I think many people out there, me included, wish we didn’t need a full eight-hours a night to truly feel like ourselves.

We have so much to do – and so much we want to do – that having more productive hours in the day could only be a win, right?

Well, not so fast.

Short sleeper syndrome (SSS) affects people who naturally sleep for between four and six hours but still wake refreshed and good to go until the following night. It’s not connected to any known sleep disorder, and seems to be just the natural state of some folks – these are the same people who fall asleep and wake up easily, often without the aid of an alarm clock, too.

I wonder if they realize they are god’s favorites???

Research is in its early stages, but seems to suggest that some particular genes are at play, namely a protein called DEC2 that’s thought to be involved with establishing our circadian rhythms.

A second mutated gene, ADRB1, was identified in a family with three generations of natural short sleepers. There could be more contributing genes that lead to the trait; we simply don’t have enough information yet to know for sure.

If you don’t have SSS and try to subsist on less than 8 hours of sleep a night, you can look forward to steep long-term consequences, like cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression. For those with the natural ability to sleep less, those negative associations do not appear to exist.

So getting less than 8 hours a night isn’t bad for you.

But only if you’ve unknowingly won a genetic lottery.

If you found that story interesting, learn more about why people often wake up around 3 AM and keep doing it for life.