For thepast few weeks i have been extremely tired at all times of the day, no matter how early or late i get to sleep. Want to be able to do more during the day? Missing just a few hours of sleep every night for a week will give you the workaday cognitive ability of someone who just chugged five beers: You'll be as dumb as the night before, but not nearly as happy. With the help of Harvard Medical School's Charles Czeisler, here is our guide to sleeping—and working—better.
6 to 7:30 a.m.
When your alarm clock goes off, don't hit the snooze button. If you regularly super-snooze, that means you're probably sleep deprived. The average 35-year-old needs seven to eight hours of solid shut-eye. A college freshman needs eight to nine. An octogenarian can get by on four to five.
7:45 a.m.
Don't do anything important. For the first quarter hour every morning, your brain is capable of operating a toothbrush and not much else.
9 to 11 a.m.
If you consider yourself to be a morning person, this is when your brain is most primed for work. Don't waste it on TMZ.com.
3 p.m.
You'll get drowsy now, but wait it out. Why? We get by on natural alertness for the first eight hours we're awake, and then our brain injects us with energy to get us through another eight.
4 p.m.
If you're not feeling it, avoid Starbucks. Caffeine only blocks the neural receptors that tell your brain it's time to knock out—it doesn't cancel thoughtdulling fatigue.
5 to 7 p.m.
If you're a morning person, your brain is a shriveled instrument. Ditch that project and curl up under the desk.
11 p.m.
Turn off the TV and the computer. Bright light before bed throws off your brain rhythms.
11:30 p.m.
Daytime mental performance is about spending one-third of your life asleep, and the best way to get quality REM is to pick a bedtime—and stick to it.—Trent Macnamara
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