Sleep

[El Moroes]

Interesting topic. When I read what HP said and if I compare his situation with mine,  I've the same comportment and problem.

The problem is that I've also the impression to loose my time when I sleep but in another way, if I don't have my sleeping hours I wake up tired and I make nothing good during a part of the day, it's only during the end of the day that I also feel a boost of energy and do some work / learning. 

But now with a daughter, I've a "morning clock" and I can't stay in my bed and let my wife doing all we need to do with a child...so yep, currently I often sleep during 5/6 hours by night and I know it's not enough...I'm trying to change this habit but it's not easy, not easy at all.

Edited August 17, 2013 by moroes

[Corwin]

Same situation, I'm not so much a night owl as my son seems to be, it's hard to put him to bed early, and I wake up every day quite early to get to work, so my nights are short. The little bugger goes on sleeping till noon and doing his 12hrs nights while I'll be happy if I sleep more than 7hrs.

Worst part is, even on weekends, because of the habit of rising early to get to work, I'm also up on my own at 7-8am.

 

I'm also subject to some stress which doesn't help me sleep in in the mornings, and like some of you guys already mentioned, I'm always feeling like I've got very little free time nowadays so sleeping gets in the way of my personal growth and of being a creative person (because work doesn't let me be that often) so I'm tempted to postpone sleep as much as I can.

 

All in all, I'm accumulating fatigue these days, and never did quite get some proper rest since my son was born (although nowadays it's not really because of him anymore, he doesn't wake up at night at all), and a single bad night (party in the neighbourood, super hot weather, etc.) can mean I feel like shit for a few days, rubbing my eyes all the time and being irritable etc.

 

Not very happy about that, but not very happy about doing nothing but taking care of my son/wife/home either, so I'm trying to spin all those plates at once, and surviving with 6-7h sleep/night.

 

Now that we're going to work on Sundays to finish our game, I realize how much I gained from the 2-days break of weekends. I find that since I started doing that, I'm even more tired and not ever really rested and due to that I get easily interrupted at work, start day-dreaming on the job, etc. which makes me question the actual benefits of doing so, if I'm then wasting half of my afternoon not managing to focus or creating errors in my scripts etc.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Corwin

[Thrik]

It's a really good point that using some kind of interactive device keeps me awake pretty much until I force myself to go to bed. Whether it's a games console, computer, or even just a phone I get into that cycle we must all be familiar with of 'quickly doing one more thing'. And then another hour or two passes.

 

I hadn't realised, but another thing I've been doing during the past year or so is turning my interactive devices off an hour or so before the time I wish to go to bed and instead doing passive things like watching TV, reading a book, or even just drawing. When it's a one-way thing I don't seem to have a problem, in fact it helps me to wind my brain down.

 

This might be even more important than all the other stuff, because I have noticed that since getting into certain time sink games (*cough* Skyrim) I've occasionally had nights like my teenage years of gaming until like 3am, lol. Fortunately I can't get away with it when my girlfriend's round so it only happens once or twice a week.

 

So that's another thing those struggling to go to sleep should try, especially those who do it because they're working on personal stuff: turn the computer off 30–60 minutes before the time you believe you should go to bed and see if it helps. I know it's hard, but I personally find that with a better sleep cycle I can feel motivated and energised to work on personal stuff at any time of day rather than just the evening.

[Furyo]

I too share a lot of the same issues you guys have been discussing, or rather I used to. My going to the gym before work in the morning helped me getting a LOT more tired much earlier at night, and with the combined help of a airplane sleep mask that helps me keep my deep sleep pattern when the sun goes up, I am now sleeping better than ever. Actually I only get pissy and tired when I DON'T go to the gym.

 

A couple things you guys can consider:

 - Give yourself a cool down period between your last screen activity (PC, tv) and your going to bed time. Otherwise your brain will be in hyper activity from both what you were doing and the bright screen keepng your eyes up and alert way past their bedtime.

 - Have a doctor test you for sleep apnea. It's a far more common problem than you might think, and really destroys the quality of your sleep as well as your healh. Sleep apnea is breathing difficulties during your sleep, which while not waking you up most times, will create a lack of oxygen to your brain while you sleep. Worst cases of sleep apnea last over 30 seconds, multiple times per hour, all night long. Those most prone to having it would generally feel continuously tired even when sleeping 8+ hours. There is no cure for it, but you can get a machine by your night rest that will force oxygen down your lungs while you sleep to force your air ways and lungs fully functioning at night. Works wonders.

[selmitto]

Great thread.

 

I can recall many moments when I had a test on the following day and did a life hack to "solidify" what I had studied. It always worked: when I was lying on the bed with my eyes closed, I thought about the test's topic and tried to summarize everything on my mind. I noticed that on the next morning I could remember most of that

 

Ah, magically coming up with design/ programming solutions after a good night of sleep is awesome indeed.

 

In my case, I prefer to work on my personal projects during the night because my performance improves significantly. There's simply too many distractions during the day. When I work on my projects at between 11pm- 6am~, there isn't any phone ringing, people calling you to talk nonsense, no sound of TV, no deliveries to be received etc. I can focus a lot more that way.

[⌐■_■]

anyone with a fulltime job considered working 4 days instead of 5? I can't right right now (just got 10 nightshifts done ) but as soon as I have the financial freedom to do so: fuck the 5 day work per week schedule man, live life!

[Thrik]

I wish I could afford to, lol. I am allowed to work from home two/three times a week though, which combined with flexitime makes things feel more like my work life can fit around what I want to do. It's a great approach I wish more companies would take as everyone always feels so happy and motivated.

[blackdog]

I just come out of a night of 6 hours sleep, subdivided by a couple of "shifts"... I need to get up about every 3 hours because our poor old dog needs to go outside. This has been going on for months now.

And this is already the 4th night out of five since my parents got back from holidays -_-

 

So that's another thing those struggling to go to sleep should try [...] turn the computer off 30–60 minutes before the time

I thought you were going to write to find a girlfriend

 

- Give yourself a cool down period between your last screen activity (PC, tv) and your going to bed time. Otherwise your brain will be in hyper activity from both what you were doing and the bright screen keepng your eyes up and alert way past their bedtime.

I definitely must try, because my habit is just to stay at the computer until i collapse. I must return to the very old habit of reading when in bed... that would just be a good thing on its own, i've piled up so many gifted books in the last years.

 

anyone with a fulltime job considered working 4 days instead of 5? I can't right right now (just got 10 nightshifts done ) but as soon as I have the financial freedom to do so: fuck the 5 day work per week schedule man, live life!

Seen any Jason Fried talks uh?

I didn't want to say anything about this stuff because i'm currently unemployed and haven't work in the gaming industry, but Corwin's post talking about crunching really tempted me to.

Edited August 19, 2013 by blackdog

[Jord]

It's funny everytime I think of Nysuatro I think a guy strolling around the office with his bare hands instead of his feet and doing push-ups while working at his desk shouting "Aint nobody got time to sit still!!!"

 

That's actually what working with him is like. Add to that spinning on his head whilst simultaneous solving usability issues and you've got Robb.

 

I'm a complete night owl too, if I had the choice that's how I'd rather live. I just enjoy night time more, there's less cars on the road, it's quieter, shops are always empty and it's generally more relaxing.

 

I used to game with an all-American clan during college and Uni and would stay up till 7 or 8 in the morning, sleep through the day and then wake up around 4pm and start gaming again. I was essentially living in their time zone and I think this is where a lot of my night owl habits come from.

 

Having to work during the day is what keeps me being 'normal' though I usually get around 7-8 hours of sleep a night if I drive to work and with flexi-time i tend to get to work around half 9. If I have to get the train I'll wake up at around 7 with usually less than 6 hours sleep and feel absolutely knackered for most of the day.

 

I used to drink a lot of caffeine drinks, energy drinks mostly and this kept me going but I quit that a fw months ago and I feel a lot better for it. Water is generally a lot better.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Jord

[Beck]

 

It's funny everytime I think of Nysuatro I think a guy strolling around the office with his bare hands instead of his feet and doing push-ups while working at his desk shouting "Aint nobody got time to sit still!!!"

 

That's actually what working with him is like. Add to that spinning on his head whilst simultaneous solving usability issues and you've got Robb.

 

 

This. 

 

He's a crazy son of a bitch xD

[Chimeray]

It's a really good point that using some kind of interactive device keeps me awake pretty much until I force myself to go to bed. Whether it's a games console, computer, or even just a phone I get into that cycle we must all be familiar with of 'quickly doing one more thing'. And then another hour or two passes.

It might not have anything to do with interactivity or "active brain use" but just cos it's emitting light. Exposure to light spikes your serotonin levels while reducing melatonin. I forgot a lot about it though so might wanna google that Either way, it's good to reduce your monitor's brightness.

 

Edit: Furyo beat me to it.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Chimeray

[Izuno]

Since cutting out 95% of processed sugar in my diet, my energy level during the day is much more constant and I don't rely on caffeine. And while I don't get more sleep (due to kids) the quality of my sleep feels so much better.

The older you get, the less sugar you should eat.

Side topic: it's not the fat...it's the sugar.

[syver]

friend of mine recommended this; http://www.withandrewjohnson.com/

 

trying it tonight

[-HP-]

I'm also subject to some stress which doesn't help me sleep in in the mornings, and like some of you guys already mentioned, I'm always feeling like I've got very little free time nowadays so sleeping gets in the way of my personal growth and of being a creative person (because work doesn't let me be that often) so I'm tempted to postpone sleep as much as I can.

 

You know, I was thinking about this yesterday... As we grow older, we become more and more busy, It's hard to find time to take a shit without looking at the clock or thinking what do we have to finish today, or do next. And when you DO manage to find time to rest from all the commotion, you typically schedule it to do something with the wife / family / friends, because free time is so scarce you wanna do something fun with it, right? We cap every single possible hole in our time with something.

 

What happened to free time? Time to literally just chill and exhale... Time to just sit down and figure out on the spot what leisure activity you're gonna be doing, because you feel like doing different stuff in different days. Those free days when you ask yourself: "ok... wtf am I gonna do today, maybe I'm just gonna go down to the beach and stare at the waves while scratching my balls", or "Ah... fuck it, I'm gonna stay here and boot up this game or movie"

 

It was in a day like that that I figured what my passions in life are. It was in a "boring" day like that I found what kind of music I love. It was in a boring day I discovered modding, it was in a boring day I decided to give texturing a go, it was in a boring day I decided to boot up a music making app and have a blast with it. Because without boring days, you will never take the time to discover new stuff, or just do some soul searching if you will.

 

That's also one of next goals in life, drift out of the main path more often. Otherwise, it will be the blink of an eye that you'll realize that you're 60 and old and wtf did you do with your life. And I also firmly believe that's the solution for stress, and quite likely the only one.

[Sentura]

I see some future GDC presentations here