Slow Down and Build Up

Even with motivation shoving your brain around and although deficits will eventually erase themselves, take your time adapting to this. A break now and then will help. Go too fast and your body will stop you. Getting started took me a few weeks.

Don’t Rush That Madly

Panic at the last minute is not why you do this. If you’re stuck with rushing a massive report first thing tomorrow morning and you stay up and get it done, fine for now, but you’ll need to make the sleep deficit up by midday. On the other hand, gradual longer-term restructuring suits circumstances you control.

Final dates, exams, and deadlines sometimes get changed by surprise. Keeping your own pace near the end eases coping with last-minute changes. Even last-minute extensions can be bad news, since having more time means people think they can add to your burden. When you stay in control of yourself, you can afford to be flexible.

Unexpected surprises happen. All kinds. We usually handle them fine. If you get jumpy, your reaction may be wrong or too slow. That makes you a problem. Grab a nap.

If you anticipate having to be up long hours without a break, sneak your sleep before. Or steal it brazenly. It’s your constitutional right.

Deficit Make-Up

Sleep deficits are made up in a few weeks or not at all, I’m told, at least as far as getting extra sleep goes.

Which has an implication. Maybe you make up the whole deficit by functioning less while you’re up. Maybe you get body damage. I don’t know.

But I’ve been ok. It’s a personal judgment.

Build Up in Weeks

Give yourself a few weeks to build up to it. Don’t force-fit a calendar. Stay in touch with your comfort levels, don’t let anyone rush you into it, and don’t start suddenly. Add hours a little at a time. Don’t use mathematical formulas; use your sense of self when adding more uptime.

Websites of Interest

These websites have some interesting content, although I disagree with some of it:

Health advice from reliable sources favoring normal sleep:

What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency?, from National Institutes of Health

Sleep Tips: 7 Steps to Better Sleep, from the Mayo Clinic

Consequences of Insufficient Sleep, from Harvard Medical School

“Eat, Sleep and Move” Campaign Success Includes Fun with Family and Friends, from the United States Army

Other reliable sources:

How to Fake a Good Night’s Sleep, from Health.com and CNN, a journalistic broadcaster; the story has tips on making do with less sleep

25 Random Facts about Sleep, from National Sleep Foundation, an organization with several physicians on its Board of Directors

The Factor Of Sleep In Training., from a bodybuilding business, with some of its information coming from a physician

15 Things You Should Know About Sleep, from a journalism source citing medical and other sources

Poor Sleep Has Social Causes and Consequences, by a sociology professor

9 Fun Facts About Sleep, from Encyclopaedia Britannica

Opinions, probably from laity:

Relax! You’ll Be More Productive, an opinion piece partly on naps and rest

40 Amazing Facts About Sleep: 40 Facts About Sleep You Probably Didn’t Know... (Or Were Too Tired To Think About), from the National Sleep Research Project, hosted by Australian Broadcasting Corp., a journalism source

Wellness Center Relaxation and Sleep Information, from Midwestern State University

How Much Sleep Does a Person Need?, from Tuck, saying that people tend to claim getting more sleep than they actually get and that only a little over two thirds of Americans get enough sleep

Other information:

Research on Sleep and REM, by an undergraduate student

The Guide to Sleeping in Airports

(Sources: All except one of the links to these websites of interest were as accessed April 3, 2016, the exception being the link to Tuck, which was accessed February 25 or 26, 2017.)