Comment by Xcelerate
1 year ago
> would spend many long nights programming while deferring sleep as long as possible. Now that I’m older, I’ve noticed that I just can’t do it
I’ve noticed the same but I don’t know if 10 years of age explains the difference as much as simply not being at the same level of fitness. I think if I was in the same cardiovascular shape, I wouldn’t have much more problem pulling all-nighters than I did in grad school (not that I necessarily want to...)
I am a lot more active now than when I was young, and I absolutely need the sleep now. When I was young I could really push it and do overnighters, etc. No longer.
Similar experience here. I was in objectively terrible shape in my teens through mid-20s; didn’t eat enough, didn’t sleep enough, didn’t drink enough water, and spent most of my day at a desk.
Flash forward to today in my mid-30s and all of this has improved dramatically (though has room for improvement), and yet lack of sleep is much harder on me now than it was back then.
Youth is a hell of a drug.
I'm curious what you suspect (or know) is the mechanism that makes sleep less effective now, than prior?