From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Thu Jul 01 1999 - 01:02:11 MDT
At 01:07 AM 7/1/99 -0400, you wrote:
>I understand the extropian rationale behind those who want to be freed of
>their sex drives, but I guess I'm just not that evolved yet....
>
>On the other hand, as pleasurable as sleep and dreaming are, I'd love to
>have as many of those hours back as possible. I understand that there are
>approaches to reducing sleep requirements -- pharmaceutical, hypnosis,
etc. --
>that seem highly effective, but I'm concerned that there may be serious
>long-term side-effects. I'm skeptical that we completely understand sleep
and
>dreaming. Have there ever been any good, LONG-term studies on sleep
>reduction techniques?
I have done quite a bit of experimentation with sleep (which I view to be a
relatively inefficient process) and have only found two things that really
seem to work on a regular basis: exercise and melatonin. In my experience,
both of these increase the quality and reduce the duration of my sleep.
My personal figures for restful sleep:
Uninterrupted, without melatonin/exercise: 8-10 hours
Uninterrupted, with melatonin/exercise: 6-8 hours
Sustainable interrupted, without melatonin/exercise: 6-8 hours
Sustainable interrupted, with melatonin/exercise: 5-6 hours
I save about two hours on average and can get by without significant
performance degradation on about 5 hours of sleep if I get adequate levels
of exercise and melatonin (3-6mg). I imagine this varies widely for
different individuals; I've known people who only needed 3-4 hours of sleep
a night without any external aid.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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