If a stat sounds like it was invented for dramatic effect, then it probably was.

This is nearly always something touted as a self virtue, but actually just a ploy to get subordinates to work unreasonable hours.

(I'm not saying that there aren't people working these kind of hours, but they certainly aren't bragging about it or trying to convince others to join in).

Yeah, it's likely to be hyperbole, but articles like that perpetuate dangerous ideals by reinforcing the myth that successful people are somehow superhuman, and that we all need to push ourselves with dangerous habits to be able to succeed.

For people with a normal need for sleep that’s worse than going two days without sleep. Six hours a night for a week degrades mental performance about that much.

Ms Stembel could be far out on the bell curve in terms of her need for sleep. People who are perfectly healthy on four hours sleep a night for decades exist.

>Ms Stembel could be far out on the bell curve in terms of her need for sleep. People who are perfectly healthy on four hours sleep a night for decades exist.

Out of curiosity I dug up this article about Ms Stembel and in it she talks about her sleeping habits:

"When I do sleep more, I’m like, “Oh, that feels good. I should do that more often.” But I definitely believe in the power of habit. I’ve kind of honed the habit of not sleeping much, so my body can respond accordingly. It’s very normal for me now, but it’s not ideal. I probably sleep about 4.5 hours a night during the week, and then I try to get one weekend night where I can sleep seven or eight hours."

Even she herself acknowledges that this is not ideal and tries to create opportunities to sleep for the normal 8 hours. The problem with sleep deprivation is that it accumulates damage in the body which becomes apparent only later in life, so by sleeping this little she might be creating problems for herself in the future without even realizing it now. According to sleep researcher Matthew Walker, people whose bodies require less than 6 hours of sleep do exist, but they are extremely rare. It might be that Ms Stembel is one of those people, but I would still place my bet on that she is chronically and seriously sleep deprived.

If she naturally sleeps eight hours a night and usually sleeps less than five hours she’s basically drunk most of most weeks. I hope she has a driver because she’s not capable of driving safely.

Read it but don't believe it.

This type of statements are just capitalist propaganda to guilt trip the "temporarily-embarrassed millionaires" into working for free for them.

"____ sleeps just 4 hours per night"

If it's a successful millionaire people tend to think "wow I'm so lazy no wonder ....".

If it's "broke John Smith" people will think "well duh ... no wonder he's broke ... sleep is important for health!".

Once I read Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" - I've started prioritizing sleep over most things. Highly recommend that book.

You should not trust the claims made in that book. https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

He responds to the claims here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csz3s6

I would rather people over-compensate on sleep than under compensate.

Being sleep deprived while driving not only puts your life in danger, but also the lives of others on the road. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2808128/

I trust my body and my brain, and I know I feel absolutely awful if I don't get enough sleep. That's reason enough.