Most of us live in an endless bustle: first we work at work, then we try to quickly redo household chores, take care of the children, do shopping... It’s no wonder that with such a rhythm of life, every second of us does not have enough in the day on the 25th, or even On the 26th hour, even for the most necessary things, but you also want to free up time for leisure! And what’s most offensive is that with such a workload, we are forced to devote almost a third of the day to sleep.
How can you not dream about learning to sleep less and not feel overwhelmed the whole next day? After all, the great French commander Napoleon slept four hours a day and at the same time managed to conquer cities and countries!
Those who believe that such a result is impossible to achieve in principle are deeply mistaken. Scientists have long unraveled this secret and created a technique by following which you can sleep as much as you are willing to spend on sleep and, most importantly, feel full of strength and energy after waking up.
Why don't we get enough sleep?
You may ask how to bring everyone to a common denominator, because each person needs a different amount of sleep time. For some, five or six hours is enough, for others even eight is not enough. However, sometimes after four hours of rest we can feel that we are ready to work, and sometimes on a day off, after sleeping until lunch, we feel like a squeezed lemon. Everything is very simple.
For all people, the sleep process is divided into several phases. Each of them lasts on average 90 minutes. After one phase ends, our body wakes up and then goes back to sleep. The break between the phases is so small that the awakening is erased from our brain and in the morning it seems to us that we slept soundly all night.
However, if a person is woken up immediately after one phase of sleep has ended, then he will not feel overwhelmed. And vice versa, if you wake up in the middle of it, you will have the feeling that we did not get enough sleep, no matter how many hours ago we plunged into the arms of morpheus.
Reducing sleep time...
Knowing about these subtleties, you can reduce your sleep time without subsequently feeling like a “boiled vegetable.”
1. First, you will need time to determine exactly the duration of each sleep phase that is typical for you, because it is different for all people. In the experiments being carried out, you can use the already announced average figure of 90 minutes as a guide.
2. Then, try to wake up, say, after 2-3 phases (after about 180-270 minutes). At the same time, take into account the 10-15 minutes you need to fall asleep in your calculations. After these simple manipulations, you will notice that it has become easier to wake up. Although experiments prove that a person feels best if he is woken up at the end of phase 4 (that is, after 6 hours of sleep).
Statistics show that the main difficulty in the Napoleonic secret is to clearly determine the length of the sleep phase. As a rule, this takes several weeks. But after you cope with this, the technique begins to give excellent results.
How not to get angry at the alarm clock?
The hardest thing in the morning is not for the one who wakes up, but for the alarm clock. Judge for yourself how much barbs and abuse he has to listen to from his owner, and sometimes physical violence is used against him. Of course, these are all jokes, but this useful device is not at all to blame for the fact that we have to get up.
If alarm clocks really irritate you, try getting rid of them. How to do it? Very simple. Remember those times when they did not exist at all. And none of our ancestors were late for anything.
The thing is that the human body is unique. He can wake up on his own when we need it. And it's easy to check! Before you go into the world of sweet dreams, mentally tell yourself that you want to get up, say, at 6 am. This way, you yourself program your brain for the time when you need to wake up. If you learn this simple method, you will no longer need an alarm clock. The LeKon company sells home textiles. On our website or social media page you can buy
It is known that for good health and productive work a person needs to sleep from 6 to 8 hours a day. However, history knows many individuals who neglected sleep, considering it a waste of time. So, Napoleon only needed 4 hours of oblivion in the arms of Morpheus, Winston Churchill devoted a very small part of his life to sleep, preferring to work at night, and Nikola Tesla could even stay awake for 22 hours a day. Some researchers call this phenomenon a manifestation of genius, while others call it simply insomnia.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci slept often, but little. This so-called polyphasic sleep involved 20 minutes of unconsciousness every 4 hours. It is believed that such an unusual cycle gave the genius the opportunity to work more productively.
Scientists note that such a schedule requires at least two weeks of adaptation. During this period, a person undergoes a restructuring of the biological clock, accompanied by drowsiness, impaired coordination of movement, and decreased performance. However, then frequent short-term sleep allows him to be more active. However, given the current realities and the standard 8-hour work day, polyphasic sleep is almost impossible to practice.
Nikola Tesla
The famous inventor Nikola Tesla also did not allow sleep to take away his precious time. The genius was awake 22 hours a day. He slept for 2 hours at night and another twenty minutes during the day. His assistants said that Tesla once worked in his laboratory for more than 3 days without sleeping a wink.
Tesla himself exclaimed more than once: “I don’t think that in this world there are any sharp sensations that can pass through the heart of a common man, because only a great inventor can experience such sensations, since he is able to see some signs from above that prophesy success... Such emotions make a person forget about food, sleep, friends, and even love".
Winston Churchill
It is known for certain that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill always found time for an afternoon nap. As he himself repeatedly stated, a couple of hours of rest during the day allowed him to double his performance and work until the early morning: “When the war began, I needed to sleep during the day, because it was the only way to cope with the responsibility that fell on me.”
“Don’t think you’ll get less work done if you sleep during the day. This is a stupid opinion of people without imagination. On the contrary, you will be able to do more.”
Margaret Thatcher
“The Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher slept 4-5 hours a day. The politician considered herself a real workaholic and at certain periods could stay awake for 20-22 hours a day. Thatcher said:
“I never slept more than four or five hours a night. One way or another, my life is my work. Some people work to live. I live to work. I often only sleep an hour and a half, preferring to sacrifice sleep time to have a decent hairstyle.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
During his military campaigns, Napoleon Bonaparte almost completely deprived himself of sleep. Thinking over strategies for conducting military operations, the commander did not sleep until 12 at night, then went to bed, woke up after 2 hours and worked until 5 in the morning. Napoleon then went to sleep until 7 am.
According to the testimony of many military leaders, Napoleon could stay awake for more than a day, and then fall asleep at the most inopportune moment. Just before the start of the Battle of Austerlitz, the commander was barely able to wake up. And in the midst of the battle of Wagram, under the roar of cannons, Bonaparte lay down on a bearskin spread on the ground and fell asleep. Waking up 20 minutes later, he continued giving orders as if nothing had happened. But when the battles ended, the commander fell asleep for as long as 18 hours.
However, on St. Helena he turned into an owl and got up very late in the morning. This fact indirectly confirms the version that
The division of people into “owls” and “larks” or - otherwise - into “marmots” and “Napoleons” is known to everyone.
And it is clear to everyone that such names are not accidental. Everything is clear with animals, but with “Napoleons”... In general, it’s not difficult to figure it out either. Napoleon Bonaparte was famous for his energy and slept only 4 hours a day. And by the way, he wasn’t the only one who did this...
Napoleon Bonaparte. I considered sleep a useless activity. “Napoleon sleeps 4 hours, old people - 5, soldiers - 6, women - 7, men - 8, and only sick people sleep 9,” he said. By the way, scientists from Cleveland University dug up information that the great French commander recommended that girls get enough sleep. Observing the ladies, Napoleon developed his sleep formula, the main constant of which was a mandatory 8-hour sleep.
Gaius Julius Caesar. I slept 2-4 hours a day. During military campaigns he did not stand on ceremony and slept with the soldiers in the open air.
Margaret Thatcher. The Iron Lady also slept less than 5 hours a night. This is what she herself said: “I never slept more than four or five hours a night. One way or another, my life is my work. Some people work to live. I live to work. I often sleep only an hour and a half , preferring to sacrifice sleep time to have a decent hairstyle."
Leonardo da Vinci.“Chased” the muse, which, as you know, loves to come in the morning (brain performance at this time increases 6-10 times!). I changed my routine in the most decisive way: I slept only 2-4 hours a day, and spent the rest of the time doing creative work. In order to have time to “catch” the muse several times a day, sleep was divided into “pieces”: 15 minutes of sleep, then 4 hours of work, then again a short sleep. And so on day after day, year after year!
Salvador Dali. I was afraid to sleep and loved to draw:), so I resorted to methods similar to da Vinci’s “ragged” sleep. The artist placed a metal tray on the floor next to him, and between the thumb and forefinger of the hand hanging over the tray, he clamped a spoon. As soon as he dozed off, the spoon would fall onto the tray with a clang and wake him up. The state, intermediate between wakefulness and sleep, refreshed Dali, and he frantically returned to work.
Thomas Edison. He slept little himself (about 5 hours a day) and “did not allow” others to sleep. With candles and gas lighting, people slept about 10 hours every day, and after the advent of Thomas Edison's famous incandescent lamp, the norm decreased to 7 hours. :)
Winston Churchill. I slept 4-6 hours at night and 1 hour during the day. Basically, I slept from 3 to 7 o'clock in the morning, and, by the way, I did absolutely the right thing - if you are a night owl, it is correct to fall asleep after 2 o'clock, otherwise you risk waking up in the middle of the slow-wave sleep phase.
...or maybe 4 hours in the arms of Morpheus is enough for you too
Have you tried everything and still doesn't work? Well, science is science, but you've probably heard about geniuses who slept 3-4 hours a day and accomplished great things. So maybe you are one of them? Compare the sleep facts of people from this group, and perhaps these are signs of genius :)
1. Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BC)
The Roman politician and commander Gaius Julius Caesar founded the great Roman Empire and forever changed the culture of the future Europe. He won the civil war and became the sole ruler of the “Roman World”.
To achieve all this, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, Caesar slept about 3 hours a day. At the same time, he did not give himself any privileges - during military campaigns, Julius Caesar slept with his soldiers, right on the ground in the open air.
2. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Perhaps the list of Leonardo da Vinci’s creative secrets should be supplemented with one more item. The brilliant artist and inventor slept 15-20 minutes a day every 4 hours (about 2 hours in total). The remaining 22 hours Leonardo worked. Today, this sleep system is called “polyphasic sleep.”
It is believed that this mode allows you to increase your waking time to 20-22 hours a day. This pattern has many followers, but, apparently, there is no second da Vinci among them.
3. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Benjamin Franklin is a famous politician, diplomat and scientist. His signature appears on the US Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Treaty of Versailles, and his portrait adorns the hundred dollar bill.
In his opinion, there shouldn’t be too much of a good thing. And sleep is undoubtedly a blessing. In addition, Franklin adhered to a strict daily routine in which no more than 4 hours of sleep were allocated.
4. Napoleon I Bonaparte (1769-1821)
Many have heard Bonaparte’s aphorism: “Napoleon sleeps 4 hours, old people - 5, soldiers - 6, women - 7, men - 8, and only the sick sleep 9.”
Indeed, Napoleon usually went to bed around midnight and slept until 2 am. Then he got up, worked and, at about 5 am, went to bed again for a couple of hours. As a result, he slept about 4 hours a night.
At the same time, historians note that the great commander, due to constant stress, often suffered from insomnia, that is, he did not sleep at all. And some explain Bonaparte’s strategic failures at Waterloo by this same factor – a catastrophic lack of sleep.
5. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
The third President of the United States, an outstanding political figure, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, slept only 2 hours a day. At the same time, from his correspondence we can conclude that the politician did not adhere to any regime. He always went to bed at different times (most often late), always read before going to bed, and woke up with the first rays of the sun.
6. Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
Another Thomas, now Edison, the world-famous inventor who invented the phonograph, incandescent lamps and the iconic word “hello,” claimed that he slept 5 hours a day. Like many geniuses, he considered sleep a waste of time and a sign of laziness. Therefore, Edison openly despised the sleepyhead and couch potato.
Maybe this prompted him to invent light bulbs. Before that, by candlelight, people slept for 10 hours, but with the advent of Thomas Edison's incandescent lamp, the sleep rate was reduced to 7 hours a day.
It’s also funny that in the scientist’s laboratory there was a small sofa, and evil tongues said that Edison allowed himself to take a little nap from time to time.
7. Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)
Another brilliant scientist, a famous physicist and inventor who made significant contributions to the study of alternating current, slept only 2-3 hours a day. According to the recollections of his contemporaries, he could work all night long, even if he was very tired.
“I'm completely exhausted, but I can't stop working. My experiments are so important, so beautiful, so amazing that I can hardly tear myself away from them to eat. And when I try to sleep, I think about them all the time. I guess I'll keep going until I drop dead."
True, after such exhausting days, Tesla fell into sleep for a long time to regain strength.
8. Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
One of the greatest Britons in history (according to the British themselves), Winston Churchill adhered to the following daily routine: he went to bed at 3 am and woke up at 8 am. Thus, he slept 5 hours a day.
However, the wise politician never neglected the opportunity to take a nap for an hour after lunch. “You should sleep between lunch and dinner, and no half measures, ever! Take off your clothes and go to bed. This is what I always do. Don't think that you will do less work because you sleep during the day. This is a stupid opinion of people who have no imagination. On the contrary, you will be able to do more, because you get two days in one - well, at least one and a half.”
9. Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
It is not known for certain how many hours the Spanish artist Salvador Dali devoted to sleep. But there is evidence that he, like Leonardo da Vinci, practiced “ragged” sleep. To do this, Dali placed a metal tray near the bed and took a spoon in his hands. As soon as he entered a deep phase of sleep, the spoon fell - the artist woke up from the roar. According to him, the intermediate state between sleep and wakefulness gave him new ideas.
10. Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013)
“The Iron Lady” was a real workaholic - she slept 4-5 hours a day, and sometimes only 1.5-2.
She herself spoke about sleep like this: “I never slept more than four or five hours a day. One way or another, my life is my work. Some people work to live. I live to work. I often only sleep an hour and a half, preferring to sacrifice sleep time to have a decent hairstyle.”
Well, are there any coincidences?