How to Fall Asleep Quickly and Wake Up Ready to Be Productive
Four science-backed techniques
It’s Sunday night. You’re awake in bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark. You look at the digital clock on your bedside table: 2:39 a.m.
All sorts of thoughts float through your head. You think about the errands you have to do tomorrow, project deadlines this week, and so on. You close your eyes and try to go to sleep.
After what feels like an eternity, you open your eyes and look over at the clock. The numbers glare back at you: 2:39 a.m. switches to 2:40.
You sigh. It’s going to be a long night.
The 200-Hour Wake-a-Thon
In 1959, popular radio disc jockey Peter Tripp decided to pull a stunt for charity. He would go on a “wake-a-thon” for 200 hours. On the day of the event, Tripp did his regular broadcast. Scientists were present, helping him to stay awake and monitoring his health throughout the ordeal.
Tripp did surprising well. He performed his show energetically in a glass booth in Times Square, bantering and playing music for the station. Some onlookers pressed their hands against the glass to watch, while some pledged money for the charity.
After a few days, Tripp began to deteriorate. He snapped at people around him. He hallucinated cobwebs, spiders, and kittens. In his mind, the desk drawer was in flames. And when an overcoat-wearing scientist entered the booth, Tripp imagined himself to be dead and that the man was an undertaker.
For the final 66 hours of his feat, Tripp was administered drugs to help him stay awake. Finally, after surpassing the 200-hour mark, he proceeded to sleep for 13 hours. When he awoke, he was reportedly back to normal again.
However, his life soon after began to rip at the seams. According to friends, Tripp had changed mentally and emotionally. He was indicted in the 1960 payola scandal, lost his job, and became a traveling salesman.
Was it Tripp’s sleep deprivation that led to his fall from grace? According to Dr. Maiken Nedergaard’s research, Tripp’s wake-a-thon could have had lasting effects.
