm working or anything :) ...that is why I was so short with the first answer.
Going to my best friend, Mr Google...
Sleep Benefits: Power Napping for Increased Productivity, Stress Relief & Health
"And research shows that you can make yourself more alert reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning with a nap. Mid-day sleep, or a ‘power nap’, means more patience, less stress, better reaction time, increased learning, more efficiency and better health."
Scientists have recently begun investigating the benefits of napping, both the 20-minute nap and sleeps of 1-2 hours, for performance across a wide range of cognitive processes. Since these seminal studies demonstrated that naps were as good as a night of sleep on some memory tasks, more sleep laboratories have reported similar results. A NASA study has found, however, that while naps improve memory functions, they do not aid basic alertness.[1]
Many cultures have recognized and promoted the benefits of daily naps, including the tradition of the siesta in Spain and Latin America. In the Australian state of Victoria, the Transport Accident Commission has invested in advertising campaigns, advising drivers to take a "15 minute cat-nap" to help reduce the risk of fatigue when operating a motor vehicle.
...I'm getting sleepy reading about napping! :)
Here's top 10 reasons:
http://ririanproject.com/2007/09/05/10-benefits-of-power-napping-and-how...
OK, you are effectively posting a big old *YAWN* in the forums. If I continue to read your posts about napping, I may next find myself face down on the keyboard.
Shey asked for it!! :) I need to reconsider a relocation to Spain!! 60 minutes on Sunday had a story on the happiest place on earth; Denmark won b/c of the low levels of stress.
Yes, I had seen that 60 Minutes episode! I had a friend who lived there for a few years while on a post-doc. The pictures she sent were beautiful...and everyone walked or biked; hardly any cars. Fresh food markets. And the rest of Europe virtually at your doorstep.
Yeah the Europeans have it down, a 2 hour lunch and a nap. And a 4 day week.
zzzzz
On the other hand, it's said that we Americans are more productive than Europeans because we work longer hours/more days. Technical advances/advantages don't come easy.
--
Christopher Iamele
Email: ciamele at austin dot rr dot com
All those Zzzzzzz's are making me ....
Hungry.
I just had my nap, with milk and cookies, on my blankie.
I'm an early bird. Usually up by 5:30 am and at work by 6:30 am when I'm working. Like other early birds I usually fade out around tea time. I cannot take a nap. I'll be up all night if I do and the big deal is that I will wake up at 5:30 am regardless of when I go to sleep. I'm older and have just figured this out. I need about 7 hours a sleep a night but wish I could get away with 4. There are so many interesting things to do besides sleep.
Valerie Dennis
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vcd0826
5:30am....wow. Good for you! It turns out I can function quite well at 5:30am, but personally I'm not motivated to do it. :)
I've been working out of my home now since 1999 and my whole concept of sleep time and even days of the week is pretty flexible ;)
Partly I like server operations work - it is a true 24x7 - and I can do it in my sleep with software to wake me up.
Back in my traditional 9 to 5 days, I was the type to always do my best work early in the morning. I often liked to go in at 6am.
For investing... over the last few years I've picked up doing small scale ForEx trading, it goes along with the any time of the day schedule ;) Also interesting times to be in the USA and trading (Euro just hit a new record today, 1.50+)
The compooter makes you lose track of time, yo.
It's also bad for your eyes, neck, back, butt, heart, etc.
Along with power naps, get exercise.
If you have any family members who are not on compy same time(s) as you, they will notice, or maybe even gripe at you for not getting off the damn compooter. Don't get mad at them, they are right.
If you live alone, try logging your logged-in hours to see what you're doing. Try setting alarms to limit your sessions (and I'll bet you'll just "snooze" them).
Too busy to get exercise? Try setting your compy up on a treadmill, or try DDR. I know people who did, with great results.
Good night,
~ Dr. G's
Free Weird Health Advice
DDR? I assume you don't mean double data rate. Maybe that's walking twice as fast on the treadmill.
I think they are talking about the game "Dance Dance Revolution".
Being an old geezer, when I hear that acronym I still think "Deutsche Demokratische Republik" -- the old East Germany.
Oh, right. Maybe she was referring to the old East Germany. Nobody ever looked fat over there.
Famine caused by puppet governments run by tinpot dictators like Erich Honecker will do that... And East Germany actually had it comparably better than most other Soviet Bloc countries did.