Sleep Less for Success

topmba.com ^ | June 4 2014 | Archana Rao

[WilliamIII]

What do Marissa Mayer (Yahoo’s CEO), Indira Nooyi (Chairman & CEO of Pepsico), Barack Obama, Condoleeza Rice (Former US secretary of state), Thomas Edison (inventor), Jay Leno (TV host) and Shah Rukh Khan (Bollywood superstar) have in common?

Give up?

They all sleep or slept for only three-four hours a night. These are just a few of the numerous successful people around the world whose time management regimen barely allows them to get any sleep. Donald Trump once asked, “How does somebody that's sleeping 12 and 14 hours a day compete with someone that's sleeping three or four?".

It’s a valid question, albeit one with an obvious answer. You can’t! There is no competition there. Even if the person who sleeps only three-four hours a day goofs around for a few hours here and there, they would still be in a better position to work towards being more successful! Now let us not get into the argument of what success means. It clearly means different things to different people. To me, success might be providing an excellent education to each and every child on the planet and to others it might mean owning a private jet, an island and an Aston Martin. Both need crazy numbers of hours to be invested from the pool of time you have been given on this earth.

So the question really boils down to – how do you use time management skills to maximize the time you have? After only two weeks here at the Darden School of Business, I came to realize that the only way to do this is sleep less!

[aposiopetic]

I remember hearing that neither Thatcher nor Chuchill slept a whole lot.

[carlo3b]

You knew this would happen, some moron would jump up and say that all you require is 4-5 hours.. It’s me.. surprise!

That is it, 4 hours and occasionally 5, tops.. My entire life I have had trouble sleeping, so now I take pills to get 4 hours.. yuck.

I do nap, 20-30 minutes mid day, and have done that forever.. I worked in the restaurant and hotel business 45 years, and fit right in with the long hours.. 7am-2am.. yup

[desertfreedom765]

In general... You should eat when your hungry and not by the clock and you should sleep when your tired.

Try to be as productive as possible in the mean time.

Also turn off the dam TV.

[Gene Eric]

>> I came to realize that the only way to do this is sleep less!

Relative to sleeping too much?

Too little sleep is very unhealthy, and the effects of fatigue can be disastrous.

For those not sure, 7-8 hours is adequate for the average adult.

[Lazamataz]

I haven’t slept since Sputnik.

[Moonman62]

I hears Thomas Edison only slept a few hours a night. Later it was found he also had a couch in his office where he took of naps.

Eddie Rickenbacker would pull that trick, too. He'd get to the office very early in the morning.

[precisionshootist]

3-4 hours a day? I call total B.S. Take a group of people and give them only 3-4 hours sleep every night for six months and 90% or more would be hospitalized or dead.

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[gattaca]

bookmark

[Organic Panic]

my secret....I started my own business and threw away my alarm clock. Alarm clocks are evil creations.

[CatherineofAragon]

I don’t buy it. My father-in-law is a very successful man. He built a little garage business up to a pretty sizeable one. He believes anyone who sleeps past four in the morning is a lazy bum, but he also goes to bed early. Sleep is important to function properly.