How Much Do Various Famous Personalities Sleep – The Likes of Bill Gates, Napoleon, Albert Einstein

I’m fascinated by successful people and their relationship with sleep.

Many of us have been led to believe that successful people sacrifice their sleep. That they skip rest hours for output.

The celebrity example that comes to mind is Elon Musk. Musk has claimed many times that he works off 4-5 hours of sleep a night.

This isn’t the most insane statement in a vacuum. I’m sure a low achiever or someone who completes the bare minimum at work can work with such little sleep.

But this isn’t an everyday person.

Musk runs Tesla, SpaceX and now owns and operates one of the largest social media platforms in the world.

How can he juggle so many things at once with so few hours of rest?

Well, it begs the question… is this true? Is it normal? Or do other high achievers value their sleepers and are they tremendous sleepers?

I won’t be able to answer the first question (unless Elon starts posting his weekly sleep stats).

However, I am curious to dive deeper to learn about other high achievers and how they sleep.

My contention is that sleep acts as a competitive advantage for high achievers. It’s an element of their lives that separates them from everyone else.

Here’s a list.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison, like Musk, claimed that he did not sleep much; 4 hours or so to be exact.

He believed sleep was a waste of time. But this doesn’t paint a true picture. Edison’s brilliance manifested from his sleep habits.

One of Edison’s assistants claimed:

“His genius for sleep equaled his genius for invention. He could go to sleep anywhere, anytime, on anything”

And not to call Edison a liar, but he forgot to mention that while he may have only ‘slept’ 4 hours a night, he napped 6 hours a day.

This was likely to elevate his creativity. Researchers have suggested that humans have a brief period of creativity and insight in the semi-lucid state that occurs just before we drift into sleep.

Apparently, Edison napped while holding a ball in each hand. As he fell asleep, the orbs would fall to the floor and wake him up.

This way he could remember the thoughts that come to him as he was nodding off, which we often forget.

So there you have it. For one of the greatest inventors in history, sleep was a massive factor in Edison’s success and life.

Napoleon

Napoleon famously said:

Six hours’ sleep for a man, seven for a woman, and eight for a fool.

Yet, those close to Napoleon claimed he understood the importance of sleep. Especially its benefits in providing clarity for decision-making and wartime strategy.

Napoleon also stated:

“My mind is a chest of drawers. When I wish to deal with a subject, I shut all the drawers but the one in which the subject is to be found. When I am wearied, I shut all the drawers and go to sleep.”

Albert Einstein

Einstein was a huge sleeper. He used to get 10 hours of sleep every single night plus took daytime naps to spark creativity.

Einstein held onto a spoon or pencil when he napped so he would hear the sound when he dropped it after falling asleep.

Sounds familiar?

LeBron James

“There’s no better recovery than sleep” – LeBron James

LeBron James is arguably the greatest basketball player ever of all time largely due to the longevity of his career. He has been at an elite level for so long, and one of the key reasons for this is LeBron’s sleep routine.

“For my 13-year career, I’ve taken a nap for the most part every day,” Lebron told CBS Sports.

“Sleep is the most important thing when it comes to recovery.

As they say, stats don’t lie. Will Ahmed, CEO of Whoop, “If you showed me a bunch of sleep data, I could probably point to LeBron’s. He’s such an amazing sleeper.”

The best-ever athletes, the world’s best physicists & inventors all value their sleep as important to their success… the list goes on…

Bill Gates

Bill Gates used to be “that guy” who bragged about the lack of sleep he was getting.

He openly admitted to competing with his peers to see who got the least rest. He believed that sleep was lazy and unnecessary.

It wasn’t until Bill Gates’s father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s did he start to understand the importance of sleep.

“One of the strongest things to emerge in [the Alzheimer’s] area is the importance of good sleep,” Gates said.

“It’s one of the most predictive factors of any dementia, whether you’re getting good sleep. Gates now sleeps a minimum of seven hours per night and said he checks his sleep scores regularly.

Conclusion

As we journey through the lives of these legendary figures, one truth stands out. Sleep isn’t just a routine, it’s a secret weapon.

From Edison’s power naps to Lebron’s marathon rest sessions, the importance of sleep in their success is undeniable.

There’s a notion in today’s fast-paced world that sleeping less is a badge of honor.

Yet, upon reflection, almost every successful individual leverages sleep as a cornerstone to their mental and physical well-being.

Their stories dismantle the myth of ‘sleep when you’re dead’. The figures discussed in this article acknowledge the profound affect a consistent sleep routine has had on their lives.

For the younger generation (like myself), the stakes are even higher.

Sleep Medicine Research emphasizes that 8-10 hours of sleep per night during teenage years isn’t just beneficial. It’s essential for optimal intellectual growth, mental health, and memory.

So there you have it. The road to success isn’t paved with sleepless nights. But with the understanding that a good night’s rest can have a significant impact on your ability to think, perform, and execute.


A guest post by Jim Bazzani of Cozo Sleep.

How to Fall Asleep Quickly? The Dos and Do’nt’s

how to fall asleep quickly

In addition to food, oxygen, and water, sleep is essential for a higher quality of life.

Many individuals have difficulties falling asleep quickly due to many internal and external reasons; this leads to many health issues, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks, heart failure, or stroke.

What can be done to prevent these issues and live a healthy and happy life?

Here are some dos and don’ts’ for falling asleep quickly:

Must Follow

Establish a welcoming environment

A comfy establishment is crucial for achieving the objective of sleeping in without problems. People always feel safe and comfortable in familiar surroundings, and sleeping is no exception. As a result, compared to unfamiliar settings, having a permanent location to sleep makes you feel less anxious and insecure. Additionally, having your personal mattress, pillow, and comforter for daily use improves your sense of security and contributes to quality sleep.

Having your bedroom filled with a soothing aroma also helps relax your brain and body, resulting in quick sleep. Thus, many studies suggest using Lavender oil to improve your sleep quality.

Make sure there is enough space to relax without having your body cooped up in the wrong and awkward posture resulting in physical suffering. Along with it, minimal lights or complete darkness, proper ventilation, and low room temperature add to brownie points in achieving the goal of sound sleep.

Related: Discover more sleep tips.

Adopt sleep tactics

Experts suggest many techniques to regularize your sleeping pattern and achieve the goal of falling asleep quickly. Powerful methods like military technique and 4-7-8 breathing methods help one drift to a dream world in less than a few minutes.

On the other hand, yoga, meditation, and mindfulness meditation are well-known traditional techniques that significantly impact your sleeping pattern. Regular yoga practice helps you achieve regularized breathing with a more flexible body improving sleep quality and time. Meditation and mindfulness meditation helps you achieve a balanced emotional and mental state by increasing melatonin levels which works wonders to achieve a certain sleeping state.

Regular workout sessions and night walks for at least 30 minutes help maintain your fitness and stabilize the mood required for falling asleep quickly. Research shows that aerobics exercises help in an increased rate of slow-wave sleep, allowing the body and brain to rejuvenate during deep slumber.

Besides physical exercises, cognitive exercises like reading books and listening to music greatly impact your sleep. Reading a book every night before sleep for a minimum of 20 minutes is a great remedy to silence the mental chatter, strengthen your mind, and enter the much-needed relaxed state for deep sleep. Also, sound therapy, a total brain workout, helps reduce anxiety and blood pressure, regularize breathing, and lower heart rate, ultimately improving sleep quality.

Massage is another tactic that is an impoverished, drug-free, healthy option to overcome sleeping disorders. Regular massage can help you boost hormones like melatonin and serotonin for an effective increased rate of quality sleep.

Must avoid

As much as there are things one can do to fall asleep quickly, it is also necessary to avoid certain practices that can harm your overall development, including sleeping.

Prevent erratic bedtimes

Avoid having irregular bedtimes, which can cause major problems like sleep disorders, obesity, fatigue, and many others. Avoid using the wrong type of mattress as every person has a different body structure which requires different levels of softness or firmness to avoid any future physical disorders.

Decrease your screen time

Avoid using the mobile and laptop before sleep which can cause brain stimulation, delayed REM sleep, and affected eyesight. Also, the blue lights emitted from these screens can throw your circadian rhythm off the hook and decrease the amount of melatonin, causing sleepless nights.

Refrain from poor diet

An irregular diet can cause trouble in digestion, making it difficult to sleep. Going to bed immediately after dinner, consuming carbs, fatty, and spicy food, and eating excessive or insufficient meals can impact one’s body resulting in poor sleep quality.

Research recommends that avoiding caffeine before bedtime is best as caffeine is a stimulator that keeps your brain awake, resulting in disrupted sleep patterns. As well as excessive consumption of alcohol results in feelings of restlessness and nausea ending in troubled nights and delayed sleep.

Limit your medicine intake

Taking medications is another dangerous habit many people have to get to sleep fast, which you should avoid at all costs. While sleeping drugs might help you initially experience deep, dreamless sleep, becoming accustomed to them can have serious long-term effects on your physical, mental, and emotional health.

Consequently, having some discipline and consistency might help you attain your intended objective of falling asleep quickly, much sooner, along with other therapies.

Bonus: Sleep Deprivation Checklist

The 10 Best Sleep Hacks for Car Detailing Owners to Hit the Hay

sleep hacks for auto business owners

Everyone needs a good night’s rest in order to focus better the next day.

Unfortunately, it’s very easy to adopt bad sleeping habits-with or without knowledge.

Quick question – how often do you spend time with your phone before bed? Many times, right? In case you didn’t know, smartphones emit blue light that delays the production of sleep hormones.

But that’s just one of the few blunders you make that deny you a good slumber.

Continue reading “The 10 Best Sleep Hacks for Car Detailing Owners to Hit the Hay”

How To Best Rest Your Head: The Science of Pillows

How To Best Rest Your Head: The Science of Pillows

Of the many ways to get good sleep, having comfortable pillows is one of the most essential yet often overlooked way of achieving this. Pillows serve to keep the upper body in alignment while one sleeps, relieving pressure and counterbalancing points in the body.

However, pillows come in different shapes and sizes and one type of pillow doesn’t work for everyone. This is why expert orthopaedic and spine surgeons have come together to help you choose the pillow of your dreams.

Continue reading “How To Best Rest Your Head: The Science of Pillows”

Pandemic Within The Pandemic: Lockdown Sleep Syndrome

Living in Lockdown: The Lockdown Sleep Syndrome

I don’t know if this comes as news to you, but it sure did for me – the Lockdown Sleep Syndrome has now been institutionally recognised by being mentioned in the Consensus guidelines of the Indian Sleep Disorders Association and the Journal of the International Society of eHealth and Telemedicine.

COVID-19 came as that outswinger no one saw coming, a fast-paced counter-attack no could predict. As we bend towards March, starting from the lockdown all around the world, a whole year of our lives has been around COVID-19 now, officially.

Continue reading “Pandemic Within The Pandemic: Lockdown Sleep Syndrome”

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Mental Health of Teenagers

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Mental Health of Teenagers

Teenage Dream-Land

We’ve often talked about how sleep is an essential factor in our well-being. Sleep deprivation or oversleeping does affect our physical and mental health directly. So, let us this time, specifically look at how sleep is related to mental health, especially of teenagers.

We can agree that if not for any disorder, it is the technology and its overuse that inhibits sleep for most, and during the pandemic is when the overuse may have gone into overdrive for most teenagers. Considering all these factors, teens’ sleep issue seems to be a rising concern for parents as well as health professionals.

Continue reading “The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Mental Health of Teenagers”