I Tried Sleeping for Two Hours a Day and Almost Lost My Mind

According to his biographer, Nikola Tesla slept no more than two hours a night. Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla explains that "by plugging the keyhole and the chinks around his door, he was able to spend the night hours reading volumes purloined from his father's bookshelves. Frequently… he would read throughout the entire night, and feel none the worse for the loss of sleep."

This is not a rare story. If you type "sleep habits" into Google you'll be met with several thousand suggestions, all relating to famous people who didn't sleep much. Leonardo da Vinci slept two hours a night. Margaret Thatcher slept about four, but then sometimes more on weekends. Mozart got up at 6 AM every morning and worked until after midnight. It's suggested he usually got about five.

Read the full story here...

I tried Polyphasic sleep for a week and it felt like LSD

Cue the scene: Oakland, California. Early 90’s. Streaks of afternoon sun.

A preschool-aged me lies staring at the ceiling, back flush against a blue gym mat, in a quiet classroom. Around me, classmates do the same, some of them fidgeting nervously with their hands.

I’m still awake, as usual, but instead of spending the next half hour mentally cataloguing everything in the room, I decide to inquire further about this elusive nap thing. I turn to my friend, who is spooning a stuffed Tasmanian Devil on the mat across from mine.

“How do you go to sleep? Can you show me how?” I ask. She nods, slowly. “It’s easy.” Lip smack. Yawn. Lip smack. “You just go like this.” Her single open eye falls back closed, and in seconds, she is snoring.

Until recently, I still didn’t really ‘get it.’ I have always spent at least an hour, usually two, in bed, waiting for sleep. On nights when I have to be up early, I’ll worry so much about needing to get enough sleep that I get none. I was always ashamed of my inability to do something so hardwired into all of us.

Read the full story here...