I'm at a place in my life where I feel like a clown at a circus trying to juggle 13 things at the same time. Except one of those things is a chainsaw and it does not seem to be as forgiving when I mess up.

The "13 things" I am referring to is simply a guesstimate on the number of major things I manage on a daily basis. These things include business, time with friends, time with my wife, quiet time, recreation, etc... And the forgiving chainsaw, well to me, that's sleep. If I don't get enough sleep, it eventually catches up with me. I will either start to get sick, or I simply hit a wall at the end of the week.

In the past, I have usually been a fan of getting eight hours of sleep, but for the past few months I have realized that I have more things to get done than time to do them all. Don't you just wish we had 27 hours in a day instead of just 24!? Sometimes I do. So, instead of altering the earth on it's axis, I decided to started researching how to sleep less in order to be more productive while still remaining energized and healthy.

Turns out, this is not a secret concept. There are plenty of people who have been able to do this. For instance, here are several famous people who sleep/slept much less than what is/was normal:

• Jay Leno - 4 hours
• Madonna- 4 hours
• Florence Nightingale - 4 hours
• Michelangelo- 4 hours
• Napoleon Bonaparte - 4 hours
• Bill Clinton - 5-6 hours
• Nikola Tesla - 2 hours
• Margaret Thatcher - 4 hours
• Martha Stewart - 4 hours
• Thomas Edison - 3-4 hour

I'll admit, some of these people are crazy (or have had heart attacks) - not something to aspire to - but they were probably much more productive than you and I will ever be. How did they pull this off?

There are plenty of studies out there that will tell you 8 hours is the prime amount of sleep the body needs. But there are other studies that say 5 hours is all that is needed. These studies seem to contradict each other, and many scientists fight over whose right and whose wrong (Crazy scientists, just agree to disagree will you). Personally, I think it really depends on the person and several other factors.

These factors include:

• Your age
• Your diet
• Your daily activity

Your age. The optimal age for being able to thrive off of less sleep is in between 18 and 55 years old. Before age 18, your body is trying to grow and mature as fast as possible. It needs a lot of sleep in order to do this properly. (I sometimes joke about how my tall friends must have slept a lot more than me while we were growing up). After age 55, your body starts to need more sleep in order to build up the immune system again.

Your Diet. Your diet is very important when it comes to sacrificing sleep in order to be more productive. Studies show that eating 3 smaller meals and 3 snacks in between those meals will increase your energy levels. This is true because it takes energy to digest food. You have probably experienced this before after eating a big Thanksgiving meal - all you want to do is take a nap (or watch football). When you spread your food out a little more, your body is able to take a break from digesting and give you the energy you need.

Another big factor in your diet is to drink lots of water. An article from Lifecyclesblog.com says that on a typical day your body uses 12 cups of water. They suggest drinking a glass of water before you go to bed, a glass when you wake up, and six more glasses throughout the day. This not only keeps your energy levels up, but it also boosts your immune system in order to avoid getting sick.

Your Daily Activity. What you do throughout the day is a huge factor in determining how much sleep you need. If you do a lot of manual labor during the day, then your energy will be sucked dry by the time you get home. You may need more sleep than the rest of us. But, if you are sitting in an office chair for the majority of the day, you may have a better chance of living off 5 hours of sleep.

Some healthy practices are to workout right after you wake up. Your body temperature is primed and ready for getting some exercise in the morning. This will produce more endorphins in your body which according to Wikipedia, are "endogenous opiod polypeptide compounds." Huh? What that means is that they give you a feeling of well being and work as natural pain relievers. Basically, it's a little mental and physical boost in the morning.

Another healthy practice is to try and get more sun throughout the day. If you work inside most of the time, go outside for lunch and stay outside when you get home. This will boost not only your energy, but give you vitamin D as well, which helps with your immune system.

Back to the scientists: Some scientists say that getting less than 5 hours of sleep will increase your blood pressure and can add concentrations of high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein which is the stronget predictor of heart attacks. But then, on the other side of the scale, they say that getting more than 8 or 9 hours of sleep can actually deteriorate your health. So, I am going to stick with the median between 8 and 5 which is 6.5. By doing this, you would add 1.5 hours of productive time to your day which is 547.5 hours per year- the equivalent of 22.7 days!

So, the question is: Are you the type of person who can thrive off of less sleep in order to be more productive?

Answer: There's only one way to find out. Try it out for yourself.

This is what I am going to do. Starting next Monday (April 19, 2010), I am going to start living off of 6.5 hours of sleep per night (10:30 PM to 5:00 AM) for two weeks, and then reevaluate how I feel. If it's working, I will let you know. If it's not... well, we'll just see.

Anybody else with me? Anybody want to be more productive and add 1.5 extra hours to their day? Let me know so that we can keep each other accountable!

Tip: If you are trying this out, another key to success will be maintaining a consistence schedule. Do your best to remain consistent!