16 Hours Well-Rested > 19 Groggy
I’m stupid for only really understanding this now, at 34.
Could be I’m just not as healthy anymore to shrug off back-to-back all-nighters or any grade of hangover.
Could be I pay more mind to it after Garmin started painting me colourful dashboards:
I’m enamored by films like Limitless. It’s the idea I too could be Lone Genius, but just cannot be arsed to today.
I had this classmate who made do with 5 hours of sleep. I internalized the ‘not strong or pretty, therefore smart’ mantra early on and always felt envious of him. “He must get a ton more done.” Tried polyphasic sleep to copy his advantage, but to no avail. After some days I’d start to experience slow-mo in traffic, forget 90% I read/watched/listened, after which inevitably a scheduled 35-minute nap would turn into a 9-hour comatose slumber.
Weird that this obviously advantageous mutation hasn’t caught on more. Mother Nature must have her reasons.
This guy recently scored 8 consecutive months of perfect sleep:
He’s way too hardcore about everything, but I notice even a small amount of alcohol also wrecks my deep sleep. Not to mention the annoyance (not only for me) that is a 2 a.m. pee break.
Johnson makes a good point about sleeping well being a commitment to your significant others. Yeah, don’t get angry with the wife over chores or whatever. But also don’t drive around your infant daughter in a 2-ton metal box while nodding off. That potential what-if will ruin bedtime routine for a lifetime.
I don’t have the extra 3 hours to better myself my friend has. But if Johnson is unfazed missing out on this free money hack, so should I be.
11 years in the software industry has revealed to me I can indeed bang out a Hail Mary the night before. But the code will be of shittier quality than something I’d spontaneously come up with in the shower another (rested) day.
I’ll do more damage to myself walking around a zombie, forgetting stuff, and being uncreative than can ever be recouped burning midnight oil.
