How I Function on Less Sleep (Without Burning Out) @bengreenfieldlife

Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

Full show notes: bengreenfieldlife.com/podcast/lnraw12

Today I want to share something I’ve alluded to before, but haven’t unpacked in detail on a podcast. I get up very early most days, I don’t always hit the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep, and over time, that adds up if you don’t have a reliable way to recover. For me, that’s where non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) comes in.

The RAW podcast is a LIFE Network–exclusive, solo format where I go deeper, think more freely, and explore ideas that don’t always fit inside the Boundless Life podcast—nothing is off-limits. In this playback, I walk through how I actually use NSDR as a daily nervous system reset—what’s happening in the brain and body, why it works even in short sessions, and how it helps me stay focused, calm, and functional through the end of the day.

If your days start early, end late, or your brain has trouble shutting off, this episode will give you a practical framework you can start using right away.

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00:00 – Why This Episode Matters (RAW + Unfiltered)
02:30 – The Real Cost of Running on Less Sleep
05:00 – My Daily Reset: NSDR Instead of Naps
08:30 – What Is NSDR (Non-Sleep Deep Rest)?
12:30 – The Science Behind Why NSDR Works
17:30 – When and How to Use NSDR in Real Life
20:30 – Best NSDR Tools, Apps & Tech I Use
24:30 – Why I Do NSDR Almost Every Day
26:15 – Final Takeaways & How to Get Started

How I Function on Less Sleep (Without Burning Out)

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$Is There Really a Compound For Every Biohack? With Dr. Sandra Kaufmann Full show notes: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/pharma In this special repeat episode, Dr. Sandra Kaufmann breaks down which pharmaceuticals mimic the effects of things you already do for your health: what replaces a sauna session, what replaces a fast, what replaces a cold plunge (use code BENFORGE for $500 off select products), and what she takes with meals to blunt the damage from glucose spikes. Im re-airing it now because of a new Nature paper finding that lithium is a naturally occurring brain nutrient, and that losing it may be one of the earliest steps toward Alzheimers, at a dose in exactly the range Dr. Kaufmann described on this show years earlier. Youll hear why she prefers pioglitazone over metformin for autophagy, how a Japanese gastritis drug connects to Alzheimers, and how she worked her way up on an emergency blood pressure medication, starting at a dose that nearly knocked her off her feet and climbing to 100mg with no effect at all. The centerpiece is lithium (code BGL10 for 10% off): why the doses hidden inside popular nootropics are a fraction of what she considers useful, and everything it appears to do beyond mood, from controlling a pore in your mitochondria to building bone and growing new neurons. Youll also get her honest take on gene therapy versus pharmaceuticals, why peptides underperform in an older cell, and which molecule finally knocked astaxanthin off the top of her ranking system. 0:00 Introduction 1:09 The lithium news that made me re-air this 2:25 Theres a drug for everything 5:58 Your doctor will say no 7:19 Fasting benefits without fasting 8:39 The drug that beats metformin 11:48 Why she wont do gene therapy 13:12 A sauna in a pill 19:43 The drug nobody will take 24:26 Six ways to blunt a glucose load 27:14 Longevity doses, not patient doses 30:51 How much lithium she actually takes 35:55 What lithium does besides mood 40:24 Your NAD timing is probably wrong 45:30 Why peptides fail in old cells 52:02 What finally beat astaxanthin Shop My Curated Marketplace of Vetted Products! - https://shoplifemarket.com Sign up for a FREE Coaching Call! - https://jointriumphcoaching.com Check out my FREE newsletter! - https://bengreenfieldlife.com/newsletter/ 🔗My Website: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/ 🔗My Podcast: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/podcast/ 🔗My Books: https://shopbengreenfieldlife.com/collections/books Connect with me: ⬇️ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bengreenfieldfitness/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BGFitness X https://twitter.com/bengreenfield TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@bengreenfield$

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