We made the iPod for ourselves, and when you're doing something for yourself, or your best friend or family, you're not going to cheese out. If you don't love something, you're not going to go the extra mile, work the extra weekend, challenge the status quo as much.

Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson

i love my job.

bon iver - beth/rest (piano solo)

had some friends over for the weekend (seung-hyo and jen aka canada), and we got engaged in a short discussion about various sleep schedules. does it matter what time you choose to sleep and wake up? is polyphasic sleep and/or the uberman's sleep schedule harmful? in addition to rounding up some popular research/answers, i will ultimately try to answer this question: what is the optimal sleep schedule for startup founders to achieve good health and maximum time out of a 24-hour day. (warning: please note that everyone's body works differently and that my sleep schedule would not necessarily work for you and vice versa. this post is just to summarize my research and hopefully provide you with credible/wikipedia resources to get you started on finding the right sleep schedule for you).

my sleep background and my current sleep schedule

my parents have always been worried about my sleeping patterns. i began sleeping at late hours in the 9th grade (sleep around 2-3am, wake up around 7:30). in the summers, it got worse, usually due to an mmorpg i was indulged in at the time (ragnarok online, lineage I/II). i usually played until the sun rose, letting me know that it was time to go to bed. when i got to college, i was finally free, able to define my own sleep schedule. i never stuck to a single sleep pattern (comparison of sleep patterns) but instead followed the simple philosophy of sleeping whenever i felt tired and often waking up naturally. there were days when i'd sleep 12 total hours and there were days when i'd sleep 2 total hours. but on average, i slept 8 total hours per day (usually consisting of at least 1 20-30 power nap). 

now let's jump to the present, where i'm sleeping in my startup's headquarters aka our apartment. i'm still following the rule of sleeping whenever i'm tired and waking up naturally (usually sleeping at 4-6am and waking up at 11am-1pm with no naps). but now that i'm currently uninsured (i may do a follow-up post on finding cheap health insurance packages), i'm beginning to care more about my physical and mental health. so let's answer some questions.

is it harmful to get your 8 hours at an irregular hour?

assuming that you will still have a balanced social life, i have not found any conclusive research that proves it is harmful to sleep at an irregular hour. 

all of the articles/research i've stumbled upon only focus on the amount of sleep you get and not the time you choose to sleep. but there are a few things to consider before you decide to sleep at 6AM:

• stick to a consistent sleeping time: do not try to sleep at 10pm one day, 5am another, and then 9pm. take care of your body's biological clock (suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN). by continulously changing your sleeping times, you could experience extreme drowsiness and sluggishness (imagine experiencing the effects of jetlag with each change) [1]
• sleep in a dark environment: you will be able to produce melatonin (body's hormone that makes you sleepy) with the sun out if you sleep in a dark room -- it only comes out in the dark [2]
• be exposed to the sun: only reliable way to generate vitamin D in your body (helps bone mineralization) [3]

is polyphasic sleep (sleeping multiple times in a 24-hour period) harmful?

there is a lack of scientific studies on long-duration polyphasic sleep experiments, but anecdotal evidence generally agrees that polyphasic sleep (more than 2 times a day) is not a healthy alternative to monophasic and biphasic sleep patterns [4][5]. however, it is interesting to note that 'polyphasic sleep is common in many animals, and is believed to be the ancestral sleep state' [4]. below is a list of summarized points of why polyphasic sleep is less effective:

• polyphasic sleep will never work naturally: you will have to use an alarm clock, which is an unhealthy mechanism that disrupts your sleep. (nerd metaphor: during the day, you store experiences/new knowledge in RAM. during your first phases of sleep, you write the data to the hard disk. during REM, you execute disk defragmentation. you continue to repeat until RAM is cleared up and ready to be used again. you are then rebooted when you wake up. now imagine rebooting in the process of disk defragmentation. if you use an alarm clock, you endanger your data. [5])
• less sleep leads to more fat: short sleep causes reduced leptin and elevated ghrelin, leading to larger appetites. [6] you'll need to exercise more to keep in shape with an increased appetite (effectively decreasing your freed up time) 
• your health will suffer: studies show that T-cell development is decreased with sleep deprivation, potentially leading to a weaker immune system

so what is the ideal sleep schedule for startup founders?

not surprisingly, the ideal sleep schedule depends on your body's needs. and although it is possible to adapt to the uberman sleep schedule (especiailly if you're self-employed and single), it definitely will not help your mental and physical health. since your startup should have an emphasis on design and other creative components, it is critical to be mentally refreshed on a day-to-day basis. 

personally, i will continue my loose biphasic sleep schedule. i will sleep when i feel tired and will let my body wake up naturally. i'll also be including a power nap (20-30 minutes) mid-day when i feel tired to give myself that little push to stay at my mental peak.

to find the ideal schedule for you, keep these general suggestions in mind:

• do not sleep more than 9 hours every day: research suggests that too much sleep can double the risk of death from heart disease [7]
• do not interrupt REM sleep: to prevent interrupted sleep, consider using a sleep monitoring app or device (the wakemate, sleep cycle for ios) to wake you up during the end of a sleep cycle or NREM sleep
• do not force yourself into an unnatural pattern: if you're trying to sleep when you're not tired just to stick to the everyman 3 schedule, you may be wasting that freed up time in an effort to fall asleep. definitely do not take hormonal supplements just to fall asleep. if you find yourself unable to fall asleep during your 3rd nap, don't fight it. instead take a nap when you feel tired and adapt to another sleep pattern that better works for your body.

don't think there's ever been a better time for bed than this moment. good night!

 

-mike gao

 

resources

[1] http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm#circadian_rhythms

[2] http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/melatonin-and-sleep

[3] http://green.yahoo.com/blog/care2/17/you-need-sun-10-healthy-tips.html

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep#Napping_in_extreme_situations

[5] http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm

[6] http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0010062

[7] http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/83473.php

Life is difficult.

This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult -- once we truly understand and accept it -- then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.

the road less traveled - m. scott peck

reading the book again. warning: there may be some personal musings in the near future

mike gao

kanye west - good morning

last friday was an epic day. it was my last day at qualcomm, it was andy's last day at citigroup, and our third co-founder, kim, gave her notice to her director. things just got real.

my last few weeks at qualcomm were great. i spent most of my time transitioning my projects to my teammates and being treated out to good-bye lunches (thanks everyone!). i worked with a lot of great people and will miss you all. but now that andy and i are finally together, i can't recall a time where i've been more excited for the future. i can't wait to spend my future with the team -- this post is for you guys/girl.

 

the founding team

andy jiang

i still remember the time you called me on the phone for the first time to play super smash bros: melee. i had no idea what to expect when i invited you over, but i'm glad i did. we've had some great memories over the past 6 years of our friendship: STDs (smash-til-dawns), nyc for new years, hong kong for christmas, china trips, naruto, johnny tsunami -- but this is just the beginning. i'm so glad to be pursuing this venture with you by my side. here's to even more memories together my brotha.

 

kimberly hsiao

my programming twin: it will forever be a mystery how we met for the first time. but regardless, we've also had some great memories over the past 5 years of our friendship: cs35L, TBP, vegas, synchronous flick attacks, japan. no matter what, this is going to be one of the best times of our lives -- and i'm glad you're going to be a part of it. here's to even more memories together my sista -- over NINE THOUSANDDDDDDDDD

 

other thanks

big shoutout to our 4th roommate and honorary part-time member, michael wei. thanks for everything -- can't wait to see you soon.

also shoutouts to kevin lin of justin.tv and sahil jain of webmynd for your honest insight.

and one final shoutout to all my friends and family who have been extremely supportive. love you all!

 

-mike gao

joanna wang - true

hi there. thanks for stopping by :)

i'll be using this blog to document my venture into the startup world. all the ups, the downs, the lessons learned -- everything i think of will go here. since we're currently in a pre-startup phase, i wanted to start off le blog with a list of priorities we're focused on before our move to the bay area.

 

1. finalizing the founding team

as of now, the founding team consists of me and my friend, andy jiang. we go back to the high school days where we would have std sessions (smash-melee till dawn). he was a big fan of captain falcon. i was really into jigglypuff at the time. but now i'm all about the falco. anyways, we've kept in touch throughout the years and have talked about jumping into the startup realm for some time. we attempted a couple of night/weekend side-projects with two completely different teams, but schedule conflicts and different time zones eventually destroyed our morale and motivation. we decided it was time to set a tentative date to seriously pursue a startup full-time...and here we are. we're currently in talk with a potential 3rd and final founder, and we're working together to determine whether or not she will be a good fit both for us and for her. more updates on that in later posts.

2. brainstorming ideas

we do not have a specific idea that we want to pursue at the moment. instead, we've adopted the philosophy that the core team is what matters most and ideas will come gradually. however, we have been brainstorming a list of ideas for a long period of time and in the end, we will pursue one that all the founders are passionate about. no type of motivation beats the motivation that comes from within.

since all 3 of us are in different parts of the US at the moment, it's hard for us to have fixed collaborative brainstorm sessions. instead, we've suggested isolated and focused brainstorm sessions. personally, i brainstorm best during meditation. i believe meditation is the mastery of self-control; during a meditation session, one is able to block out all distractions and focus on specific thoughts. i hope to use the time to my advantage and to gain a better grasp of self-control through my brainstorm sessions. after we generate an idea, we give it a quick 60-second litmus test to make sure it has potential. if it passes the preliminary test, it warrants further discussion and may eventually be stored in our 'idea box'. we will continue to do this on a daily basis until we are all physically present.

3. all other tasks

this priority is extremely vague and includes: reading programming books, reading various articles about the startup community, reading hacker news, reaching out to potential mentors, researching different incubators and vc/angel firms, house hunting...and the list goes on. this priority only exists to keep in mind all the tasks that we'll eventually get to and/or complete in our free time.

 

i've written these priorities down as a reminder for us and to see how our priorities change throughout our startup venture. thanks again for reading, and i'm looking forward to the future :)

-mike gao