How to Live on 2hrs Sleep a day
Created | Updated Nov 13, 2013
Believe it or not a human being can survive comfortably on no more than 2hrs sleep a night. Counter intuitive as this may seem, it is a proven fact, and something that yogis/swamis/american self help gurus/madmen prove on a semi-regular basis. The reason for this is that it isn't two *continuous* hours of sleep a day, leaving 22 hours of continous wakefulness in which to crave rest, but rather a restful 20 minute nap taken every four hours regularly.
The reasoning behind this is very simple: if your body isn't too exhausted, then it doesn't need as much sleep to recover.
Before we go any further, I should point out here that I have *actually* tried this method, and know it to work. In fact I have been doing it for over six months, and while I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, I think many people would benefit from trying it out for a week or so just to see for themselves whether it suits them. I also want to make it completely clear that I did this with no strings attached and no particular burden of work or responsibility in the form of dependents. Because I was free, and knew my experimentation would harm no one (except possibly myself) I took a chance and tried it. If your situation is different, then I recommend you think long and hard about those whose lives may be affected if you're not at your most alert.
That being said. Here's how I did it...
1. A weeks preparation without coffee, and drinking plenty of water. This was to clean out my system, and make me stimulant free so that when I tried it I knew that my addiction to coke and java wasn't going to kill my plans.
2. Took a holiday for a week.
3. Slept in long and languidly on the day before I started. Got up and had a restful day without television or computers. (These tend to keep me up into the long hours and thus disrupt sleep patterns)
4. Set my alarm for 12.20. Went to sleep at 12 midnight exactly.
5. Didn't really sleep much but tried until 12.20 Alarm.
6. Repeated at 4am, got up 4.20. Got closer to sleep.
7. 8am, 12noon, 4pm, 8pm, 12pm. Each time getting more close to sleep during twenty minutes. Felt energised whole day.
8. At about 4am on the second day I went straight to sleep, slept for twenty mins, and woke on 4.20 on the dot. My body must have gotten used to the regularity, and adjusted my sleep to compensate. Happened again at 8, and 12.
9. And that's more or less it. I tried it out during the holidays, it worked quite well. Hardest part is finding a place to sleep every four hours. I pop home during lunchtime to nap, and take a break at 4. It's very refreshing.
Notes and Warnings:
Don't try it without the weeks detox, and keep rigidly to the schedule. If you miss one sleep period, DONT MISS THE NEXT ONE. It's crucial otherwise you'll feel like you've been awake for two days solid.
If you need to relax the schedule over weekends to catch up on more sleep. It's for your benefit, no one elses. In my case I've only had to do this twice.
Exercise is fine, as long as you rest at the right times. Mental activity is sharpened, as is imagination. Dreams become very lucid, as well as short.
Most difficult thing is what to do with all that time during the night. 1am to 8am is the worst time. So little activity.
Meditation during day periods is very useful.
Don't go out for walks early hours of the morning. Television is your enemy. Wit so much time it's tempting just to watch sitcoms but if you didn't see it before you'll soon realize just how repetitive it is.
Final Note:
Having done this for 6 months and 3 weeks or so, I can say honestly that it does work. A can also say that it's definitely not for everyone. Especially if you have a significant other, who's used to cuddling up with you at night time. Definitely not for those under stress or work pressure. Counter intuitively, the more pressure is on you for this to work, the more you'll worry about failure while trying to sleep, and the longer it will take, and the harder it will be to make the jump into the twenty minute sleep cycle. Also tell several people YOU TRUST what you're doing, so that if things do start to go awry, you'll have someone there to help you out, and pull you back to normality. That's all.
The reasoning behind this is very simple: if your body isn't too exhausted, then it doesn't need as much sleep to recover.
Before we go any further, I should point out here that I have *actually* tried this method, and know it to work. In fact I have been doing it for over six months, and while I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, I think many people would benefit from trying it out for a week or so just to see for themselves whether it suits them. I also want to make it completely clear that I did this with no strings attached and no particular burden of work or responsibility in the form of dependents. Because I was free, and knew my experimentation would harm no one (except possibly myself) I took a chance and tried it. If your situation is different, then I recommend you think long and hard about those whose lives may be affected if you're not at your most alert.
That being said. Here's how I did it...
1. A weeks preparation without coffee, and drinking plenty of water. This was to clean out my system, and make me stimulant free so that when I tried it I knew that my addiction to coke and java wasn't going to kill my plans.
2. Took a holiday for a week.
3. Slept in long and languidly on the day before I started. Got up and had a restful day without television or computers. (These tend to keep me up into the long hours and thus disrupt sleep patterns)
4. Set my alarm for 12.20. Went to sleep at 12 midnight exactly.
5. Didn't really sleep much but tried until 12.20 Alarm.
6. Repeated at 4am, got up 4.20. Got closer to sleep.
7. 8am, 12noon, 4pm, 8pm, 12pm. Each time getting more close to sleep during twenty minutes. Felt energised whole day.
8. At about 4am on the second day I went straight to sleep, slept for twenty mins, and woke on 4.20 on the dot. My body must have gotten used to the regularity, and adjusted my sleep to compensate. Happened again at 8, and 12.
9. And that's more or less it. I tried it out during the holidays, it worked quite well. Hardest part is finding a place to sleep every four hours. I pop home during lunchtime to nap, and take a break at 4. It's very refreshing.
Notes and Warnings:
Don't try it without the weeks detox, and keep rigidly to the schedule. If you miss one sleep period, DONT MISS THE NEXT ONE. It's crucial otherwise you'll feel like you've been awake for two days solid.
If you need to relax the schedule over weekends to catch up on more sleep. It's for your benefit, no one elses. In my case I've only had to do this twice.
Exercise is fine, as long as you rest at the right times. Mental activity is sharpened, as is imagination. Dreams become very lucid, as well as short.
Most difficult thing is what to do with all that time during the night. 1am to 8am is the worst time. So little activity.
Meditation during day periods is very useful.
Don't go out for walks early hours of the morning. Television is your enemy. Wit so much time it's tempting just to watch sitcoms but if you didn't see it before you'll soon realize just how repetitive it is.
Final Note:
Having done this for 6 months and 3 weeks or so, I can say honestly that it does work. A can also say that it's definitely not for everyone. Especially if you have a significant other, who's used to cuddling up with you at night time. Definitely not for those under stress or work pressure. Counter intuitively, the more pressure is on you for this to work, the more you'll worry about failure while trying to sleep, and the longer it will take, and the harder it will be to make the jump into the twenty minute sleep cycle. Also tell several people YOU TRUST what you're doing, so that if things do start to go awry, you'll have someone there to help you out, and pull you back to normality. That's all.
