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[–]jordanrinke 2 points3 points  (5 children)

Absolutely wonderful read. Bravo. One note, on the hammock, the issue is almost certainly the way you are laying in it. I sleep in a hammock, or on a 2" foam mat - way better sleep vs a normal bed. In the hammock what you want to do is get a small pillow for your head and possible one for your knees. Then lay in it, and rotate your head/feer on center point to 30 degrees from center line. This creates a flat spot with no squeezing (I can sleep on my stomach) roll to your side a bit and insert pillows as needed. Enjoy amazing sleep. If you still feel you are getting squeezed, get a larger hammock, or hang tighter/loser. If you hanh too lose the flat spot sags, and tries to swallow you, if you hang too tight the flat spot is impossible to create. Once you know you your ideal hang, get a piece of amsteel or similar string that goes from edge to edge, so you always hang the same in the future.

[–]odisa 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Can confirm; hammocks for the win. Indeed, sleeping at an angle is essential to a comfortable experience. XL hammocks are where it's at, given that you have a larger spread when you lie in them diagonally.

Been sleeping in a hammock for a couple of months now, and have no regrets ripping out my bed. Plus, making your bed is easy as hell, as well as it saving so much space, and being portable. It takes some getting used to to manage to lie comfortably in it, but once you do it's smooth sleeping from there on out.

To /u/gwern: Have you considered tinted glasses, or blue light blocking lenses? In your experiment, you merely reduced blue light from you computer screen, not all blue light in the environment. Perhaps doing so would confer greater or different benefits?

[–]gwerngwern.net[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Plus, making your bed is easy as hell, as well as it saving so much space, and being portable.

I'm not sure how much space it'll save: the frame I'm using takes up a hell of a lot of space, and I don't think frames can be all that much smaller. I suppose it could be screwed into the wall but I don't know if the beams would support peak weights of 400lbs (don't want to ever rip it out accidentally if I flop into it), how I would set it up (not a carpenter), or if I would even be permitted by the landlords.

To /u/gwern: Have you considered tinted glasses, or blue light blocking lenses? In your experiment, you merely reduced blue light from you computer screen, not all blue light in the environment. Perhaps doing so would confer greater or different benefits?

Maybe. Do such lenses fit comfortably over regular glasses? If they don't, then I think Redshift+melatonin is as far as I need to go in this direction.

[–]odisa 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Ah, I see your dilemma. Mounting it on a (concrete) wall is indeed ideal. Great for small rooms.

Maybe. Do such lenses fit comfortably over regular glasses? If they don't, then I think Redshift+melatonin is as far as I need to go in this direction.

Yes, you can buy both clip-ons as well as glasses that will fit over your own glasses. I believe they're rather cheap too.

[–]gwerngwern.net[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see. Maybe I'll try clipons at some point. Plenty of other things to do, though.

[–]gwerngwern.net[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like a good idea. I was thinking tighter would be better but I could be wrong. I put in a spreader to the ropes and loosened it up substantially the other day and at least one of them did the trick as the hammock felt much less constricting, but it turned out I loosened the ropes too much and my butt started hitting the floor as the weight tightened up the ropes. I adjusted it today, so hopefully tonight will go better.

Once you know you your ideal hang, get a piece of amsteel or similar string that goes from edge to edge, so you always hang the same in the future.

I don't understand what you mean by this.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am always learning some statistics through your articles. Appreciated!

[–]NotHyplon -1 points0 points  (4 children)

Morning caffeine pills

Do it with Modifinal its awesome. Wake up in the night and if its within 3 hours or so take one. Go back to sleep and when your alarm goes off BOOM your awake and ready to go.

Plus you have knocked 3 hours off the halflife so it won't effect you as late into the day.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like a very sophiticated selftorture that would totally backfire in a week.

[–]satisfyinghump -1 points0 points  (2 children)

You wake up 3 hours before your normal wake time, and take caffeine + 200mg of Moda, and then when you wake up 3 hours later, feel refreshed?

[–]NotHyplon 1 point2 points  (1 child)

No, Gwern set alarms, woke up, took caffine and went back to sleep. I on the other hand often wake up in the night and if it is within 2-3 hours of the time my alarm is set i might take a dose of modifinal and go back to sleep.

Because modifinal is not a stimulant in the traditional sense it won't bounce you out of sleep but when the alarm goes off it is in your system and ready instead of taking 30-45 minutes from alarm going off.

You can sleep on modifinal fine if you want to (i.e afternoon nap) if you don't take huge doses and still benefit from the wakefulness at other times.

[–]satisfyinghump 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks for the clarification

time for some experimentation! :)