Sleep schedule and startup productivity

First off, if you are experimenting with your sleep and you're changing your day rhythm, then expect that it takes a couple of weeks before your body and your family settle into new habits. Before that you can't really tell whether the new rhythm works for everyone or not.

Second, if you're only getting 6 hours per night you're almost certainly doing it wrong, unless you have a life-long track record of short sleep. How much sleep a person needs varies greatly with the individual, but 6 hours is unusually little.

And there is pretty good evidence of lack of sleep negatively impairing creativity -- so in a startup, you don't want to be sleep deprived.

I have most productivity during night when everyone's asleep.

That's something many people say. I thought the same earlier in my life, but now I'm not so sure. It seems to me that often this can be broken down and further analyzed:

• Some people are more productive at night because it's quiet then.
• Some people are more productive at night because it's cool then.
• Some people seem more 'productive' at night because because they procrastinate for 8+ hours before beginning their tasks, so when they get around to getting something done it's always late night outside.

I'm not claiming any of the above to be true for you -- but can you get closer to the root cause of why you feel more productive at night?

What is your schedule for work/sleep to get fully motivated and best productivity?

To work with smart people, and to be in the same room as they are, when they are. So there has to be an agreement on when everyone comes to work. It can be spread out over an hour or so, but there has to be a time where people can be expected to have shown up. For me right now, this implies being at the office around 9 AM.

My natural day rythm is a good deal longer than 24 hours, so in order to function well with a set wakeup time I need to be mindful of my sleep. To do that, I gradually wind down the night before, so that my brain can 'catch up', and let me know when it's sleepy. "Winding down" means no movies, no stressful thoughts of work, no physical exercise (with one notable exception). I generally begin this "winding down" around 9.30 PM.

I find that during winter and/or during periods of heavy thinking, I need more sleep. 8 hours is generally right for me, but if there is something really heavy on my mind, then my body often grabs 8½ - 9 hours of sleep.

Wow, you have thought way more about this than I ever would have.

You need a sleep schedule that accommodates the 8:00 AM mandatory chores (Mine starts at 5:30 AM when my dogs want out; not mandatory, but I prefer not to clean up pee.).

You can't control your noisy neighbors, but can you make some changes in your environment to dampen the noise. I happen to like music and often wear headphones (Highly recommend getting the most comfortable head phones.).

I prefer to get the sleep all in one batch, but never turn down a chance for a nap (The USA needs to embrace napping.).

I can't say much about the amount to sleep, given I've been on a more or less 3-4 hour sleep schedule for the last 2.5 years now. (Sleeping 6-7am to 9-10am usually)

One thing that may help with outside noise, is to sleep with music or other background noise happening. I've found this to help with noise, as over time music/background noise doesn't disturb me, but it does drown out noise from other things that would wake me.

When I am in the 'crunch' I sleep from 10pm till about 4AM or 5AM. I work solidly until 12PM, eat, do my daily exercise and then continue working from about 2pm till 6pm or so at night. Those hours before 12PM are by far my most productive. The afternoons drag and during these times I generally do my testing, answer emails and plan the next days activities. I've tried tinkering with my sleep schedule but have had little luck with it, so I just try to go to bed a little earlier than usual and get up a little earlier. By finishing up at 6PM I find I get plenty of time with the kids and partner, who you have to be careful not to neglect during busy times.

You may track your sleep time and productivity here: http://42goals.com, so after you can accumulate date and view your statistics

As Jesper pointed out, I think 7-8 hours is the ideal amount of sleep you need. Those that get less think coffee will do the trick, but that's what it is: a trick.

Personally I usually sleep from ~2 a.m. - 9 a.m. I like staying up late & letting my mind wind down.

I don't think there's anything wrong with waking up 1-2 hours after most of my friends. In fact, in the startup world, my peers on the West Coast are not even up. If I'm trying to make the most of my time (and connect with some Silicon Valley peeps), I think 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. would be the most productive times for someone living on the east coast. Thoughts?

Sounds like you are using some kind of Polyphasic sleep. It is certainly a way of keep your productivity up while minimising the amount of sleep you need to maintain your health and productivity.

I've flirted with polyphasic sleeping before, but I've concluded it would bring more social harsh conflicts than productivity benefits.

I'd rather go in this direction and have my sleep schedule in line with my family's and co-workers'.

If you are trying to sort out your sleep, you should buy a Zeo: http://www.myzeo.com/

They aren't cheap. I have two of them (and I bought them when they cost a lot more). I highly recommend them. The headband is quite comfortable, and being able to quantitatively understand your sleep can work wonders for understanding which habits impact your sleep (staying up too late, too much coffee, too much alcohol, whatever).

The Zeo has been huge for me understanding my sleep and how to maximize it by adjusting my habits. It's also a nice defensive measure--when I wake up and see I only got a 40, I know I'm going to have a challenge being mentally alert.