Infographic reveals the bizarre snoozing habits of the world's most successful people

Part of Margaret Thatcher's formidable reputation was down to how little she slept.

The former British prime minister was believed to get by on just four hours of sleep each night - and she wasn't the only one.

Nikola Tesla, the 'grandfather of electricity' was thought to sleep just two hours a night, while Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi only gets two to four hours, and Barack Obama six hours.

The National Sleep foundation recommends seven to nine hours of sleep a night for 18-64 years olds to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Despite Thatcher and Obama's example, politicians are the group who with the most people who get more than nine hours of sleep each night. 

The chart also shows how people in marketing and PR get the least sleep, with the sector having the highest number of people who sleep less than three hours. 

'You often read and hear stories of successful individuals, especially in business, boasting about how much they get done while the rest of us are tucked up in bed,' said Made to Measure Blinds who made the graphic.

'We wanted to compare these individuals against data from other people working in those sectors.'

The researchers took data from a YouGov survey, which asked 1,401 working adults about their sleeping habits to create a chart.

But people don't necessarily have to get unbroken sleep to get their rest.

'Though often relying on anecdotal evidence, there have been reported cases of alternative sleeping patterns that have been used to apparent success,' the Berkshire-based company said.

The firm has also created a chart detailed various sleep patterns, such as the Uberman cycle, which was used by Leonardo Da Vinci. This involves taking 20 to 40 minutes naps every four hours.

The Dymaxion cycle, meanwhile, was created by Richard Buckminster 'Bucky' Fuller – a renowned American neo-futuristic architect who died in 1983. He slept for 30 minutes every six hours.

Former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, enjoyed taking siestas. He would sleep four to four and a half hours per night and then take a 90 minute nap around noon.

However, research last year found that interrupted sleep can be as physically detrimental as having no sleep at all.

The study linked interrupted sleep patterns and compromised cognitive abilities, shortened attention spans, and negative moods.

The researchers at Tel Aviv University discovered that interrupted sleep is equivalent to no more than four consecutive hours of sleep.

Sleeping well is also linked to general better health, with those who get enough sleep more likely to have better mental health and less likely to be overweight, develop high blood pressure, raised cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes.

Source: Daily Mail