Hello. 23M here. Upon considering my routine, I found out that If I need to do well in my studies and overall life, I can allocate myself only 4 hours of sleep at most. And I need to continue this for at least 4 years.
Though I had been skipping sleep for all sorts of loser-oriented reasons, from my high-school days. Binge watching a series or gaming all night etc. But never too strongly on a regular basis that can be considered as insomnia or anything.
Scientists, upon researching individuals with sleep found out various life-concerning symptoms and outcomes when they weren’t getting “Enough” sleep on a regular basis. Even though symptoms weren’t reflecting that quickly, but some brought devastating outcomes later on life. These results are found in journals and research papers.
But I want opinions and advices from people who weren’t a part of the research. Just regular guys who chose to focus on life too seriously by less prioritizing sleep.
My question is specifically towards the elderly people. Those who used to sleep less, around 4-5 hours daily for some years in their teenage, post-teenage years like me.
Did any of you guys face concerning health complications later in life that were then diagnosed as a lack of sleep in your teenage era?
Additionally, I have a slight memorization problem. I can’t remember more than 90% of what happened to me back in my high-school era( 2016-2021 ). I used to vaguely remember until 2023 when I started to forget.
So I don’t want to have any more cognitive complications by sleeping less hours in my thriving time.
Considering that I only need to continue this for at most 4 years and not more, How severe of a health complication I might face in future?
Having suffered with untreated sleep apnea for several years (I have a CPAP now, thank God), I can tell you that you’re not gonna be able to do this for four week, let alone four years. Sleep deprivation won’t kill you instantly but it will make you feel like you’re dying, and also make you want to be dead. Whatever the solution to your problems is, this ain’t it.
Planning to only sleep 4 hours max every night for four years is a terrible fucking idea, especially since you seem to wanting to do it “productively” for college…
You’re forgetting shit because you’re chronically sleep deprived, and whatever you think is so important that you’re not sleeping is doing more harm than good.
Like, why the fuck would someone do this, realize it’s bad, read empirical evidence it’s bad, then ask random social media for ancedotal evidence to feel better about ignoring research?
Like, what are you even going to school for, what program accepted you? I feel like there’s a very high chance you’re being taken advantage of someway
I’m kinda in a situation of “The world can go fuck itself but I need to grind.” Not physically, but mentally.
I had a dispute with my parents 2 days ago. They’re the typical parents who doesn’t even know the existence of mental health and don’t know that it is an actual concern, plus they bring down trauma of their parents by picking on their children( me ).
They have been doing this for years and only yesterday, I decided that I won’t tolerate their behavior.
That’s when I edited my current routine and changed it into the one I wrote in the post.
I decided that I need to get a stable grade first, no matter what. Then I need to increase my financial income.
Only then, I’m hoping that they MIGHT stop picking on me and then I can focus on myself, for myself.
Anyway, increasing the sleeping hours isn’t impossible. It’s just that, after getting put under their demeaning spotlight, I don’t find it worthy to have a good sleep for myself anymore and probably there’s not much of a convincing method that’ll shift my mindset to think otherwise. Probably…
Perhaps I’ll change my decision after 1 week…
I’m still at a “whim of the moment” position. I’m determined enough to stick to a 4 hour sleep routine, but not sure enough if that is an ideal decision for me. Also I don’t have enough willpower to atomically divide down and re-edit my schedule to increase it in a 7-8 hours sleep schedule. At least, not for now.
I might give an update after 5-6 days.
They have been doing this for years and only yesterday, I decided that I won’t tolerate their behavior.
You write you won’t tolerate their behaviour anymore, but only 2 sentences later you write that you’re hoping that they’ll stop picking on you if you do this. That’s not just tolerating their behaviour, that’s encouraging it.
I decided that I need to get a stable grade first, no matter what.
Depriving yourself of sleep will be extremely detrimental to your mental and academic performance. That’s just biology and no amount of “grindset” can change that.
Research VS Reality…?
Research IS reality. Academic consensus from a field of experts is far more reliable than any anectodes you’re going to find here.
Maybe you’re an exception. Sure, that’s a possibility. A doctor who knows your medical history and can meet with you over time will be able to tell that. You can do “virtual visits” if you’re low on time.
Other than that, you’re in danger of just latching on to whatever anectode tells you what you want to hear.
