đź“ťSleep

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§ Productivity

Sleep is very important for productivity. More sleep = more energy = more creativity.

Good sleep benefits:

  • Memories are formed in the sleep. So sleep is required for information to sink in.

  • More sleep = more energy

    Having more awake hours (by sleeping less) is no good as productivity is heavily declined.

  • More sleep = more creativity (creativity is enabled in the relaxed state, so the more rest you are, the more creative you are)

  • Learning is mentally demanding, and it is hard to learn when you’re sleep deprived.

  • If you can’t fall asleep, learning (e.g., reading) is also a good way to tire yourself into sleep.

Sleep deprivation:

  • is equivalent to alcohol

  • higher error rates (which lead to death in driving, transportation, medical, and other settings)

    • for programming, may lead to higher bug rate, which leads to more time spent debugging. so you don’t win anything (in the long run) by staying up late

  • you can’t restore sleep deprivation damage by sleeping more on the weekends. the damage is done and you can’t revert it

Do you see your job as a mechanical or a creative one?

You’re in marathon, not a sprint—think about sustainability

The culture is pretty much against good sleep, too. Working while sleep deprived is praised, while getting enough sleep is seen as luxury and laziness. (That’s kinda funny because we don’t praise drunk workers but do praise heavily sleep-deprived ones.)

Ideas from Sleeping well by Nate Soares:

  • Get enough sleep

  • Wake up at consistent time. (Bedtime is less important.)

  • Don’t sleep in after a late night. Better take a nap later.

Polyphasic sleep is likely a fraud. There is little evidence it has worked for anybody. Don’t waste your time. (Biphasic sleep is a good thing, though. And there is an evidence (?) it is the preferred sleep schedule for humans.)

Ericsson…1993 ^ this study is often quoted as 10,000 hours rule. but the second factor in the article is actually the amount of sleep (not that much night sleep, but rather more napping)

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