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Originally Posted by David Hausladen  set: Don't worry about it. If you're still looking for a way to reduce your sleep hours without disrupting normal life, you might consider biphasic with a 3- or 4.5-hour* core sleep at night and then a 1.5-hour* nap during the afternoon or evening. This is probably the most "natural" sleep method you can achieve while using an alarm clock (the body's circadian rhythms are tailored toward this sleep schedule, with a major, prolonged drop in body temperature at night and a lesser, short drop in body temperature in the early afternoon). There will still be an adaptation period that you need to force your way through, but it shouldn't be nearly as tough as polyphasic, since it's not too far removed from monophasic sleep.
* I use multiples of 90 minutes for the nap and sleep times here because that's the average length of the sleep cycle (during long sleep periods; not applicable to polyphasic). This way you wake up at the beginning/end of a cycle, when it's easy to do so. If you wake up in the middle of the cycle, it will be harder to wake up and you'll have much less energy for your day. This is why people can get seven hours of sleep and still be tired! |
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Originally Posted by David Hausladen The biphasic schedule (4.5 hours +1.5 hours) looks like it would work well. Another possibility which I've thought about myself but never given a serious trial is triphasic sleep with 90-minute naps every eight hours. Since each nap should get a full sleep cycle, the adaptation should be much easier than other polyphasic schedules. At the same time, I haven't seen any reports online from anyone who's actually done it. |
Yes, totally agree with the intention component and the 21 to 30 day trial. Both very much first nature to me. The coffee...we'll see...
I think it best to leave the 3:45am routine as it is because it has, through both intention and several 30 day cycles by now become very much a part of me. It also seems fruitful to try to design as regular a schedule as possible.
So, for a 4.5 hour core, I'd be going to sleep at 11:15.
Then I should probably get either two 45 minute slots in or one 90 minute slot in. The 30 minute "power nap" has worked real well, but I'd change that for experimental purposes.
(David, would you tell me where you got the information on 90 minute sleep cycles? Are they bette than 45 minutes for most people? The medical literature is real irregular about this sort of thing, since there isn't a related interest in actual clinical medicine and the basic science information is pretty spread out, based on EEG studies primary, delta wave and REM sleep etc. I'd appreciate that, thanks.)
Going with the 90 minute sleep blocks, I guess I'll just go to sleep now
It's 4:34pm. (Hey why not try something new?). Then get up at 6pm with 5 1/4 hours til bedtime, and still get up at 3:45am tomorrow. Seems a good idea to start ahead rather than behind on the shorter nights.
OK, I'll take the challenge here! Imagine that, I just had a look at this thread this morning.
Plan will be 4-5pm: 90 minutes
11:15-3:45am: 270 minutes (4:30 hrs)
We'll see how going for essentially 12-13+ hours on 4:30 hours goes. Not the same as sleeping every 8 hours. Maybe on some days, I can crash earlier for the 90 minutes, or I'll find that two 45 minute naps will work better for me physiologically.
Thanks for all the information and support!
Ati