Sleeping after an eventful day is a must, right? What about the day before an eventful day? Don’t you need a full night’s rest even then?
When you have an important day coming ahead, it gets extremely difficult to get a good night’s sleep despite how important it is to sleep then.
It’s often discovered that people don’t sleep a night before something exciting or worrying happens. Or they just get a few hours of sleep. Which raises the question of ‘Is 2 hours of sleep better than none?’ To make it quick and short, the answer is No. It’s not better to sleep for just two hours and think that the day ahead will be productive.
Your sleep is not as simple like you think it is. There’s a whole science behind the pattern of your sleep, with each phase having its importance.
Read out the article to understand how important your sleep is.
So, let’s start!
Are 2 hours Of Sleep Better Than None?
2 hours of sleep isn’t good at all. Tough, rather than not sleeping at all, it’s better either to sleep for 90 minutes nap, at least or more than that.
There’s this phenomenon that we call the sleep cycle. The sleep cycle consists of four stages. All of these stages hold their own value.
Of course, you can function on two hours of sleep but trust me. It’ll cost you more than you think. The constant headache and the irritation that it brings along are too much to handle.
Always try to get 8 hours of sleep or a power nap of 90 minutes or more to be present where you are.
Sleep Cycle
A sleep cycle is a pattern of sleep stages that are divided into two further parts, REM and non-REM sleep. REM means Rapid Eye Movement. The non-REM type has three stages under its shadow.
Non-REM Stages
- Stage 1: The lightest sleep stage. In this stage, a person is in the initial stage of sleep when the eyes are between closing and opening. This stage lasts up to 5 minutes at maximum.
- Stage 2: In this stage, the person starts going into a deep sleep. The body temperature starts dropping, and the heart rate and breathing decrease. This stage stays for almost 25 minutes until the person goes to Stage 3.
- Stage 3: The deep sleep stage is when your body starts working on itself. It’s the phase when the body starts preparing itself and working on the immune system. In this stage, waking a person up is a bit of a task. Even the loudest sounds are not enough to wake the sleeping person from their deep sleep.
REM Stage
- Stage 4: This is when your sleep can take you to dreamland. In this stage, the person can dream and experience muscle paralysis. This stage comes after 90 minutes of sleep and gets longer after every stage of the cycle.
Drawbacks and Benefits of 2 Hours of Sleep
Though it’s better to sleep at least 2 hours rather than not sleeping at all, it’s not the best practice one should follow.
The following is the table to weigh the drawbacks and benefits of 2 hours of sleep if you’re someone who is habitual of taking smaller naps rather than a full night’s sleep:
| Drawbacks of 2 Hours of Sleep | Benefits of 2 Hours of Sleep |
| Less productive day. | More time to do more things. |
| Constant frustration and fatigue. | Enough for functioning. |
| Compromised immunity level. | |
| Near to no physical coordination. | |
| Posibilities of accidents. |
As you can see for yourself, there are more drawbacks to 2 hours of sleep than benefits. Functioning the day with limited sleep is fine. However, if this becomes a common practice for you, think about your life decisions.
Tips To Go By The Day Without Sleep
In case it was the circumstances that let you wake up the whole night, and now you have to resume your day like any other day, there are some tips that you can follow to ensure maximum productivity with no or very less sleep:
- Go by the schedule that you follow regularly. Eat at the right time, give that call you make regularly, work out, and take that bath, and that too on its time.
- Kickstart your day with a cup of strong coffee. Drink a couple of these cups throughout the day but make sure you do not overdo it!
- Avoid sweet and fried food but especially sugary food. Food that tastes sweet makes you drowsy.
- Enjoy a power nap when you can. This can give you an instant kick regardless of a sleepless night.
You can also check the video to find out how to survive a day with less sleep:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can you function on 2 hours of sleep?
Sleeping only for 2 hours is not the best thing to do, but it still helps to function for the day.
Take a nap that is 90 minutes long, and after that time, you’ll enter a deep sleep, and it’s hard to get up from a deep sleep. Also, if you wake up from a deep sleep without fully completing the cycle, you’ll feel more low and unproductive.
Can you function on 1 hour of sleep?
You can function with 1 hour of sleep, but you cannot function well.
Sleep is extremely important for long life as well. It’s advised not to lose sleep as in your sleep. The body starts mending the insides for internal healing.
Hence, lack of sleep is directly related to the time of your life on earth.
Is it better to sleep for 3 hours or pull an all-nighter?
Three hours of sleep isn’t enough, but it sure is better than an all-nighter.
Not sleeping throughout the night has got more disadvantages as compared to when one takes a 3-hour of power nap when possible.
Conclusion
- There’s a concept called the sleep cycle which works for everyone.
- The four stages cycle works differently on the human body in each phase.
- The first three stages come under the Non-Rem stage, and the fourth one is the Rem stage.
- It’s possible to function for the whole day just after 2 hours of sleep. However, it’s not advised to do so.
- The body repairs itself at night when the person is sleeping. If you don’t give that chance to your body, you’ll surely lose health gradually.
- It’s better to get 7 to 9 hours of good sleep daily.