How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"? Forum

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OMLS48

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How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by OMLS48 » Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:56 pm

Common wisdom from those who go Big Law tends to be that an ability to function on little sleep is absolutely necessary. What does little sleep amount to? Clearly there are going to be fire drills that require extreme hours, but what is more indicative of a typical(if there even is any such thing) sleep schedule, or is it more firm/market /practice group specific?

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:05 pm

Depends. You get used to it. Right now walking and peeing are probably so easy for you, you can do them half asleep, but you couldn't write a typoless memo at 4 AM. In a year or two you'll be fine with no sleep, but will have major back problems and see a eurologist weekly.

tyroneslothrop1

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by tyroneslothrop1 » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:16 pm

On two hours of sleep I am irritable and have trouble motivating myself. Four I can function basically like a human except being a little tired in the afternoon.

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20160810

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by 20160810 » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:27 pm

Just do cocaine of course

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rpupkin

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by rpupkin » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:28 pm

OMLS48 wrote:Common wisdom from those who go Big Law tends to be that an ability to function on little sleep is absolutely necessary. What does little sleep amount to? Clearly there are going to be fire drills that require extreme hours, but what is more indicative of a typical(if there even is any such thing) sleep schedule, or is it more firm/market /practice group specific?
It really depends on how you prioritize your limited free time. I don't prioritize sleep. I like to have time to myself to exercise, watch tv, and hang out with friends. When you combine that with the demands of a law firm, it adds up to about 5 hours of sleep per night on average.

But I know others who work as hard as I do who consistently get 7-9 hours of sleep every night.

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84651846190

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by 84651846190 » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:50 pm

so unfair that some people can function on five hours of sleep. so fucking unfair.

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:54 pm

The judge I clerked for legitimately thrived on 4 hours a night. I was so envious of how much he got done (not all work - he was serious skier and cyclist too). When I started he told me that he had odd sleep patterns and I might get emails from him at all hours but he didn't expect me to reply outside office hours. :lol:

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:14 pm

I think around 4 hours of sleep every night...some of my friends do that in biglaw. One of my friends did 3 hours every night for 2-3 months...he ended up becoming ill though.

I probably average like 5.5-6 hours of sleep a night - I can still sort of think but not at my peak performance level.

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by sprezz » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:18 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Depends. You get used to it. Right now walking and peeing are probably so easy for you, you can do them half asleep, but you couldn't write a typoless memo at 4 AM. In a year or two you'll be fine with no sleep, but will have major back problems and see a eurologist weekly.
i read that as eulogist which, you know, yeah, but probably not weekly

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:22 pm

Yep, plus lack of sleep causes dementia and other mental problems in the long term

The good news is that most people in biglaw look like they will die from obesity/heart attack in the near future, so problem solved.

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Good Guy Gaud

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Good Guy Gaud » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:25 pm

ExBiglawAssociate wrote:so unfair that some people can function on five hours of sleep. so fucking unfair.

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:30 pm

Osama bin Laden only slept 2 hours a night, and he's responsible for a two decade long global war so don't underestimate what you can accomplish with no sleep. In big law having something to do goes a long way. If you're engaged and motivated then you don't realize how exhausted you are. Big law success and failure is a self cycling pattern. If you're valued and like what you do then it's sometimes fun, and you do better work and are more valued. If not it's the opposite. It's not only that lack of sleep that burns people out.

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:34 pm

anyone here with atrial fibrillation?

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by smallfirmassociate » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:49 pm

SBL wrote:Just do cocaine meth or adderol of course
Fixed it for you. Gotta pay those student loans.

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stannis

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by stannis » Fri Jun 03, 2016 3:55 am

Anonymous User wrote:The judge I clerked for legitimately thrived on 4 hours a night. I was so envious of how much he got done (not all work - he was serious skier and cyclist too). When I started he told me that he had odd sleep patterns and I might get emails from him at all hours but he didn't expect me to reply outside office hours. :lol:

Thought this was Kozinski until I read the bolded

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Abbie Doobie » Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:53 am

ExBiglawAssociate wrote:so unfair that some people can function on five hours of sleep. so fucking unfair.

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DELG

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by DELG » Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:15 am

Eh. I insist on min 7 hours a night.

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grand inquisitor

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by grand inquisitor » Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:43 am

arianna huffington is leading the charge against this form of slavery

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by NotMyRealName09 » Fri Jun 03, 2016 2:01 pm

This reminds me that science has identified a certain gene mutation that allows people who have it to function on about 4 hours of sleep per night. Martha Stewart is like that. I wish I was.

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20160810

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by 20160810 » Fri Jun 03, 2016 2:06 pm

I think this might be a uniquely NYC problem or close to it. It seems like everyone rolls into the office at 10-11 there, so no wonder they stay so late. I'm usually working by 7:30 a.m., and I'm seldom in the office after 6:00 p.m.

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2014

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by 2014 » Fri Jun 03, 2016 3:23 pm

SBL wrote:I think this might be a uniquely NYC problem or close to it. It seems like everyone rolls into the office at 10-11 there, so no wonder they stay so late. I'm usually working by 7:30 a.m., and I'm seldom in the office after 6:00 p.m.
I will say that in my limited experience because of this everyone mostly gets whatever "full" night's sleep they require though. You can work till 1 am, get 8 hours of sleep, and still beat most people into the office.

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zot1

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by zot1 » Fri Jun 03, 2016 3:28 pm

This is depressing.

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 03, 2016 3:30 pm

On a schedule, 7 a night and I feel like superman. I have done 5hrs, 2hrs, 4.5hrs, 2hrs this week and I feel fine right now....I expect the coming crash to be awful. This is why friends don't let friends get on multiple active deals.

As an M&A guy, I get in late (10ish) b/c I wont know that days task until afternoon (new memo, gather comments, etc.) and I will be expected to finish what ever it is that day. Not a ton of long timeline work in M&A (apart from diligence).

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Re: How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"?

Post by smallfirmassociate » Fri Jun 03, 2016 3:31 pm

Keep in mind that a lot of people in "type A" sorts of jobs like law, finance, and business lie about how many hours they work and how much sleep they get. I've learned this during those times when I've had to work closely with some of the people who claim they work "12 hours a day, seven days a week" and sleep "maybe 5 hours a day, if I'm lucky." The vast majority of the time, that's total bullshit.

Speaking second-hand, but from the dozen or so friends I have in biglaw who I find to be reasonable, exactly zero of them claims it's like that. There may be a week here and there that is like that, but generally you're going to be getting 7+ hours of sleep unless you're bad at managing time. Again, second-hand /grain of salt, etc., but that's my take on the situation.

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