For most people, sleeping 4 hours a night isn't enough to wake up rested and mentally alert, no matter how well they sleep. There is a common myth that one can adapt to chronic sleep restriction, but there is no evidence that the body functionally adapts to lack of sleep. Sleeping just 4 hours a night is not good in the long run. Unless you can supplement your sleep with an additional four-hour block during the day.
However, if it happens from time to time and you follow helpful advice on how to feel more awake, it shouldn't be a problem. If you can only sleep this limited amount and there's no way to add one or two more blocks of sleep throughout the day, you'll most likely feel groggy, restless, and unproductive when you wake up, yawn a lot and don't enjoy the day. Not only does the quality of sleep affect physical well-being, Woodman says it also plays an important role in mental health care. As long as each period includes the important parts of sleep, such as deep sleep and REM sleep, and as long as the mattress is as comfortable as possible, this can be very effective.
If your job requires you to wake up early, but you also insist on staying up late, that short night's sleep won't do you any favors. While sleeping a few nights here and there probably isn't bad in the long run, maintaining a regular cycle of about eight hours of sleep is ideal for your well-being, even if that means forcing yourself to close TikTok and leave your phone behind for the night. And, if you want to figure out how to sleep less and you think you can pay off your sleep debt on the weekends and be more productive during the week, think again; this study found that even a sleepless night can dramatically affect your daily productivity. Three consecutive sleepless nights will have a big impact on your body and mind, including your mental health.
No matter how much you convince yourself that four hours of sleep is enough, science is not on your side (sadly). While sleeping four hours a night does not constitute a total lack of sleep, Woodman explains that it will definitely affect the level of productivity and body functions. It is called biphasic or polyphasic sleep (depending on whether sleep is divided into two or more different phases). In fact, this biphasic sleep pattern is ideal for anyone who has trouble staying asleep and, anyway, wakes up after 4 hours of sleep.
While sleeping just four hours each night doesn't constitute a total lack of sleep, it will have an impact on productivity and physiological functioning. At first, you might think it's strange that sleeping 4 hours twice a day is the same as sleeping eight hours straight, but there is evidence to show that this can be the case. When you don't sleep well, your body needs more energy to perform everyday actions, as it works harder to keep you awake, Woodman explains.
