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I am bipolar and my sleep is very erratic. I sometimes go 4-5 days without sleep and suffer no loss of productivity. Usually I sleep 3-4 hours a night and feel rested and ready to go. If my sleep goes unchecked, it can throw me into a manic state which is dangerous for my bank account, makes me very aggressive, and leaves me hunting down risky endeavors. I was fine with that on my own, but since getting married I have to work fairly hard to keep more regular hours. My wife wants me to go to sleep when she does and dislikes waking up with me out of bed. Since she can sleep well into the afternoon when her schedule permits it is a challenge for me. Over the past few years, I have done a ton of research on sleep, tried just about every over the counter and prescription medication, did a few sleep studies, and have tested different tons of sleep hygiene philosophies. The key to me tuning my sleep has been by recording metrics of how I slept and looking for trends. I record when I sleep and wake, how hard it was to get to sleep and get up, my stress level and mood for the previous day, the medications and sleep-aid methods I am trying, the temperature, darkness, etc. Relying entirely on a subjective rating for sleep didn't work for me, so I use a fitbit to track how much I am moving during sleep, which can be correlated to how effective your sleep is. In the last few months I have been able to not take any medication and maintain a regular(ish) sleeping schedule for the first time in probably 5 years. Everyone has different methods that work for them so I will give you a few that work best for most without killing productivity:
-Wake at the same time every morning, sleep when tired(If you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes, you aren't tired).
-When waking, get as much light as you can. Watching the sunrise is both invigorating for your body and mind.
-Exercise daily, even if its just taking a long walk.
-2 hours before sleep avoid anything highly engaging such as media, games, and work(if you can manage). Try writing to empty your mind, or reading something that is not backlit. Dim the lights, stretch or do yoga, etc.
-For those nights you can't stop working for those 2 hours, I use flux(mentioned below) and have found it to work well.
-Don't try the polyphasic sleep except as a last resort.
-Don't nap even for a few minutes.
-Don't drink caffeine.
...the list goes on. My biggest piece of advice is to systematically try different techniques and to record your results. It will take a while to hone in on what is best since you likely have a schedule that varies daily. I have encouraged many people to do this, even if they don't have trouble sleeping since you will discover what your body requires and not what your mind wants. Oversleeping can cause almost the same amount of health problems as not sleeping enough. Fine-tuning your mind(this method is not limited to sleep) and body is one of the most important things you can do to make you healthy and productive. It amazes me that it is not more common... |