Batman has an insanely busy schedule. Not only does spend every night patrolling Gotham City for escaped lunatics like the Joker and Two-Face, he also has to spend his days in boardroom meetings at Wayne Enterprises. Then there are those regular Justice League meetings and the time he has to spend on his regular workouts and training sessions with the latest Robin. Even when he’s not Batman, he has to keep up appearances as Bruce Wayne by dating supermodels (poor guy).

With all these demands on his time, one has to ask – how does Batman sleep? Unlike superhumans like Superman or Wonder Woman, Batman is supposedly a mortal man who needs to eat and sleep like everyone else. Yet his insanely heavy workload appears to prevent him from doing this.

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Eventually, the comic books provided an explanation for Batman’s sleeping habits – which not only reveal how Bruce Wayne can keep up with such a demanding schedule, but also how he managed to learn and acquire so much knowledge during his years of training. Quick warning - while Batman’s secret sleeping schedule is related to a real phenomenon, it is considered very dangerous to engage in.

Tim Burton Batman

Movies like Tim Burton’s Batman or Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins actually show Bruce Wayne slumbering in a giant bed, or even hanging upside down like a bat. According to the comics, however, neither of these positions are Batman’s preferred method of sleeping. During his years of training, Bruce Wayne learned how to engage in “micro-naps” or “microsleep.” Microsleep is a form of sleeping where people fall unconscious for a short period of time – sometimes 30 seconds or even a fraction of a second – losing and regaining consciousness so rapidly that they aren’t even aware of falling asleep at all.

While microsleeps are often very dangerous in real life, especially if the sleeper is driving, operating machinery, or engaged in some other task requiring alertness, in the comics Batman found a way to use microsleeping to his advantage. By training his brain to intentionally go into microsleeps while he was studying or working on the Bat Computer, Bruce Wayne was able to avoid a normal sleep cycle, ease his mind, and aid in his problem-solving skills.

This actually helped explain how Bruce Wayne was able to gain expertise in such a wide variety of detection techniques, fighting styles, and theatrical skills in such a relatively short period of time – he literally wasn’t sleeping like a normal person, giving him more time in the day to study. While this method of sleeping is not healthy (even in the comic books), Batman’s obsessive need to become a nearly superhuman vigilante drove him to engage in this risky behavior.

This actually led to a (likely intentional) snarky scene in the comics. In Batman #682, Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred lectured Bruce on his unhealthy habits while Batman was working on the Bat Computer. In response, Bruce went into a microsleep, allowing him to avoid Alfred’s lecture, and wake up moments later with a fresh lead on Doctor Death.

Of course, Batman’s personality and habits do shift as different writers take over his stories, and some comic books have shown Bruce Wayne engaging in a more customary (and healthier) sleep schedule. Still, considering Batman’s obsessive nature, it’s almost a sure bet that he slips back to this unhealthy sleep pattern just to keep up with his demanding schedule. Batman might have many admirable qualities that his fans may wish to emulate – but his weird sleep style might be one best avoided.

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