Medically reviewed by Raj Dasgupta, MD — By Daniel Yetman on October 22, 2020
Getting a full night’s sleep not only feels good, but it also improves your mental performance and boosts your overall health. Most adults need more than 7 hours per night for optimal well-being. Children and teenagers need even more to support their development.
Teens should sleep 8 to 10 hours per night, grade-schoolers 9 to 12 hours, and preschoolers 10 to 13 hours.
Many people wonder if it’s possible to “hack” their sleep so that they spend fewer hours in bed but still wake up feeling rested and productive. The short answer is yes and no — but mostly no.
The quality of your sleep plays a role in determining how rested you’ll feel when you wake. Improving your sleep quality can reduce the number of hours you need to spend in bed.
However, even if your sleep quality is great, sleeping for fewer hours than what’s recommended is detrimental to your health and mental performance. You may be able to do it for a few days, but eventually, the lack of rest will catch up with you.
Keep reading to find out why it isn’t possible to feel rested after getting only 4 hours of sleep per night over a long period. We’ll also look at why some people seem to be able function off much less sleep than others.
For most people, 4 hours of sleep per night isn’t enough to wake up feeling rested and mentally alert, no matter how well they sleep.
There’s a common myth that you can adapt to chronically restricted sleep, but there’s no evidence that the body functionally adapts to sleep deprivation.
Also, people who exercise regularly often need more than the minimum recommended hours to give their bodies time to regenerate from the additional physical stress.
A 2018 study that examined the sleep habits of more than 10,000 people found that regularly getting 4 hours of sleep per night was the equivalent of adding 8 years of aging to the participants’ brains.
Getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night over a long period may increase your risk for developing complications like:
There’s one caveat when it comes to how much sleep you need: Everybody’s body is different, and some people can thrive off fewer hours of sleep than others.
Scientists have found a rare mutation of the ADRB1 gene in people who are able to feel rested with less than 6.5 hours of sleep per night without any apparent health consequences.
If you carry this gene mutation, it’s possible that you may feel rested even if you consistently sleep less than the recommended number of hours.
Polyphasic sleep refers to sleeping multiple times in a 24-hour period instead of once per night.
There are many different polyphasic techniques. One of the most common programs involves taking six 20-minute naps spaced equally throughout the day for a total of 3 hours a day.
Many people claim that polyphasic sleep allows you to sleep more efficiently and achieve the same amount of rest in fewer hours. However, there’s no medical evidence that polyphasic sleep is better than traditional sleep.
Sleep deprivation on polyphasic programs likely has the same negative health consequences as other forms of sleep deprivation. However, there’s limited research on these types of programs, since the vast majority of people who follow polyphasic programs only stick with them for a short time.
Chronically cutting your sleep short isn’t a good idea, but life gets busy and sometimes sleeping adequately isn’t possible for a few nights. The more nights you limit your sleep, the more “sleep debt” you’ll rack up. As with financial debt, the more sleep debt you have, the harder it is to pay it off.
There’s no magic way to increase your energy while cutting your sleep. However, the following techniques may help you get through short-term periods of sleep deprivation.
If you’re experiencing the following side effects, it’s likely a sign that you need to sleep more. It’s a good idea to prioritize rest for the next few nights until you notice your mental function return to normal.
Your body cycles through four stages of sleep throughout the night.
One cycle takes about 90 minutes.
During a typical night’s sleep, you’ll cycle through each stage four to six times. If you’re limiting yourself to 4 hours of sleep, you’ll only have time to cycle through these stages twice.
The sleep stages are:
Most adults need at least 7 hours of sleep per night to wake up feeling rested and mentally fresh.
Limiting your sleep raises your risk for developing many health problems such as diabetes, depression, or cardiovascular disease.
If you have to limit your sleep for a few days, you can potentially increase your energy by spending time in the sunlight, taking short naps throughout the day, and performing light exercise.
For more sleep support, check out our sleep shop.
Last medically reviewed on October 22, 2020
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(2020). Physiology, sleep stages.Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
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Oct 22, 2020
Written By
Daniel Yetman
Edited By
Roman Gokhman
Medically Reviewed By
Raj Dasgupta, M.D.
Copy Edited By
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Medically reviewed by Raj Dasgupta, MD — By Daniel Yetman on October 22, 2020
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Let’s just state the obvious and say there is no possible way you can sleep 8 hours in just four. You can, however, make the most out of those four hours and get such a great rest that afterwards, you swear it felt like eight. One of the secrets to getting high quality sleep, as you’ll learn in this post, is complete relaxation and the ultimate resting environment. Find out what we mean and how to achieve this rest below.
Before you try and cheat the system, let’s fill you in on why the system is in place in the first place. Everyone has two stages of sleep; REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and non REM sleep, and each serves an essential bodily function.
Non REM sleep has three different stages which play a role in repairing the body’s muscle tissues, retaining and building muscle (which is helpful for older folks), and strengthening the immune system.
REM sleep, on the other hand, refreshes your mind and is crucial for important brain functions like memory retention, learning, regulating your mood, and brain development for younger individuals. Accordingly, a lack of sleep can mean you’re missing out on fundamental bodily processes meant to support your general health. So if you’re going to only get 4 hours of sleep in one night, make sure you don’t make it a habit.
It’s almost impossible to receive a deep, quality sleep if we feel anxious, stressed, or worked up. As such, it’s important to feel completely relaxed before you hunker down in bed. That way, when you eventually tuck yourself in, you’re more easily able to slip into a deep slumber because your brain and body are already prepared for sleep mode.
Read a book
Did you know one of the best ways to relax and de-stress is by reading a book? Research suggests that just 6 minutes of reading a day can reduce stress levels by a whopping 68%.
Try reading a book in bed so you can set the book aside and close your eyes as soon as you start to really feel sleepy.
Practice yoga stretches
Yoga stretches are a great way to calm both the body and mind before you go to sleep, especially after a long day. Light stretching such as the downward dog or butterfly pose helps loosen up your muscles and relax the body, while deep breathing and focusing on body movement helps tranquilize your mind.
Take a pre-bedtime bath
For those of you with sore muscles after a long day, taking a hot bath before you go to sleep can help increase blood flow and promote healing — much like an ice bath can do. An ice bath at night, though, would likely have the opposite effect on your alertness than what you’re going for. There’s something about being in a freezing cold body of water that really jostles you awake.
Write in a journal
If anxiety or your endless list of responsibilities are keeping you from falling asleep, try keeping a journal and a pen nearby on a nightstand or bedside table.
You can write anything from tomorrow’s to-do tasks or any negative feelings you’re having. That way, when stressful or anxious thoughts are keeping you awake at night, you can clear them out of your head and onto a piece of paper. There’s no use in worrying about something you can’t fix until morning.
After a day of being in front of your phone screen, computer screen, and TV screen, you should give your brain a well-deserved break from device screens. Putting away your devices an hour to an hour and a half before you plan to go to bed can be really beneficial for the quality of your sleep.
Keep your phone outside of your room during sleeping hoursThe blue light that emits from the screens of electronic devices is strong enough to throw our circadian rhythm out of whack, which is essentially our body’s natural alarm clock that lets us know when it’s time to wake up, and time to go to bed. Light heavily influences this rhythm, and you want to make sure your body naturally begins to wind down around bedtime.
Continuing on with the idea of light influencing your circadian rhythm, you want to make sure your bedroom is nice and dark when you go to bed. Light limits the amount of melatonin your body produces, which is one of the signals that tells your body it’s time to enter sleep mode. So complete darkness is ideal if you want four hours of quality sleep.
Blackout curtains can help to keep your bedroom dark and cozyYour bedroom should also be at an ideal sleep temperature, something that isn’t too hot or too cold. Experts say a good range is somewhere between 64-72° Fahrenheit. You should also factor in the climate you live in, the pajamas you wear, and how warm your mattress sleeps.
Your mattress is actually an important part of this whole 8 hours of sleep in 4 hours, too. If you don’t have a suitable mattress that feels comfortable and accommodating, it’s going to be really difficult to get a restful sleep on any night.
For side sleepers out there, you should be sleeping on a soft mattress that cradles the curves of your body. Back and stomach sleepers, on the other hand, would benefit more from a firm mattress that supports their spine and trunk from sinking into the bed.
We have tons of mattress reviews and comparisons on our site if you want to take a look at some affordable, but quality mattresses that will help you in your plight for great rest.
To achieve four hours of uninterrupted, quality sleep, we also suggest you stay away from ingesting liquids before going to bed. Even water. Otherwise, you risk waking up 2-3 hours in to use the restroom, and it isn’t always so easy to go back to sleep once you return.
Mindfulness is having the ability to manage or cope with certain thoughts, and being able to guide them in a more neutral, calming direction. Many adults cite stress as a cause of poor sleep, and if you can learn how to deflect those stressful thoughts, you make it easier for yourself to fall into a deep, restful sleep.
Practicing meditative movements like yoga or tai chi can help teach you mindfulness, while also relaxing your body at the same time.
November 25, 2013 Productivity Health
For those who are tired of losing valuable time to sleep.
Evgeny Dubovoy is an adherent of polyphasic sleep. While still a student, he realized that he was sorely lacking time. Therefore, Eugene decided to follow in the footsteps of Leonardo da Vinci and Salvador Dali and began to practice polyphasic sleep. He sleeps for a total of 4.5 hours a day.
Evgeny Dubovoy
Time is the most valuable resource in our lives. I have about two months of extra time every year.
It is believed that the norm of sleep for a person is 8 hours a day, preferably without breaks and at night.
The idea of polyphasic sleep is that instead of a long 8-hour sleep, rest is divided into several periods during the day.
As a result, its total duration is reduced, but the quality of sleep improves, you feel a surge of strength, and creative ideas are born.
The structure of human sleep includes two phases - slow-wave sleep (Non-REM) and fast sleep (REM). The slow-wave sleep phase occurs immediately after falling asleep, includes 4 stages and lasts about 90 minutes (75-80% of all sleep).
REM sleep is characterized by increased brain activity and dreams. It lasts 10–20 minutes (20–25% of total sleep). During the entire rest, the phases of slow-wave and REM sleep alternate with each other.
It is possible to almost halve the duration of sleep by reducing the non-REM sleep phase. According to supporters of polyphasic sleep, a person does not really need slow sleep, because the main energy recharge occurs during REM sleep.
The task of polyphasic sleep is to learn how to enter REM sleep as quickly as possible.
It is believed that at night non-REM sleep is longer (a person goes through all its stages), while during the day it is easier to plunge into REM sleep.
There are several polyphasic sleep modes:
Read more about the first four sleep modes in this article.
The fifth method is named after Nikola Tesla. It is believed that the famous physicist and inventor practiced just such a sleep pattern. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the body immediately enters the phase of REM sleep, without wasting time on a slow one.
Evgeny Dubovoy sleeps 4.5 hours a day (3.5 hours at night and an hour for 20 minutes during the day).
At the same time, in his opinion, it is important to correctly switch from normal to polyphasic sleep without compromising health.
Based on personal experience, Eugene recommends the following transition mechanism:
It took Evgeny about three weeks to get used to polyphasic sleep.
If you are not used to sleeping during the day and do not know how to fall asleep quickly, it will be difficult. The first couple of days I had difficulty falling asleep, despite the fact that the total duration of sleep decreased significantly. But in the end, the body got used to it.
Evgeny Dubovoy
In the 21st century there are more and more supporters of polyphasic sleep.
This is really a very attractive life hack, because time is now the most valuable resource.
Evgeny Dubovoy
However, polyphasic sleep has not been studied at a fundamental scientific level. In this regard, many doctors express concerns. In some diseases, such as those associated with the cardiovascular system, reducing the amount of sleep is contraindicated. Polyphasic sleep is also not recommended for teenagers.
Besides, man is a social being. Will such a ragged schedule interfere with others?
According to Yevgeny, at first his relatives worried about him. We made a compromise: polyphasic sleep with a monthly trial period. If any health problems occur during these 30 days, the experiment will be terminated immediately. Several years have passed. Eugene claims that he is full of strength and energy.
As for everyday life, Evgeny sees no problems here either: he carries a mask, ear plugs, a pillow and a smartphone everywhere with him - a set that allows you to doze off right in the office chair.
I don't think that my routine gives my colleagues any inconvenience. Someone goes to smoke, someone goes to dinner, and I just go to sleep.
Evgeniy Dubovoy
0036
How to sleep in 4 hours? Polyphasic sleep
Sleeping for 4 hours - oh, it's very simple. It is much more difficult not to sleep for the other 20…
Hurry, fuss… Purposeful people strive to achieve career heights and a decent level of well-being, to assert themselves or to prove something to someone.
They pile on an unrealistic amount of work, find a sea of new cases and try to cope with them all. Ambitiousness, ruthlessness towards oneself and circumstances, fortitude, perseverance - all this is positioned as the necessary properties of a successful person, and attention to one's well-being and concern for it are regarded as traits of an outsider.
As a result, life turns into a chaos of rapidly changing events, a bright rotating kaleidoscope, a frenzied race with rare pit stops.
Those who have made themselves slaves of obligations are constantly looking for the most important resource that they are forever lacking. Time to do everything. How to get it? Business freaks quickly find the answer to this question - they decide to sleep less. Sleep restriction makes them more tired, spoils their mood, but this does not bother people who are burning with work. It is possible to maintain a more or less working condition - that's nice. Although lack of sleep interferes - significantly interferes .
..
Many over-employed people say that by experience they have calculated the optimal time that they are willing to "sacrifice" for vacation. Following the precepts of Napoleon, they are ready to allocate about 4 hours for their sleep. It is impossible to sleep less - turning into a zombie is guaranteed. Sleeping more - well, this is already an excess ...
How to get enough sleep in 4 hours and is it even possible?
How to sleep for 4 hours and get enough sleep: examples from history
Thomas Addison, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher slept no more than 5 hours a day. Napoleon Bonaparte, Benjamin Franklin rested for 4 hours. The Lord of Lightning Nikola Tesla, they say, slept for 2-3 hours a day! Although the official story is silent about one point: being a real maniac in terms of work, the scientist really slept 2-3 hours a day for several days, falling asleep right in his clothes at the workplace.
But gradually fatigue accumulated, and at times he fell into a sound sleep for 1-1.5 days ...
The answer to the question of how to get enough sleep was found by Gaius Julius Caesar - he allowed himself no more than 3 hours of sleep per day. And giraffes generally sleep in several 10-minute meals and have a total sleep duration of less than 2 hours a day!
Stop stop, let's rewind a little and go back to 4 hours. As history shows, there were real examples of how people got enough sleep for 4 hours a day. How can an ordinary modern person who does not pretend to world domination achieve this?
"Sleepy" lucky people - short sleepers
There are people who even without special efforts and techniques get enough sleep in a short time. In a completely natural way. They are also called short sleepers. The percentage of short-sleepers is very small, they are almost as rare as albinos or yetis (this is a joke, of course), but they definitely exist.
The peculiarity of these people is that they sleep 4-5 hours and get enough sleep.
How much free time they have for deeds and accomplishments! Indeed, there is every reason to envy them. Most of us, alas, need 7-8 hours of oblivion in order to fully regain strength. Is it possible to deceive the body and learn how to get enough sleep in 4 hours? The answer is: polyphasic sleep techniques.
Polyphasic sleep: a way out of the situation or self-deception?
For a person who has a normal need for sleep, but wants to sleep for 4 hours, the only way to realize his idea is to switch to polyphasic sleep .
Of course, you can simply limit your night's sleep to 4 hours, but practice shows that you can sleep that much, but it's unlikely to get enough sleep. A few days - and the case will end with falling asleep at the most unexpected moment - for example, sleeping at the workplace with abundant drooling on the computer keyboard.
Or blackouts at dinner and soup burns on your face - who knows where you'll succumb to the spell of sleep!
And polyphasic sleep is, if not a panacea, but at least a hope for the preservation of working capacity and mental processes. There has been no official research on polyphasic sleep (and sleep experts do not recommend it!), but there are people who do. Several modes of polyphasic sleep have even been proposed.
Dymaxion mode : a person sleeps for half an hour every 6 hours.
Uberman mode : sleep every 4 hours for 20 minutes. Approximately such a technique was used by Leonardo da Vinci at one time - however, it is believed that he slept more often and for 15 minutes.
Everyman mode : at night sleep for 1.5-3 hours, during the day - 3 times at regular intervals of 20 minutes.
Tesla mode : 2 hours at night, 20 minutes during the day.
Siesta mode : 5 hours at night and 1.5 hours during the day.
Many people who want to learn how to get a quick sleep choose and put into practice their favorite schemes. The Internet is full of communities, groups, sites, discussions dedicated to polyphasic sleep and gathering its followers, sharing experience and success.
Do they manage to sleep for 4 hours and get enough sleep? Often yes. People achieve the greatest success in the "one night's sleep and one daytime" scheme. Moreover, they do not necessarily follow the minute-by-minute schedule of the above modes, sometimes lovers of the polyphasic sleep technique simply sleep for 1.5-2 hours at night and during the day.
This is quite logical. 1.5-2 hours is the duration of one sleep cycle. After this time, a person is in a phase of superficial sleep, at the moment when it is easiest for him to wake up and go to a vigorous state, which will last for several hours.
If you then sleep for the same amount of time, it helps to get another charge of vivacity. Thus, gradually "interrupting" with small portions of sleep, a person leads an acceptable existence.
Results of polyphasic sleep techniques. Joy and disappointment
People often experiment with reducing the duration of rest, but rarely switch to permanent polyphasic sleep - for a long time, alas (or fortunately?), few people are enough.
The first results of technology are always impressive. Practitioners say that they have a sea of time freed up for business, that they are efficient and cheerful, that they are simply shocked by how little it turns out you can sleep to get enough sleep!
Unfortunately, after a few days or weeks, most return to their previous regimen. The scenario is usually the same. The slightest failure of the established routine - and now a person first falls into a deep sleep for many hours, and waking up in a not the best condition, he realizes that he can no longer do this.
Why is it so?
It is difficult to resist nature. The human body is genetically programmed to sleep for the time it needs. For most it is 7-8 hours. With such a duration of sleep, a person regains strength, maintains physical and mental health. And trying to get enough sleep in 4 hours means depriving yourself of the necessary, restorative, healing sleep.
The polyphasic sleep technique, in which the duration of rest is halved, is like a severe diet, in which the calorie content of food is halved. On a diet, a person periodically “throws up” small portions of “fuel” to his body, sufficient for minimal recuperation. In the first days and weeks, he may feel even better and lighter than before!
But all the same, he is worried about hunger, the body begins to spend internal resources, due to which weight decreases, a breakdown is felt. If you sit on such a diet for too long, you can even get sick, moreover, with anything from ulcers to anorexia.
