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Initiative Psychic Energy - Being the Sixth of a Series of Twelve Volumes on the - Applications of Psychology to the Problems of Personal and - Business Efficiency by Warren Hilton
page 38 of 45 (84%)
Dr. Fred W. Eastman reports that owing to pressure of work he was
recently unable to get more than three or four hours' sleep out of the
twenty-four during a period of many months, and that so far from being
hurt by it he gained five pounds. He says: "If restoration during
sleep is a task so relatively small, the question arises whether, in
order to complete restoration, it is necessary for us to spend so much
time in sleep as we do. Perhaps on account of popular opinion and
personal habit, we waste much time in this jelly-fish condition that
could more profitably be spent in active pursuit of our ambitions. The
answer, of course, depends upon the nature of our occupations. If
there is muscular effort involved, with a correspondingly large amount
of waste in the cells and blood, eight hours or more are probably
necessary. But if the work is of a sedentary nature, and mainly of the
brain, there is naturally a smaller quantity of accumulated waste, and
less time is required for removal. Many are the instances of great
men, past and present, who have lived healthily and worked
unceasingly and strenuously on only four or five hours of sleep, or
half the laborer's portion. Surely we do not suppose that these men
were or are physically different from others, but rather that by
inclination or necessity they have developed a habit of sleeping
intensely for a short period, with resulting gain of time and
efficiency."

[Sidenote: _Determining Your Norm of Efficiency_]

So far as this matter of relaxation, rest and sleep is concerned, the
rule to follow is obviously this: _Determine accurately by experiment
the proper relation between periods of work and periods of rest in
your own case, then increase your efficiency by maintaining this
relation_.
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