How to train myself to need less sleep before starting full-time?

So I've always been someone who needs an above average amount of sleep. During school, left to my own devices, I usually need 9ish hours, or 8ish + 30minutes to and hour of laying in bed before getting up. If I sleep 7 or less, I get really tired in the afternoon and almost always have to take a 30 minute nap or so. I'm trying to get myself down to an average of 7-7.5 hours (nothing too crazy) of sleep per day with no naps, and I'm wondering if you guys had any tips on how to do that? Is it just a mental thing that I have to really put my mind to? Or should I be focusing on hyper-optimizing diet and exercise? Or something else?

11 Comments
 

I used to need to sleep a ton in hs but after I started college I have completely changed. I am pretty sure that this is connected to how busy I am now compared to when I was in high school. My calendar is very full, I workout 4-5x per week, no caffeine and my sleep is perfect. Another tip: never stay in bed with phone both in the morning and at night.

 

Lmaooo I've been thinking about this a lot recently. My sleep habits have gotten really bad with online classes and the free time over the summer, but I think when you have responsibilities and busy days its a lot easier to get up when you need to. Been sleeping a lot during this online semester but during my internship this past summer I got up when I needed to.

 

Way easier to deal with lack of sleep when you're busy. Don't forget many analysts are former frat stars who were sleeping 10-12 hours their senior year, you will adapt pretty quickly. A default 9 hour schedule might be helpful for lighter days/weekends to catch up.

I wouldn't go to "hyper-optimizing" levels but would definitely look at your diet/exercise routine and get rid of any terrible eating habits now. Nothing kills your energy like fast food every night.

 

for exercise, are there any specific things you think are good to focus on? My intuition says cardio would be most important, but also curious if lifting and stuff also actually helps with sleep tolerance.

 

tbh for me personally i never do the big lifts like squats or deadlifts on workdays, maybe on the weekend if im free because they drain me way too much the next day to function optimally at work and i never have energy to do them being sleep deprived anyway

if i gym during work its usually lighter or more cardio shit but i have no idea whats the optimal workout plan with sleep tolerance

 

I’m in college and on the days I have no class sometimes I sleep for 9-10 hours even if I go to bed earlier my body is just not used to it definitely something I need to fix as well

 
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