I would first take a moment to thank the StumbleUpon community. Collectively over 23,000 of you have stopped by my little blog in the past year. I am flattered and overwhelmed by the interest and hope I have provided some useful advice to everyone, and to those kind enough to leave a comment or some feedback.
Now on with the story.
Exactly one year has passed since beginning my first polyphasic sleep schedule. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my experiences and share with you some of the results.
The other day, I was thinking about how much time one could reasonably expect to gain using a polyphasic schedule. That lead me to wonder:
What is Reasonably Possible?
I personally have fallen in love with the Everyman sleep schedule of 4.5 hrs core, and one or two 20 minute naps throughout the day. It has by far been the easiest to maintain and most cohesive with my body and lifestyle. I wondered how much time this could add to a person’s waking life if it was strictly followed for a full year. The results shocked and amazed me.
The calculations are simple, but here they are if you haven’t done the math yourself already. With a 1.5 nap average at 20 minutes per nap, that comes out to exactly 5 hours of sleep per day. Assuming a normal person needs 8 hrs of sleep to feel rested without napping, the resulting amount of additional time comes to:
1095 waking hours per year.
You read that correctly – 1095 hours.
That amounts to 45.6 full days, or a full MONTH AND A HALF of extra waking time!
My Personal Results
Now the above results are of course only theoretical. Life happens: naps are skipped, alarms are missed, and business trips, vacations, projects and drunken nights will take place. However, after being on a polyphasic sleep schedule for the majority of the past year, I feel I can provide some living proof and shed some light on what is realistically possible.
Looking back on the past twelve months, I spent at least 70% of it on some form of polyphasic sleep schedule. Because my exact sleep scheduled varied over the course of the year (ranging between 3 hr core + 3 naps, 4.5 core + 1-2 naps, and 6 hr core +1 nap) I have approximated my average amount of sleep to be 5.5 hours per polyphasic day. Using these estimates and the same calculations as before, my resulting totals are:
639 additional waking hours, or 26.6 days.
And That’s Not All
If I’m not adjusted and in a regular schedule, 3 hours sleep is still difficult, but when deadlines or other reasons force me to take less sleep it becomes quite easy. But 4.5 hours is just cake. I can hardly remember the time when 4.5 hours seemed like a horrific and unfathomably miniscule amount of sleep to be had. Now, 6 hours literally feels like a luxury. It is the same feeling I would get when I slept in 10 hours on a weekend in high school or college – feeling guiltily over-rested.
Other less obvious benefits include: the ability to nap nearly anywhere, being able to fall asleep quickly (no more laying in bed wasting time waiting to fall asleep), and no jet lag (the schedule is easily shifted – even if I’m not polyphasic at the time).
The downsides: finding a time and place for a nap(s) every day, if naps are missed, more likely to get tired throughout the day (if the mind is left not being stimulated), seeming strange to the general population.
Fortunately the first two downsides are easily remedied – if there isn’t a time and place to nap, I go back to monophasic. If I get tired throughout the day, a nap or a little caffeine will do the trick (but I could see it being difficult to stay awake in a particularly boring class for those still in school).
I don’t have a solution for the last one - but fortunately I don’t really mind.
Making it Work for You
The real secret behind successfully becoming polyphasic is having a reason to need more time.
For me it was my goals in my work and play. I love my work, and want to do as much as possible to become successful. I also loved my free time. Throughout the past 365 days, my pastimes and personal goals have kept me busy to the wee hours of the morning, and then I am lucky enough to have my job to look forward to when I wake up.
However, at times when work was slow, or I was less interested in the things I was doing in my spare time, I found I would sleep more for lack of better things to do.
Sleeping is easy. Sleep fills empty time. It is the path of least resistance.
Know what your passions and goals are and work your ass off towards what makes you happy. It will be the path of more resistance, but that is what makes life worth living. If having more time in the day will help you towards those goals, you will have no problem adjusting to a polyphasic sleep schedule.
Are there things you would like to know I haven’t touched upon? Would you consider a polyphasic schedule? Post a comment and let me know!
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