We all know from childhood that healthy sleep should last 8 hours. Modern scientists believe that you can be in the arms of Morpheus for only 4 hours.


How to get enough sleep in 4 hours without harm to the body? To do this, you need to master a special REM sleep technique.


How to get enough sleep in 4-5 hours

What is polyphasic sleep?

For the first time this term was used by the psychologist Shimansky at the beginning of the 20th century. He noticed that sleep is not just an unconscious state. In fact, it consists of several phases - slow and fast, which repeat every 90 minutes.


The slow phase begins when a person falls asleep, during this period his body relaxes, brain impulses subside, pulse and temperature drop. REM sleep lasts only 20 minutes. It is during this period that people see dreams.


Adherents of polyphasic sleep suggest eliminating the slow phase and leaving only short-term sleep. The number of hours spent in bed is reduced, but there is no feeling of tiredness or weakness in the morning.


By the way, many geniuses did not waste time dreaming. It was Napoleon who practiced polyphasic sleep: the French emperor fell asleep for 2-3 hours (from 23:00 to 02:00), then woke up and went to bed again from 05:00 to 07:00. Leonardo da Vinci generally slept during the day for 20 minutes every four hours. And Nikola Tesla could sleep in 2 hours.


How to get enough sleep in 4-5 hours: features of the technique

Of course, it all depends on the individual characteristics of the person. For some, sleepless nights do not cause any harm to health, but there are those who spend 10 hours in bed, and this is not enough for them. Without consulting a doctor, you cannot follow Napoleon's example and devote only 4 hours to sleep. In any case, in order to master the life hack - how to sleep in 4 hours, you must follow some rules. First of all, you need to understand a simple thing: in order to learn to fall asleep quickly, you cannot waste time on night thoughts. As soon as your head touches the pillow, you are bound to dream. How to overcome insomnia?


  1. It is necessary to get rid of anxious thoughts.
  2. Dinner should be light, without alcohol and fatty foods. Two hours before bedtime, it is better not to eat anything at all.
  3. Physical activity is required during the day. Athletes and soldiers fall asleep instantly.
  4. Refrain from tea and hot chocolate. Calming as they may seem, they contain caffeine that keeps you awake.
  5. Avoid intense work, loud music, heated arguments, and horror movies in the late evening.
  6. Spend the hours before bed in a relaxed environment, without worrying about daytime problems. Remember the advice of Scarlett O'Hara, who kept saying, "I'll think about it tomorrow."
  7. When entering the bedroom, forget about material problems and about the work that awaits you the next day.
  8. Sports at night looking is also not an option. But stretching exercises, on the contrary, will help you fall asleep quickly. Alternatively, you can simply hang on the horizontal bar.
  9. Take a warm (but not hot) bath. It usually works better on the body than any sleeping pill.
  10. Buy yourself some nice and comfortable pajamas and good quality bedding. Many stores now sell special bags of herbs. When placed under a pillow, they have a soothing effect.

REM sleep technique

The technique is simple. To master it, you must choose a polyphasic sleep mode. There are several of them.

  • "Extreme": sleep for 30 minutes every 6 hours.
  • Like Leonardo da Vinci: Sleep for 20 minutes every 4 hours.
  • "Ordinary": sleep at night and during the day for 3 hours. Daytime sleep can be broken down into parts.
  • "Siesta": night sleep - 5 hours, daytime - 1.5 hours.
  • "Like Tesla": night sleep - 2 hours, daytime - 20 minutes.

Many scientists and doctors are skeptical about the very idea of ​​how to get enough sleep in 5 hours. The body of not every person can withstand such a regime. Before staying up at night, you should consult your doctor. If health allows and you have no contraindications, then the algorithm of actions will be as follows. First, you need to purchase a tracker - a kind of sensor created to monitor sleep. It is attached to the corner of the pillow so that in the morning you can find out in detail how you spent the night. The tracker will show the phases of deep and REM sleep, in just a couple of weeks you can easily build a schedule of your own sleep. Another important rule for mastering the technique of REM sleep is to instantly wake up at the alarm. By the way, it is better to prudently put it away from the sleeping place. Don't be lazy and give yourself a chance to soak up an extra hour in the crib. Morning exercises and a cold shower are helpful. These rituals will give you the opportunity to cheer up and tune in to the day at work. Remember, the more actively you spend it, the easier it will be for you to fall asleep. The feeling of pleasant fatigue from intense and successful work is probably familiar.