Exit Sandman

May 28, 2008 7:57 AM

Why does a lack of sleep make me markedly more efficient the next day?

The night before last I didn't sleep much, just couldn't drop off til about 4am. I got up at 7.30am, hauled myself into work feeling like death and then proceeded to have the most productive day ever! Seriously, I was in the ZONE, got more work done in that day than in the previous week and a half. Today, following a fabulous night's kip - I'm back to easily distracted mode.

I've noticed this before - if, for whatever reason, I don't get much kip I'm much more able to concentrate the day after. This runs so counter to intuition/common sense I don't quite know what to make of it.

What's going on? And, more importantly how can I get into a similar state of mind without depriving myself of lovely Zs?

posted by freya_lamb to health & fitness (20 comments total)

Youre just calm. It happens to me too. If youre normally a jittery person then a little sleep deprivation can sometimes lead to a calm but aware mindset.

There are thousands of ways to bring calm into your life. Meditation, diet changes, relxation exercises, etc.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:07 AM on May 28, 2008

How many hours do you normally sleep? Are you perhaps oversleeping the rest of the time?
posted by tybeet at 8:07 AM on May 28, 2008

I get this too, especially if I've been drinking the night before. For some reason, I can wake up hungover and ALWAYS get more done than if I have a nice, relaxing evening with normal sleep hours. I don't get it.
posted by nitsuj at 8:13 AM on May 28, 2008

I've been told by my Bio Chemist Researcher neighbor that skipping sleep is a well documented self-treatment for the clinically depressed. The lack of sleep actually makes them feel pretty good and productive, though eventually they will crash and go into a deeper funk than they might have had.

Perhaps, lack of sleep can have the same sort of effect on non-depressed...though presumably to a lesser degree.
posted by Wink Ricketts at 8:17 AM on May 28, 2008 [2 favorites]

Maybe you're overcompensating for the fact that you're sleepy, even if you don't know it consciously? I sometimes find that when I'm tired but need to get something done, I'll will muself into a second wind.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 8:18 AM on May 28, 2008

This also happens to me with 3-4 hours of sleep (assuming I've been getting 7-8 for a week or so) -- the day after I feel pretty great. However, no matter how much sleep I get the next night, I feel pretty terrible the second day.

The high productivity feels adrenalin-based to me, like maybe a short-term revved-up response to unusual stress that burns me out so that I have to recharge. I think I've also read that there are cyclic points in the sleep cycle at which you come closer to consciousness, and getting up for good at one of these points will make you feel much better. So, for example, you might feel better waking up naturally after 3 hours than having an alarm drag you out of a deep sleep after 4, or better after 6 than 7 -- I don't think that's unrelated to my experience.
posted by ecsh at 8:25 AM on May 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

At times when I've been sleep-deprived, I've gotten an insane amount of work done, but usually it's only good for the fairly mindless tedious type stuff that just needs to be cranked out instead of pondered over. My pet theory is that due to lack of sleep, I'm only able to focus on one thing and it's easier to just get into a groove and I'm not as easily distracted because I'm too tired to notice all the other little things going on. Basically, what I'm working on is the only thing that registers on my mental radar, so a lot gets done.
posted by LionIndex at 8:29 AM on May 28, 2008

I have no idea about the science behind it, but I do get the same thing from time to time. However, I only get it when I have a nice cushion of well-restedness beforehand, so I can only experience that productive high occasionally. One night of less sleep and I feel pretty good; two or more nights and I'm a little ball of misery.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:45 AM on May 28, 2008

This happens to me as well. I think what happens in my case is that I normally have a pretty active thought process skipping from one thing to another, re-thinking past events, all of that. But when I am sleep deprived I'm more able to concentrate on the current task perhaps because that's all the energy i can muster for anything at all.
posted by Space Coyote at 9:04 AM on May 28, 2008

Another person who has this happen to them too. The next day I'll generally go back to normal when it comes to sleep (i.e. can actually be tired at the proper time), and all is well.

I've noticed that if I get 5 or less hours of sleep on a particular night, I'll be bright-eyed and bushy tailed and all that stereotypical crap. 8 or more hours, also fine. But getting 6-7 hours of sleep and I'm roadkill all day. I don't know what that's all about, but that seems to be the worst time for me to get up. If I have to get up at o-dark-30 for a plane or something, I'll just stay up all/most of the night rather than try to sleep and then hit that 6-7 hour threshold of pain.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:14 AM on May 28, 2008

This is just a guess, but could it be that, on little sleep, your brain is tired and can only focus on one thing at a time? For someone that's easily distracted (me! me!), this is a good thing because it allows you to concentrate on one task instead of letting your mind race all over the place. I've noticed the same thing, although unfortunately it doesn't work for more than about a day.
posted by CrazyGabby at 9:33 AM on May 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

i've had that happen too--i think it's because when i've lost sleep, i end up waking up at the end of a sleep cycle (REM, dreaming, deep sleep, light sleep, all that) instead of in the middle of it. like, i feel much better after 5 hours of sleep than 6, because with 6 hours, i wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle.

so maybe when you are getting what you think is a full night's sleep is just off by a bit. maybe you need to get an hour more. you usually can't sleep more than you need to, so you're probably not sleeping too much.
posted by thinkingwoman at 9:43 AM on May 28, 2008

Do you consume more caffine that you otherwise would have with sleep? It can help enhance your concentration.
posted by procrastination at 10:16 AM on May 28, 2008

This happens to me too, whether I'm hung over, missing sleep, or really sick. I think in my case, it's due to the fact that my mind is all over the place when I'm feeling well. When I'm under the weather, I find it easy, even pleasant to concentrate on one thing at a time. When I'm well rested, I can't sit still. Also, I find that I tend to show up for work when I am incredibly ill, but will stay home for the sniffles. There's something about a fever that brings out my work ethic.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 10:56 AM on May 28, 2008

Your brain is too tired to do anything but put one foot in front of the other. With more sleep, it starts to improvise...
posted by ewkpates at 10:57 AM on May 28, 2008

There does indeed seem to be a link between improved mood in depressed patients and sleep deprivation (it says here). The researchers involved seem to think it's down to messing with circadian rhythms and/or sleepiness counteracting the usual hyperarousal seen in depressed people - perhaps this has something to do with the effect you've noticed?
posted by terrynutkins at 11:30 AM on May 28, 2008

adrenalin.
posted by gjc at 8:31 PM on May 28, 2008

I'm the same way. For me, it works even for days in a row. Like others, I think it's that I'm less distractable. My mind isn't happily flitting from thought to thought, new idea to another new idea. It is just grinding through task after task. I can get something of the same effect by working in cafes or listening to loud music. Having to shut things out keeps me in the groove.
posted by salvia at 11:18 PM on May 28, 2008

Great comments, it seems like I'm not alone in this so no freakish-ness afoot - phew!

Looks like there isn't a definitive answer so I've marked the ones that seem to fit for me. Thanks all for sharing.
posted by freya_lamb at 2:27 AM on May 29, 2008

Thanks for asking. I've seen the same thing in myself. I'd go with the idea that I'm less distractable when tired. Also, more relaxed than usual.
posted by Goofyy at 3:34 AM on May 29, 2008