{"id":35,"date":"2011-01-29T00:38:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-29T08:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bulletproofexec.com\/?p=35"},"modified":"2024-06-18T13:44:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T20:44:30","slug":"sleep-hacking-part-1-how-to-sleep-less-do-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bulletproof.com\/sleep-articles\/sleep-hacking-part-1-how-to-sleep-less-do-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleep Hacking Part 1: How to Sleep Less & Do More"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is the first in a series I’ll write about how to safely(ish) hack your sleep<\/a>. I\u2019m a biohacker, not a physician (although I\u2019m married to one of those), and even my die-hard 80 year old antiaging friends who attend Smart Life Forum<\/a> and look like they\u2019re 60 will shake their heads at some of the techniques that let you sleep less. \u00a0So, be warned before you read further: the rewards of sleep hacking are many, but the risks are higher than many other biohacking projects. \u00a0And for God\u2019s sake, don\u2019t try to add massive muscle mass or lose tons of weight while cutting sleep. \u00a0That\u2019s a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n

I tend to post at 2 in the morning because I have a very demanding day job as a VP level technical evangelist for a large internet security company that just doesn’t allow time for recreational blogging. \u00a0In Silicon Valley, you have to kick ass in your day job just to keep up with your colleagues. \u00a0But as biohacker who is obsessed with getting more time and energy everyday, I still blog, and I use biohacking to get an unfair advantage in my career – more time, more energy, and less stress.<\/p>\n

Sleep Hacking is Risky<\/h2>\n

Hacking sleep is one of the many ways to get more productivity out of your every day routine, but it comes with a lot of risk, as explained in this awesome chart<\/a>. It’s wasteful to go without enough sleep (like almost everyone) while ignoring the simple things you can do to make that sleep count.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re too tired to click that link, the bottom line is that lack of sleep can make you fat, substantially increase your risk of dying, give you cancer, or give you heart disease. \u00a0It\u2019s much safer to hack your fat, or muscle. \u00a0I did that first (losing over 100lbs) and THEN I started sleep hacking. \u00a0If you want to have more time, it is possible to preserve your health, mental function, and energy while trimming sleep.<\/p>\n

It’s also possible to break your adrenal function, or your thyroid gland if you go for long periods without sleep. \u00a0Your body can literally begin to die and cortisol levels spike dangerously high. \u00a0On the bright side, you’ll feel so foggy and tired that you’ll sleep more and hopefully recover over a period of time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

A good biohacker counters the things that happen from bad sleep fortifying adrenal and thyroid function, and even controlling the blood sugar spikes that happen from lack of sleep. \u00a0For the last 18 months, I’ve slept an average of five hours per night without gaining weight, and without a drop in mental performance (on most days anyway\u2026). \u00a0I have a 6 pack, and you can see visible veins in my abdomen, yet I did not exercise at all during this time. \u00a0I\u2019m adding 40 minutes a week back to my regimen soon, but that\u2019s another topic. \u00a0All of my antiaging blood parameters (19 vials of blood, every 6-12 months!) show I’m doing well with hacked sleep.<\/p>\n

To get sleep data, I’ve tried to use my EEG \u2013 the one I’ve used on and off for 13 years to hack my brain \u2013 while sleeping, but the annoying electrodes come off, make a mess, and the wires get tangled. \u00a0It sucks, and even for a biohacker like me, the inconvenience isn’t worth the questionable data.<\/p>\n

Sleep Hacking Part 2<\/h2>\n

As I mentioned, this is a sleep hacking series, a series for you to understand your sleep and hack it! Sleep hacking is no joke and should be treated seriously\u00a0because messing with sleep can be\u00a0dangerous, but I want to help people hack their sleep because it is one of the most important things you can do for your health and longevity, and this series does just that: helps you hack your sleep as safely as possible.<\/p>\n

Sleep Hacking Part 2: Reboot Your Sleep & Fall Asleep Fast<\/a><\/p>\n

Insomnia is pervasive in todays society, many have trouble falling asleep and many more have trouble staying asleep. This is an extremely expensive problem and one that is worth hacking. In part two I break down the math for you to understand how its costing you precious years of your life<\/strong>. You will\u00a0learn to get sleepy faster, my favorite pre bed rituals, stuff that you should be avoiding\u00a0and the best habits to get into for more efficient, quality sleep (hint: its actually less hours of sleep than you may think).<\/p>\n

The Sleep Cycle App<\/h3>\n

I’ve now opted in for the sleep cycle app<\/a>, an amazing app that actually tracks you while you’re sleeping. I use sleep cycle\u00a0every night and its how I know if I got a good sleep or if I was tossing and turning all night, it tells me what time I fell into a deep sleep and how long I maintained that deep sleep. It has an alarm clock that does not jolt you out of bed by scaring you with some really loud and obnoxious noise and its super easy to use.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to a good night\u2019s sleep\u2026 in 2 hours if I can pull it off!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is the first in a series I’ll write about how to safely(ish) hack your sleep. I\u2019m a biohacker, not a physician (although I\u2019m married to one of those), and even my die-hard 80 year old antiaging friends who attend Smart Life Forum and look like they\u2019re 60 will shake their heads at some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31567],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleep-articles","reviewer-theresa-greenwell"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSleep Hacking Part 1: How to Sleep Less & Do More<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The rewards of sleep hacking are many. 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