Switching to Biphasic Sleeping? Start here.

[Criseyde]

Hi!

I hope it's okay to bump this thread.

I have recently decided it would be AWESOME to switch to biphasic sleep. I'm on day three. I'm getting a lot done and I always feel very awake between about 10pm-2am, which is great. Unfortunately, I'm really tired in the afternoons, but can't nap. So far I have tried the nap from 5-6:30, 3:30-5, and 6:30-8, but I only doze for about 45 minutes and then wake up. I can't sleep any more, but I'm still groggy. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm afraid that I'm getting into sleep debt (my eyes are kind of bloodshot right now, and I've noticed my eyes coming unfocused sometimes all by themselves ) and will have to make it up, which isn't so bad except I'm afraid that if I have to sleep a long time every few nights, I'll never be able to switch to biphasic. Do I just need to get myself used to napping?

[Scott Bird]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

I have recently decided it would be AWESOME to switch to biphasic sleep. I'm on day three.

Fantastic - you'll love it.

It'll take your body a week or two to adjust to the new schedule, so don't be too harsh on yourself. Choose whichever time is most convenient for you (for the nap), and be persistent.

Once your body adjusts to the new routine, you'll notice a massive improvement.

[Wildside]

I decided to give this a try as well. I was reading about it yesterday and got kind of excited about it. I am a crappy sleeper anyways and usually I only get about 4.5 or so good hours a night. I usually go to bed around 10:30pm and always seem to wake up around 3am and can't really get back to sleep, so I am rather tired through the day. So I was thinking if I go to bed around 1:30am and get up at 6am it would be about the same and then have the nap around 5:30-7pm.

Yesterday I tried napping around 5:30pm but couldn't really fall asleep so I just layed there for about an hour and then got up. I stayed up until 1:30 last night...but when I went to bed I couldn't get to sleep, I got out of bed at 6am and went for my usual 45 minute walk. I am really, really bagged now...sucks. I will try to nap today but I have never really been able to nap, do you "learn" how to nap doing biphasic? I'm gonna keep trying this for the weekend but if I haven't slept by monday I will have to go back to getting to sleep at 10:30 as I won't be able to make it through the work week. will let you know how it goes.

[Scott Bird]

Originally Posted by Wildside

I will try to nap today but I have never really been able to nap, do you "learn" how to nap doing biphasic?

Yep. It can take a week or two, but your body will adjust to the routine and you'll begin napping effortlessly.

[Wildside]

Originally Posted by Scott Bird

Yep. It can take a week or two, but your body will adjust to the routine and you'll begin napping effortlessly.

That's what I figured. I don't know if I will stick to it right now though. I am on call this coming week and don't want to be a zombie all week. It would be nice to have a week or two off work to get through the tough adaption phase of this. I think what I might do is just start going to bed a little later each night and still get up at 6am until I am getting close to 4.5 hours of sleep...at the same time try napping in the evening each night. I think that might be easier than going strait to 4.5 hrs of sleep. Last night I couldn't get to sleep at all and have been really bagged all day, I did nap for a couple of hours this morning...not solid sleep but a little bit. I have to go to a concert tonight and will probably go to bed when I get back. I love the thought of having those extra hours in the evening night, last night I learned a new song on guitar and watched a movie and read...it was great...but then when it came time for bed I couldn't shut down, I usually never have that problem. probably to much stimulation that late at night.

[Criseyde]

Wildside, I had those issues the first couple days, but after a while I got so tired that it wasn't hard to go to sleep any more.

I slept in this morning. I guess that, in order to wake up early at the weekend, you should have something planned to do once you wake up. Otherwise, you won't.

[chetan51]

Anyone interested in another 30-day log of a switch to biphasic sleep, here's mine:

Biphasic Sleep Experiment Log

Good luck to me!

[anscho]

Originally Posted by chetan51

Anyone interested in another 30-day log of a switch to biphasic sleep, here's mine:

Biphasic Sleep Experiment Log

Good luck to me!

Good luck

____________________


Ontario licensed home care services offers cpap machine to customers in Toronto and all other Ontario cities.

[Rubns]

First of all, sorry for my grammar, I don't have a good command of English yet, but I guess it is enough to be understood

I'm considering to switch to biphasic sleep but I have a few questions about it:

Reading your posts I notice that most of you, take the nap more or less at 7pm. Is there any special issue with that? I mean, the nap must be taken around that part of the day?

I'm wondering this because I usually get at home from college at 1 pm, I have lunch and after that I'm very very tired, so I think it would be best to take the one-and-a-half-hour nap at this time and not at 7 pm (more or less).

The point is: I'd like to know if it's more effective to follow those patterns (sleep from 7 pm to 8:30 pm and then from 12:30 am to 05:00 am) or just take the one-and-a-half-hour nap after lunch.

Thanks in advance

[hydroxide]

Hi Rubns,

Don't know if you're still interested, since your post is from April, but the common wisdom I have read is that you usually only get a 4-6 hour energy boost from the nap. So you don't want the end of the nap to be too far before the beginning of the core or you'll get tired prematurely. Of course, there is also the consideration of how far your nap is from the end of your core, and both need to be balanced out.

The reason most people here seem to nap in the evenings is because that's when a lot of people get home from work/school, myself included.

[James F]

I was reading all the stories today and decided to give Biphasic sleeping a try.
I was thinking about doing the 1.5/4.5.

In fact I have just recently woke up from my nap, will post my log of today/tomorrow over in the logs section once I wake up from my 4.5.

[ginkgo]

To get the most out of this try to get the maximim sleep that you can, not the minimum. You cannot sleep if you do not need sleep, only if you need it. So get all the sleep that you need since that time is very important to your soul that will be existing for millions of years. Your body exists only for about 100 years and then it is dead and gone forever.

[silicon toad2000]

From what I have read that's the whole point of bi phasic sleep, getting more sleep that you need from less time slept.
I'm not sure i completely understand what you're trying to communicate ginkgo.

[rawvegron]

I'm not a doctor, but this sounds like a good way to get one's circadian rythms messed up. Thousands of years of evolution taught Man (and Woman) to adapt the rythms in his body to the revolutions of the earth around the sun. The first light in the morning "sets" the body's clock--and eating, growth, restoration, metablolism--even sex--revolve around the body clock and are affected by it and controlled by it.

I try to wake up with the sun and go to bed when my body tells me I'm sleepy. The sun, daylight, sleep, etc all control hormon balance, metabolism and lots of natural happenings in the body--and you can get them very messed up by playing with your sleep. Cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, obesity, and lots of stuff is caused by sleep abnormality. I know because I have developed obstructive sleep apnea and I'm working as hard as I can to get back to normal, restorative sleep.

Ron

[silicon toad2000]

If you're talking 1000's of years of evolution I think you're mistaken. I believe you'll find that the monophasic pattern of sleep is only a modern occurence.

I don't believe for a second that prehistoric man felt safe enough to sleep from sundown to sunup. We sleep in 90ish minute cycles, just like most animals sleep in cycles. Most animals wake up between their cycles, I believe we have conditioned ourselves out of this natural behaviour.
More recently in preindustrialised europe, a lot of early documentation supports a bi phasic sleep pattern.
"Peasant couples were often too tired after a long day's work to do much more than eat and go to sleep, but they would wake later on to talk and make love"(A. Roger Ekirch (2005), At Day's Close: Night In Times Past, pp. 308-310).
We have the siesta in many cultures even Islam suggests a nap between Dhuhr and Asr prayers in the afternoon.

You're right, things can go wrong if you just dive headfirst into altered sleep patterns without doing your homework first and feeling your way very carefully.

[3afash]

this thread has actually excited me to try biphasic sleeping...will give it a try and see how it goes

[Jefferton]

Howdy all! I'm currently on my second day of biphasic sleep (conveniently putting the adjustment period during thanksgiving break). My current setup is to nap from approximately 15:30-17:00 then get either 4.5 or 6 hours of core, depending on whether I am tired at midnight (thus the core is either 0:00-6:00 or 1:30-6:00). However, there's plenty of time to experiment.

Other stats:
University student, taking mostly computer science courses
Caffeine intake: 1 green tea after each sleep period
Physical activity level: (very) amateur parkour/free-running

[zrenkert]

BUMP!!!!
I randomly stumbled on this method of sleeping and I am very interested. I am fairly certain I am an insomniac because I do not feel remotely tired until late into the am like 3, since I am in college it has seemingly gotten worse and I spend on average 2 hours or more lying in my bed waiting to fall asleep, when I finally do I manage to stay asleep but its a horrible chore to wake up in time for classes, some at 8 am, and i have slept randomly till 5pm multiple times as well as not being able to fall asleep whatsoever several nights and having to wait until the next night to catch up, resulting in even more oversleeping. I also am always lethargic throughout the day until 5-6pm where I am wide awake. If I were to fall asleep at say 1 am, without forcing myself to get up I would probably be in bed till 1 or 2pm

If you don't want to read through the above, paraphrased: I have never been able to get good quality sleep and stay up late (not intentionally) and oversleep when I finally do fall asleep.

If this method does get you more quality sleep and have you feeling more alert when your awake then I am greatly interested in it.

I just have a few questions:

Do you guys take your nap first, say at night around 8pm, then go about your business, then take your "core" nap several hours later? Or do these schedules differ to meet the needs of the individual/their schedule.

For someone with horrible sleeping patterns like myself how many hours for the nap and core sleep could you recommend?

I am planning on adopting this method while I am home away from studies over our holiday break and look forward to good results, this will greatly save me stress and probably years of life if it works out well!

thanks to anyone who can help with these questions or any input to my post!

[100wattjames]

I know exactly what you mean Zrenkert... I've struggled with sleep issues for a very long time now. Insomnia during high school, then in college things just completely went out the window. Definitely know what you mean when you talk about going to sleep at 1am and being able to sleep until 1pm without too much effort.

I've been on a journey myself looking for ways to get more energy and spend less time sleeping. I haven't found a real solution yet, I had no idea biphasic sleep was even an option.

Some things that really did help out though:
1. regular, deep breathing/meditation. Oxygen apparently plays a big role in energy in the body, and learning how to relax also was beneficial I think.
2. more regular exercise. In college I was spending 16 hours a day either working or procrastinating from work... no time to exercise! Once I started making the time, it helped enormously.
3. better diet. I'm still early in that experiment though, so I can't really tell you one way or the other if that'll work for you.

Best of luck, I'll be researching and experimenting with the biphasic sleep right along with you over the next month.

[sabelo]

Hi everyone, I'm getting into day three now and I just managed to slug myself out of bed this morning. I'm about to start a labour job, has anyone else has had success adapting this pattern to the lifestyle? I've been thinking of tracking my progress, is there a preferred method for that?

[Marsupilama]

Can someone here comment on the long-term side-effects this method could have? So far from what I've read, only ppl who did this for a max. of two months posted here...what happened to the people who started this thread over 3 years ago, did they continue or did they switch back to mono-sleeping?

[sabelo]

They seem to have disappeared, maybe they've transcended to a new level of being and are now out of communication with the headache-ridden sore-eyed new adaptors of this sleep pattern.

In all seriousness I think this is going to work. I loved the part on how prehistoric man evolved an evasive sleep pattern:

Originally Posted by silicon toad2000

If you're talking 1000's of years of evolution I think you're mistaken. I believe you'll find that the monophasic pattern of sleep is only a modern occurence.

I don't believe for a second that prehistoric man felt safe enough to sleep from sundown to sunup. We sleep in 90ish minute cycles, just like most animals sleep in cycles. Most animals wake up between their cycles, I believe we have conditioned ourselves out of this natural behaviour.

Also, prehistoric mammals often lived in fear of predation by dinosaur. The world had become a dangerous place by day, and there is a correlation of an evolved hearing mechanism called the middle ear would have allowed our distant mammalian hunters to take to the night.

On a side note, I'm on day four and I feel excellent.

[Marsupilama]

Would be nice if you could share your progress here...I wanna try it for myself but after christmas and new years...too many parties to attain :P

[rb699]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

Hi!

I hope it's okay to bump this thread.

I have recently decided it would be AWESOME to switch to biphasic sleep. I'm on day three. I'm getting a lot done and I always feel very awake between about 10pm-2am, which is great. Unfortunately, I'm really tired in the afternoons, but can't nap. So far I have tried the nap from 5-6:30, 3:30-5, and 6:30-8, but I only doze for about 45 minutes and then wake up. I can't sleep any more, but I'm still groggy. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm afraid that I'm getting into sleep debt (my eyes are kind of bloodshot right now, and I've noticed my eyes coming unfocused sometimes all by themselves ) and will have to make it up, which isn't so bad except I'm afraid that if I have to sleep a long time every few nights, I'll never be able to switch to biphasic. Do I just need to get myself used to napping?

Probably. Actually your 45 min nap time is perfect for restoring your physical energy without going into deep sleep as you stay in phase 2 sleep. Absolutely take a nap. They don't have to be 90minute ones either. By forcing yourself to go without any nap one day and sleep during the 10-2am period you are awake you should be able to gradually move that 4-5 hr period of wakefulness back and adjust it to where you want it to be. Takes time though. I hope this is helpful.

[toxicdog]

I've got plans on trying biphasic sleep, but i have a question about the routine.

Is there anybody here with a routine which involves so little time between the core sleep and the nap such as 2-3 hours?

I mean, I'm planning to sleep 11:00pm - 00:30am , then 4:00am - 7:00am.

Is it going to work? I think the 3,5 hours gap is too small between them, isn't it?
Wake hours would be about 16 hours straifht ( from 7 am to 11 pm ), and both the core sleep and nap would be at night. Is this okay? Can i adjust to that?

I've got a feeling i will pass out at the afternoon, and wont adjust to a schedule like that.

Is this a working sleep routine plan?

[sciencefun]

I really love all of the information I have found in reading this thread, as of now i am on page 3, lol. Originally i was going to try polyphasic sleeping, a 4.5 hour core with 2, 20 minute naps. This wasnt working and I couldnt find very much information on it in one place, it was scattered everywhere. Here with biphasic sleeping, all of the contributors have turned this into a knowledge base. I really appreciate all of the effort that went into creating this. Thank you!

Sincerely,
sciencefun

[firenexx]

Originally Posted by toxicdog

I mean, I'm planning to sleep 11:00pm - 00:30am , then 4:00am - 7:00am.

Is it going to work?

I'm no expert on biphasic sleeping and haven't even started it myself yet (though I plan to soon) but I think most people have a 4.5 hour core rather than 3 hours.

[fsantacr]

I have recently stumbled upon biphasic sleeping, and started a routine today! I can't believe I had never heard of biphasic or polyphasic sleep, but I am very hopeful for what it can bring. If anyone is interested, I'm keeping a blog at The NightLight. Here's to being productive!

[Thomasj]

I am going to try to slip into a biphasic sleep routine. I am trying to nap for 90 minutes around 12:00 or 13:00 on most days. Once I get this going somewhat regularly, I am going to trim my main sleep to 6 hours (4 cycles) and then to 4.5 hours (3 cycles) and see how I feel.

My goal is to migrate to a biphasic sleeping pattern with minimal negative jet-lag side effects, and also justify taking a lot of mid-day naps.

[cellardoor]

What have people found the best time for working in eating and exercise patterns?
Apologies if this has already been covered, I'm trying to read on my iPhone.