[Varulfr]

Polyphasic sleep - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I just learned about this nonsense and I have to say... I want to try it. Come on, I mean... bi-phasic sleep alone gives me 2 less hours I have to waste sleeping a day!

Think of all the wandering around and intellectual lampooning I could do!!!

I'm excited.



INTJ's, this is it. This is our chance to rule the world. With an army headed by an elite force of sleepless INTJ Masterminds, followed closely by our medical division of INFP's and Spy satellite ENFPs, with weapons of massive power being developed in closely guarded vaults by loyal, albeit constructively lackadaisical INTP brethren and a vast horde of extroverts leading the front charge... we will finally have it. The world, the Universe, is OURS.

[Zygomorphic]

As an individual who plans to go to medical school, I do wonder if any of those sleep cycles is conformable to the medical school schedule (because I'd rather not be sleep deprived). I've particularly wanted to try the Uberman cycle, but I've heard it is very rigorous and stressing to adapt to in the beginning. Small steps, perhaps?

Figures though - I would be the medic...

[Outcode]

As an individual who plans to go to medical school, I do wonder if any of those sleep cycles is conformable to the medical school schedule (because I'd rather not be sleep deprived). I've particularly wanted to try the Uberman cycle, but I've heard it is very rigorous and stressing to adapt to in the beginning. Small steps, perhaps?

Figures though - I would be the medic...

Hah, good luck with the Uberman. It'll be hard for you.

[HeartlySerious]

Why, i'm honored to be included in your plan~

[Varulfr]

There's a place for all peons- friends. I mean friends. Dear, dear friends. friends.

[Grey]

Perhaps a good idea for world domination in theory, but I feel much better sleeping eight hours than sleeping through three-plus periods of two hours.

[Abuwabu]

I have been looking into this too as it is perfect for keeping watch while single-handed sailing. I plan to try it out as a serious experiment in the summer. 20 mins every 4 hours is supposed to be optimal.

[very bored]

^ Maybe I've just been trained to try to get 8 hours of sleep, but isn't just 2 hours a day unsafe?

[Singularity]

I tend to be fine with 6 hours of sleep a night and can stay awake for 2 days at a time before I start to show adverse affects. I can sleep 4 hours a night continuously (as I did in college for years), but I do suffer from headaches when I do this for long periods.

I personally am not convinced 8 hours of sleep is necessary for everyone.

Sleep less, live longer?
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Why should we have eight hours' sleep?

[Solace]

During one semester of college I tried out a personally-tuned biphasic sleep schedule that worked out excellently. It didn't look exactly like the graph on Wikipedia, but I was able to manage when I would sleep and maximize my wakefulness throughout the day.

A couple of the things I realized had a rather significant impact on the times that I slept, so be wary of what your body is telling you. The first thing was that due to the early and late hours of my classes, I had to put my classes as my main priority and my sleep as second, thus the necessity of a bi- or polyphasic sleep cycle. Due to this, I could only sleep for a maximum of 3 hours at night, and decided to sleep 2 hours in the afternoon.

Two major events impacted the way I determined the amount I slept:
The first was that my body would get really fatigued with only three hours of sleep (I went to school in the desert, so that might have been part of it), so when the afternoon rolled around I really needed the nap. The other was that if I varied my routine even slightly that I would not be able to fall asleep soon enough at night so as to feel well rested when I awoke three hours later.

My schedule was to sleep from 3 AM to 6AM then go to classes (my earliest class was a brutal 7AM-10:30AM course), have lunch, hang out. By 2PM I would be so fatigued that I would sleep until 4 or 5 PM and then go to more classes and stay up the rest of the night until my "bed time" rolled around. As mentioned, variation from this routine was detrimental to the rest of my day, but your results may vary.

I also found that, unfortunately, I am one of those people that need 7 cumulative hours of sleep (more is excessive, but not unwanted at times). So to stay within the proper cycle, I had to get an alarm clock that worked for me - most of which have two distinct alarm settings now - and have the willpower to get up when the alarm goes off.

With respect to personality types, I think that biphasic is more suitable for "night owls" and people who are responsible enough to want to get up early, but also like to socialize late into the night. Biphasic sleep cycles solve this nicely. For people who are very energetic and the "workoholic" types, an Uberman or Everyman cycle will be best, depending mainly on one's relationship status and job.

That said, I have a friend that only sleeps 3 hours or so a night and she seems to do great day-to-day, so do what feels best to you, because sleeping is about recharging your body.

@ Zygomorphic: Another friend of mine had a true biphasic sleep cycle where her core sleep would be at night (5-6 hours) and then she would take a 45-60 minute nap after lunch. She will be going to Med school and will likely continue her routine, so you might also consider shifting from a monophasic to biphasic cycle and then see what suits you best after that. As far as stability and motor control, especially if you are a surgeon or the like, I would imagine that a little nap before performing an important procedure - or even just taking an exam - will help relax your body and mind.