How much sleep constitutes "little sleep"? Forum

[OMLS48]

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?

[Anonymous User]

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]

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.

[20160810]

Just do cocaine of course

[rpupkin]

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.

[84651846190]

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

[Anonymous User]

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.

[Anonymous User]

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.

[sprezz]

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

[mvp99]

http://io9.gizmodo.com/can-you-die-from ... 1684235719

[Anonymous User]

http://io9.gizmodo.com/can-you-die-from ... 1684235719

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.

[Good Guy Gaud]

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

[Anonymous User]

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.

[Anonymous User]

anyone here with atrial fibrillation?

[smallfirmassociate]

Just do cocaine meth or adderol of course

Fixed it for you. Gotta pay those student loans.

[stannis]

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.

Thought this was Kozinski until I read the bolded

[Abbie Doobie]

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

[DELG]

Eh. I insist on min 7 hours a night.

[grand inquisitor]

arianna huffington is leading the charge against this form of slavery

[NotMyRealName09]

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.

[20160810]

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.

[2014]

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.

[zot1]

This is depressing.

[Anonymous User]

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).

[smallfirmassociate]

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.