Polyphasic Sleep Experiment
The Beginning
My ultimate goal for this experiment is to sleep less to allow me do more every day. After looking at different strategies, I found information on certain sleep schedules where you shorten the amount of nightly sleep by taking short naps during the day. After a week of research and deliberation, I decided on a polyphasic sleep schedule with a core nap of 3 hrs and three 20 minute naps throughout the day.
What is Polyphasic Sleep and How can it Work?
Polyphasic sleep is the practice of sleeping multiple times per 24 hr day rather than a single nights’ sleep, usually resulting in significantly less overall daily sleep. A simple version could invovle a core nap of 4.5 hours with two 20 minute naps during the day, where the ultimate version requires six 20 minute naps spaced out evenly in a 24 hr period (for a total of 2 hrs a day!)
There are a number of differing views on why polyphasic sleep cycles can work. One of the more recognized theories explains that in order for a person to feel rested and alert the important factor is not necessarily the amount of time slept, but rather the amount of sleep cycles experienced. A sleep cycle is on average 90 minutes and consists of stages transitioning from light sleep, to deep sleep, to REM sleep. Most people need at least 5, sometimes 6 cycles to feel rested the next day.
Sleep Discipline and polyphasic sleeping take advantage of the fact that after practice, you can train your body and mind to condense a 90 minute sleep cycle into a mere 20 minute nap. This is why short “power naps” leave you feeling alert, awake and refreshed, while after longer naps (40 min to an hr) you wake up groggy and tired. In the latter case, you have begun to transition into a second cycle and your body hates to wake up mid cycle.
Planning it Out
To begin my experiment, I created a forgiving schedule totaling 6 sleep cycles. As an inexperienced napper, I was very skeptical of my napping abilities. My expectations were so low, if I fell asleep at all during my scheduled nap times I would consider it a huge success. In light of this, I created a schedule consisting of a 4.5 hour core sleep period (3 cycles) and three 30 min naps (3 more cycles) spaced throughout the day, giving me a sizeable amount of core sleep and 3 chances to fall asleep to help alleviate the possible sleep deprivation.
Sleep deprivation is one of the biggest hurdle for adopting a polyphasic sleep schedule as it can render people mentally incapacitated (zombified!) until sleep recovery (in extreme cases), or sometimes can cause sever cases of falling-asleep-when-intending-to-stay-awake.
I wanted to make sure I would be able to function at or near capacity for work responsibilities. I figured if there was a drop in productivity, I would have an extra couple hours a day to make up for it. I aim to eventually adjust to a 3 hr core, with three 20 min naps.
The Progress
My experiment began on April 7th 2008. To see the full story in chronological order, start here to see the daily entries for the first three weeks of the experiment (scroll to the bottom for the first entry).
To provide quick summaries of the data I’ve recorded, I made a weekly review and analysis of my polyphasic schedule. They are as follows:
- Week 1 - The beginning
- Week 2 - The shorter schedule
- Week 3 - Adjustment
- Week 4 - Best times yet!
- Week 5 - The DC trip
Update: As of July 15, 2008 I have changed my schedule to be 4.5 hour core, and 2 x 20 min naps. See what happened here.
If you think polyphasic sleep and sleep discipline might be right for you, please take a look at my Start-Up Guide.