Actually, if you enter it well rested the first 36 hours (with a couple 5-10 minute catnaps) can be quite productive, with only minimal reduction in productivity. Particularly if you get into the "zone."
It's after that 36 hours, that you need to get about 10-12 hours sleep to get caught up, and then have a few sane days.
Before we do complex cut over onto a new software system, we usually make sure all of our software engineers are very well rested leading into a friday night, in case we've got a couple all nighters ahead of us.
Anybody who tries to do back-back 36 hour death-marches with only 5-6 hours of sleep in between is setting themselves up for the seriously reduced productivity you've described. Nothing good ever seems to come of that.
So - in this scenario, I think they did precisely what they should have, but they shouldn't push their luck.
It's after that 36 hours, that you need to get about 10-12 hours sleep to get caught up, and then have a few sane days.
Before we do complex cut over onto a new software system, we usually make sure all of our software engineers are very well rested leading into a friday night, in case we've got a couple all nighters ahead of us.
Anybody who tries to do back-back 36 hour death-marches with only 5-6 hours of sleep in between is setting themselves up for the seriously reduced productivity you've described. Nothing good ever seems to come of that.
So - in this scenario, I think they did precisely what they should have, but they shouldn't push their luck.