I’ll Sleep When I Am Dead

I am not sure why I started feeling like that. But by the end of the year 2008 I had this feeling that I am wasting my time by sleeping.
On 2nd Jan 09 this came into my mind.

"If i sleep one hour less everyday. I will get 365 hours per years. And that is 365hrs/9hrs = 40 working days. Awesome ..i am reducing my …"

Since then I am trying to reduce my sleeping duration. Initial plan was to reduce from 8.5 hrs (I live near office) to 7.5 hours. I am almost there. Even before being completely successful I have set a new target to reduce it to 6.5 hours.
Whats the use?  I get more time to spend with my family (cook, talk), more time to read/code and less restlessness as I have more time to do what I want. Lets see how it goes.

I am not a great western music listener. But thanks to Atul for pointing out this song by Bon Jovi. I am amazed to see how much this lyrics represents state of my mind.

Seven days of saturday
Is all that I need
Got no use for Sunday
'Cause I don't rest in peace
Don't need no Mondays
Or the rest of the week
I spend a lot of time in bed
But baby I don't like to sleep no
I won't lie to you
I'm necer gonna cry to you
I'll probably drive you wild 8 days a week
Until I'm 6 feet under
Baby I don't need  a bed
Gonna live while I'm alive
I'll sleep when I'm dead
Till they roll me over
And lay my bones to rest
Gonna live while I'm alive
I'll sleep when I'm dead
So you're looking for some action
I got got everything you need
Better keep your motor running
 'cause I was built for speed
This ain't no slumber party
Got no time for catching z's
If they say that that ain't healthy
Well then living's a disease
We're never going to die baby
Come on let me drive you crazy
We'll make every night another New Year's Eve
Full Lyrics

6 Responses

  1. chaitanya says:

    I too feel that I am wasting time sleeping. Esp on Weekends :) I will wake up so early.

    But I have to practice less sleep more diligently. When practiced and used that time effectively, there will lot of positive change in our lives!

  2. Not a good idea Thej – don’t try to reduce sleeping time, sleep is a natural way for your body and mind to rest. Reducing it can create other problems(mental and physical) in the long run. Instead try to cut down other activities during day time which are wasteful – I am sure you will find many such things. While you may be happier in the short run because you seem to get more time during the day, remember that it is at the cost of your long term health. This is just a local sub-optimization that hurts overall IMO.

    I have had sleeping problems earlier in my life and I really know the value of good sleep – so this is just my 2p worth of advice.

  3. I am all for less sleep. I used to sleep for 8 hours back in college and now sleep for 6.5/7 hours everyday. Dont go from 8.5 to 7.5 within a week. You need to have enough time between sleep cuts to ensure that your body gradually adapts to the new timing.

  4. ABVan says:

    All I’d say is that you don’t realize the worth of something until you lose it.

    I think one never has to lessen his/her sleep hours to devote more time for his/her passion. In fact the reverse will always hold true, when one finds his/her true passion(whatever it may be) the sleep hours reduce without even a conscious effort.

    Speaking for myself, I never ever do math with sleep. If and when I feel sleepy, I sleep. I’ve found things to be beneficial that way.

    (strictly my POV. that’s all)

  5. hariharan says:

    true..less sleep is always good. Schedules break up when i goto see my parents or on weekends(after parties).Seld discipline is very imporant too.

  1. April 13, 2009

    […] have been hacking my sleep to achieve the optimum sleeping period. Two months back when I started this experiment, I was sleeping almost 9 hrs per day. Today I am spending only 6.5 hrs per day on sleep. The gain […]

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