Polyphasic sleep pattern
polycounter lvl 11
I'm wondering, how many of you have tried a polyphasic sleep cycle? Thinking about trying it? Even heard about it?
Why would/wouldn't you want to do it?
I just started the everyman cycle 12 hours ago myself. 4 hours more every day to create art (just to keep this thread art related and hopefully avoid a thread lock
), seems too good to be true. Is it?
Why would/wouldn't you want to do it?
I just started the everyman cycle 12 hours ago myself. 4 hours more every day to create art (just to keep this thread art related and hopefully avoid a thread lock
), seems too good to be true. Is it?
Replies
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http://www.kotaku.com.au/tags/sleeping-like-superman/
It makes for great reading even if you're not planning to drive yourself quite literally insane with sleep deprivation.
No I haven't tried this, I have work, school, a relationship, and various side projects. No time for naps.
Even if I could afford this sleep cycle I don't think I could adhere to it. I take a while to fall asleep and wake up feeling like a zombie. I think I would end up wasting any time gained. I'm not a napper, I like my morning routine and flopping down exhausted after a long day of progress for that sweet 6-8 hrs is the best sedative for me.
FullSynch - You are right, I should have explained it. It is a descriptive name, though "polyphasic sleep", but I had to google it myself when I heard about it for the first time, so I should have done you that favor, I agree
But maybe you should read some more about it? Lacking time is exactly one of the things it cures. You get more time per day.
You are lalso right about the zombie part. Thats why it takes time to adapt to, you have to practice the skill of sleeping, so the body will be able to go into almost instant REM, saving you all the time of the "wasted" sleep time.
I dont know that much about it yet, so I wont be lecturing. I have just been curious about this for half a year now, and atm I am in a position where I can actually try it out, so I am going for it
I tried this method by Steve Pavlina:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser/
I tried Everyman for a few months some time ago and enjoyed it, though it's not really a long term option. For the first week it's tricky to get used to it and being strict with yourself to not oversleep. After a while it starts to click and you can drop off pretty quickly.
You do tend to eat a little bit more than normal and you do need to have a very flexible lifestyle. Long term though, it's hard to get stuff done. You have more time but if you want to go out for the day it's difficult to work in a couple of 20 minute naps when you're with friends (not to mention feeling like a bit of a tramp sleeping in spare corners). Plus, pottering round at night when the rest of the country's sleeping can be a bit off putting.
Absolutely go for it while you can and see how you go.
sleep deprivation is something you shouldn't fuck with.
if you catch a cold or something you could be severely endangering yourself
I would not go back to that place again
Ruz hurriedly puts a pair of pants on
I get about 4 or 5 hours sleep most nights. i have been doing this for about 20 years and yeah I get a bit irritable sometimes but on the whole I feel fine
when you living alone on an island, and have to press the damn button every 108 minutes to save the world. Well, that sleep circle make sense, otherwise I think I would go crazy
Sleep is important :poly121:
https://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster_why_do_we_sleep
People with sleep apnoea are case examples of people who don't get enough deep sleep, learning, function, memory, mood are all going to suffer, if sleep was non essential we wouldn't sleep let alone for as long as we do, think about it from a evolution perspective, sleeping other than for winter preservation in the form of hibernation which we do not do poses nothing but predatory risk so we no doubt sleep the minimum we need for key functional efficiency.
if anything I think more of us need to sleep more not less.
Besides, it isn't about depravation. It's about pacing out the sleep into smaller segments. You're still getting the same amount of rest. The idea is that, longer term, you drop into rem sleep much faster than you normally would as your brain becomes accustomed to your new sleeping pattern.
Obviously there will be some grogginess and tired feeling when you first start doing it.
Although I do feel quite a few people misunderstand the idea behind these polyphasic sleep cycles
I was about to reply, but then Warren read my thoughts and transcribed it for me
So yes, I will be deprived for a few days, but after that I will go instant REM, and will get the same "sleep" as everyone else, but just cutting away the wasted tie that doenst give the body anything.
- At least I hope so
i was once forced to split up my sleeping time into two 4-hour chunks a day and after a bit more then a week i was completely destroyed.
i was sleepy all the time, and i had to drive a longer distance, wich was pretty dangereous, and that was when i made the changes to get into my regular sleep cycle again.
i didn't even reduce my total sleeping time, just changed the pattern.
i am in general a very sleep dependant person i have to admit.
what i would say about all this is: never change a running system.
Unknowingly, I've kinda been doing this all year.
To put it simply: I got a cat and its sleep cycle fucks with mine in terrible ways. I now get between 3.5 and 5 hours of sleep per night with insane consistency. So for the past ~8 months I've gone to bed at or very close to midnight and I have woken up between 3:30 and 5 AM. I can't stress enough how remarkably consistent this has been.
Occasionally (once or twice per week, sometimes less) I will take a nap in order to preserve my sanity, although I find the time it takes to get back into a functioning state after a nap is generally not worth the effort most of the time.
On the one hand, the actual time I'm awake is obviously longer than someone sleeping 7-8+ per night, but the amount of time I spend trying to summon the energy to function all day probably offsets that. Total, usable time to make art is probably close to the same as a normal sleep schedule. If you end up doing shit just to stay awake on this schedule you will probably be in a working time deficit. The benefits of having extra time, while probably real, seem overstated. Getting 4 more hours of shitty, groggy working time in doesn't help as much as it seems like it would.
I should note that I fall asleep damn-near instantaneously, and sleep quite well until I wake up. I have no idea how much REM sleep I get each night but holy fuck am I almost always tired. On paper it kind of makes sense that you only need brief naps, but in practice I feel like anyone getting a full night's sleep will out perform someone that doesn't.
TLDR: From my experience as a disgruntled cat owner, you will get more time out of your day by focusing on being productive/cutting out distractions than sleeping less.
If you go through with it, get a cat.