Post your polyphasic sleep logs here

[David Hausladen]

Biphasic Sleep, Day 17

Starting to get my bedtime back under control...I went to bed at 3:30am yesterday, getting 1.5 hours with my first block of sleep, then was up for four hours as normal, and then slept for 4.5 hours from 9am to 1:30am. My energy level hasn't been perfect, but it's been better than yesterday. Hopefully tonight I won't have any trouble getting to bed at 2am again (after several days of being off-schedule).

[David Hausladen]

Originally Posted by Scott Bird

I'm keen to see how you go tonight and tomorrow: my guess is that the times will be back to normal (normal biphasic, that is). Is that what you've got planned, or are you going to tweak things a bit?

Nope, hoping to just get the schedule back to 2am to 5am and 9am to 12am.

Eventually, I am thinking I might move the nap forward some; it would be great if I could eventually get it to be a 1pm to 4pm nap, but for now I'm happy with the split morning sleep that I've been working on for the past week.

[Ati]

David--I just noticed that you are splitting that 6 hours into 2 equal blocks--looking back it looks like you've been doing that for a while, I just didn't notice the times. Is that better for energy/sleep than 1.5 and 4.5, or just easier to work with otherwise?

Wanderer--I like how you put the and at the end of your log lines, easy to see when things worked and when they didn't that way. I might try that after tomorrow when I consolidate my data

I'm consistently waking up before the alarm. I notice that, especially if it is dark, it's good to start moving about because (1) it's easy to fall asleep again and (2) if I do move about, acknowledge that I'm awake at the right time and that it's OK , then I can rapidly get into "action mode' and feel good and energetic. Light is real helpful with that.

I've noticed just the last couple days increased sleepiness after my nap. That was not happening before. True now . We'll have to see.

I'm still impressed by how interesting this is. It does seem that time doing this has its own effect.





Day 20 12/4 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30 + 4.30=6:00hrs/4Cycles
Day 19 12/3 Sun NO NAP//7:30hrs/5Cycles NO NAP

Day 18 12/2 Sat Nap 8-930P//1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 17 12/1 Fri Nap 8:30-10P//1:30+6:00=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 16 11/30 Thurs Nap 1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles
Day 15 11/29 Wed Nap 1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 14 11/28 Tues Nap 630-8P//1:30+6=7.30hrs/5CyclesOVERSLEEP?ETIO?

Day 13 11/27 Mon Nap 6-730P//1:30+4:30=6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 12 11/26 Sun XXX

Day 11 11/25 Sat Nap 12N-130P//1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/ 4Cycles

Day 10 11/24 Fri Nap 530-700P// 1:30 + 8:00hrs = 9:30hrs(!!!)/570m/
6Cycles+30m OVERSLEEP ??TURKEY???

Day 9 11/23 Thurs Nap 330-500P//1:30 + 4:30h = 6hrs /4Cycles

Day 8,7 11/22,21 Wed, Tues XXX
Days 6 11/20 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30+6:00=7:30 hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 7 11/19 Sun NO NAP//0 + 4:45 hrs (3~+ cycles)NO NAP
Day 6 11/18 Sat NO NAP//0 + 6.5 hrs NO NAP/OVERSLEEP
Day 5 11/17 Fri Nap4-450P//:50+7=7:50hrs/5Cyc/InterruptedNap,OVERSLP

Day 4 11/16 Thurs Nap 615-745P// 1:30 + 4:30 hrs=6hrs/4Cycles

Day 3 11/15 Wed Nap 800-1100PM// 3:00hrs + 4:15= 7:15hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 2 11/14 Tues Nap 730-1030P//3:00+4:30=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 1 11/13 Monday Nap 630-800PM---1:30+4:30=6hrs/4Cycles

90 min Cycles: 1=1:30hrs; 2=3:00hrs; 3=4:30hrs; 4=6:00hrs; 5=7:30hrs

[David Hausladen]

Originally Posted by Ati

David--I just noticed that you are splitting that 6 hours into 2 equal blocks--looking back it looks like you've been doing that for a while, I just didn't notice the times. Is that better for energy/sleep than 1.5 and 4.5, or just easier to work with otherwise?

The original reason for that was that my body wanted to go to bed late (at least 2am) but I wanted to wake up well before sunrise (hence 5am). The days when I've gotten it to work (which there haven't yet been too many of), it's provided plenty of energy for the day.

Originally Posted by Ati

I'm consistently waking up before the alarm.

When I wake up without my alarm now, I can be fairly confident that it's because it hasn't gone off yet (whereas before it meant it went off and I got up, turned it off, and went back to sleep). It's a very relieving feeling that tells me what I'm doing is not unnatural at all to my body.

[Ati]

Originally Posted by David Hausladen

The original reason for that was that my body wanted to go to bed late (at least 2am) but I wanted to wake up well before sunrise (hence 5am). The days when I've gotten it to work (which there haven't yet been too many of), it's provided plenty of energy for the day.

That's real interesting. I'm beginning to pay attention to how I feel energy wise over longer periods of time than just one day, related to one night/day's sleep. Not at all sure what to make of it at this point, but it's beginning to look to me like the overall energy level/focus/feeling of well being--all that we want from good sleep may have as much to do with how the past several days or a week ???? have gone as how the surrounding 24 hours have gone. Anyone have ideas, experience with this notion?

Why do you think things "don't work?", when that's what seems to be happening?.... just to pose a not so rhetorical question--i.e., what gets in the way?
For me, it seems most often a matter of discipline--not following through on what I plan to do--because of distractions, not the best (but not the worst) energy/focus...only rarely a matter of overwhelming sleepiness or fatigue.
That's what I think, anyway. It's not dramatic. On the other hand, maybe the effect on focus/energy can be more than realized, dunno.

A related question: what does it mean for this "to work"? It could be that we can aim for a particular thing when we actually want something else (e.g., we want restful sleep, energy/focus/health during the day and we are aiming for numbers of hours, etc.---maybe the mechanism is actually a bit different than we think) Makes it all a pretty interesting experiment.

Originally Posted by David Hausladen

When I wake up without my alarm now, I can be fairly confident that it's because it hasn't gone off yet (whereas before it meant it went off and I got up, turned it off, and went back to sleep). It's a very relieving feeling that tells me what I'm doing is not unnatural at all to my body.

Yah, that's great. I'm also waking before my alarm almost all the time. Only the last day or so have I woken quite a while before it's been due to go off, something new, we'll see what that's about.....

-----
Yesterday, got a nap in fine, then not as rested as I have been for my "short day" (what I've come to call my "second day, between nap and nightsleep ). So took a shower, did a few things, thought about what the best things to do during this period might be if nothing else is going on--it's evening so if we're watching a movie, having company, going out that's different than a usual workday evening. Still want to use the time well but there are many ways to do that.

Then this morning, really tired for some reason. Awakened fully then made a conscious decision to sleep another cycle--345 to 515. Not sure what that was about, but I woke up, as seems at the moment usual, at 505 and got up.

I do think that we have to be flexible with the various things that affect people's sleeping patterns. Makes sense to add and subtract in cycles(I call them 90 minute cycles and log them as such, but there's a 5 to 15 minute earlier pattern of awakening, most if not totally all of the time. Easier to see them as 90 minute cycles)

Anyone have ideas or experience with the questions above?

Happy sleeping!

Day 21 12/5 Tues Nap 530-7P//1:30 +7:30=8:30hrs/5Cycles

Day 20 12/4 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30 + 4.30=6:00hrs/4Cycles
Day 19 12/3 Sun NO NAP//7:30hrs/5Cycles NO NAP

Day 18 12/2 Sat Nap 8-930P//1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 17 12/1 Fri Nap 8:30-10P//1:30+6:00=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 16 11/30 Thurs Nap 1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles
Day 15 11/29 Wed Nap 1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 14 11/28 Tues Nap 630-8P//1:30+6=7.30hrs/5CyclesOVERSLEEP?ETIO?

Day 13 11/27 Mon Nap 6-730P//1:30+4:30=6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 12 11/26 Sun XXX

Day 11 11/25 Sat Nap 12N-130P//1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/ 4Cycles

Day 10 11/24 Fri Nap 530-700P// 1:30 + 8:00hrs = 9:30hrs(!!!)/570m/
6Cycles+30m OVERSLEEP ??TURKEY???

Day 9 11/23 Thurs Nap 330-500P//1:30 + 4:30h = 6hrs /4Cycles

Day 8,7 11/22,21 Wed, Tues XXX
Days 6 11/20 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30+6:00=7:30 hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 7 11/19 Sun NO NAP//0 + 4:45 hrs (3~+ cycles)NO NAP
Day 6 11/18 Sat NO NAP//0 + 6.5 hrs NO NAP/OVERSLEEP
Day 5 11/17 Fri Nap4-450P//:50+7=7:50hrs/5Cyc/InterruptedNap,OVERSLP

Day 4 11/16 Thurs Nap 615-745P// 1:30 + 4:30 hrs=6hrs/4Cycles

Day 3 11/15 Wed Nap 800-1100PM// 3:00hrs + 4:15= 7:15hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 2 11/14 Tues Nap 730-1030P//3:00+4:30=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 1 11/13 Monday Nap 630-800PM---1:30+4:30=6hrs/4Cycles

90 min Cycles: 1=1:30hrs; 2=3:00hrs; 3=4:30hrs; 4=6:00hrs; 5=7:30hrs
__________________

[Wanderer]

I have mixed feelings, I went to bed on time, got up on time, and then have gone through the whole day without a nap. Im not sure if this a good thing or a bad thing, I mean, I did have only 3 sleep cycles which is good, but If I dont start napping its never going to work... On the plus side I dont feel tierd so if I can do 3 a night and not feel tierd that would be ace!
I should definately get a nap tomorrow and thursday, then we shall see I guess. Any thoughts on improving it???
Day 4: 3 sleep cycles (monophasic) = curious
Day 3: 4 sleep cycles (monophasic 6 hours) = Oversleep
Day 2: 3.5 sleep cycles (5.25 hours) = Fine
Day 1: 4 sleep cycles (6 hours) = Fine

[David Hausladen]

Biphasic Sleep, Day 18

Hard to believe I'm almost two-thirds of the way through this trial! At the same time, the benefits of biphasic sleep are becoming more and more while the problems of adaptation are becoming less and less.

Today, I was exactly on schedule with both core sleep and nap. Nonetheless I had some tiredness during the day that resulted in me taking a couple extra catnaps in the afternoon and evening (of course, part of that could also be that this has just been a very relaxed and relaxing day). I think the more consistency I apply to my biphasic sleep schedule, the more energy I'll get out of it for the time that I put into it.

[David Hausladen]

Originally Posted by Ati

Why do you think things "don't work?" [...] For me, it seems most often a matter of discipline [...] only rarely a matter of overwhelming sleepiness or fatigue.

It isn't always immediately apparent that you need a given sleep period at the scheduled time. It's basically the same problem that's experienced by monophasic sleepers with staying up too late--just twice a day instead of once, and with the problem being more significant because consistency is more important to biphasic sleep.

In short: yup, it's definitely self-discipline in my case, and it sounds like in your case as well.

Originally Posted by Ati

A related question: what does it mean for this "to work"?

Good question. My "rough draft" of an answer: 7 days in a row with core sleep and nap consistently on-schedule, no more than one 25-minute catnap on any particular day. (For me, the number of catnaps in the day is a good measure of how tired I was that day, so cutting it to zero or one for a given day would mean I had little or no tiredness that day.)

Really what it means for this to "work" depends on what you wanted from it in the first place: I wanted maximum energy with minimum sleep, so I think the test above would be a good way to confirm that. Also, if it takes me more than 30 days to get there, I'm okay with that since I'm close enough now that I know it's very possible to achieve that goal.

[David Hausladen]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

I did have only 3 sleep cycles which is good, but If I dont start napping its never going to work... On the plus side I dont feel tierd so if I can do 3 a night and not feel tierd that would be ace!
I should definately get a nap tomorrow and thursday, then we shall see I guess. Any thoughts on improving it???

If you're like me, then very soon the tiredness will catch up with you and you'll get to napping. Then again, maybe you genetically don't need as much sleep as me and you're just now realizing it...

Don't worry too much about it, just try to start napping when you can.

[andrew]

Day 1-
Woke up on time, fell back aslweep twice. 4.5 hours plus like 2.
Nap got interupted right when I was falling asleep, but was about 1.5. Woke up and felt great!
Worked out, had plenty energy.

Day 2-
Woke up on time, got up pretty soon after that. Not nearly as groggy as I normally am, so I was excited. Still kind of slow, but I always am.
Nap a little later, kind of rushed because I had to go play volleyball. Probably a little under 1.5, woke up 10 mintues before alarm. Went right into vb, took me a while to warm up, but I jsut woke up so that was expected. Not as nice as my first nap though.

Both naps I woke up during a dream, the nap today was kind of a panic wake up as I thought I was late or something. Not very fun.

So all in all, not really bad. It's really not a lot more sleep that I've been getting, but the 90 minut nap is nice

[copla]

Wow, COMPLETELY fell apart today in my biphasic schedule. Woke up at 5 after 3 hours per my plan, but at about 1 I decided to take a 20 minute nap, which turned into another, and nother, then it was 4, and at 5 I decided to just take my 1.5 hour nap early. Yowza. I'll just go to bed in ten minutes and then get back on the horse tomorrow, but it's sobering just how quickly you can fail based on a momentary lack of discipline in taking an early nap.

[David Hausladen]

andrew and copla: Welcome to the team! Great to have another couple biphasic sleepers here; I can't think of any other place else on the Internet that's accumulating as much practical data regarding biphasic sleep as this one.

Don't get too stressed out over sleeping incidents (oversleeping or too many catnaps for a given day). If you look back at my logs, I had the former problem on 6 of 18 days (Days 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, and 16) and the former problem on 4 of 18 days (Days 2, 3, 7, and 15)! Yet from the days that have worked and from the overall improvements--a reduction in sleep time even on days that I do sleep poorly and an increased ability to use the 90-minute sleep cycle--I can tell that my body is getting more and more used to this schedule.

I would expect it to be the same for you both: you'll encounter various sleeping incidents for various reasons, including circumstances, self-discipline, mistakes, and so on, but the overall effect will be gradual improvement of your sleep over time.

Good luck!

[Ramses]

This post has two purposes. First, I just want to introduce myself to the community. I've been on a polyphasic schedule since August, and it's become a pretty natural sleep regimine to me, and much more flexible than I would have guessed. Now that my body's used to it, I seem to be able to move naps around, and even occasionally skip naps without interfering with the schedule. This is what has allowed me to maintain a polyphasic sleep schedule in the real world. My only major remaining problem is that after my 5:00 nap, I'm frequently drowsy and have trouble getting up. This seems to last until I stand up and start doing something, and once I get up, I don't seem to have any lack of energy. It's just getting going.

Also, I'd like to reiterate David's point about oversleeping. Such things happen, and are not a problem. This is very clear to me this morning after oversleeping 2 hours during my 1:00 nap. It happens occasionally to me, and I've quit fretting over it. Really, even oversleeping 2 hours still has me sleeping 5 hours during the day, so I can't complain too much.

Anyway, I think it's been pretty neat to read all these logs.

[Ati]

Welcome Andrew and Copla! I

t's great to have more folks here. I expect that we will see real commonalities in amongst the differences in our experiences.

Copla, if you have a quick run through of posts here over that last 3-4+++ weeks or so, you'll see that falling "off the wagon" is the norm, not the exception!

That may change as we come towards our 30 day marks or it may not. Maybe our perceptions of those variances will change as we find out how to make sense of them or deal with them in other ways.

One thing that is really impressive to me is that in spite of how many times I've either overslept or missed naps, the overall effect still seems to be real positive---
1. I have not seen the energy drain that I repeatedly saw before. This is a significant difference and reversal (so far ) of something I've had to live with for years, and have used all kinds of dietary, exercise and other strategies to overcome. Right there, that's enough to make this worthwhile
2. I can repeatedly get 6 hours total daytime sleep without feeling sleep deprived (now, I ask my self if oversleeping is a result of actually needing more sleep than 6/24 hours and I answer "good question, kiddo , but I don't have the same sort of immensely tired feeling....so something is different...that widens the possibilities that it's not an absolute sleep deprivation but rather something else.....good chance something modifiable )
3. For me, I can quite consistently get up at 345am and have a chunk of time to do things I want/need to do while still having plenty of time later in that day for work, family, other things. The nap doesn't seem to actually get in the way of anything, interestingly enough! This isn't physiological as much as logistical, but in this busy world, having time to oneself to do things alone can be a scarcity.
4. The 90 minute things is fascinating--automatically waking up and recognizing that slip of time that fully waking up with good energy is possible...

So please don't even think the word "fail" I don't think it's like that...We can take from our monophasic/freesleeping experiences and our monophasic/freesleeping buddies in the world, the realization that sometimes we get an hour or two extra sleep and sometimes we take a nap, etc.

I agree David that we do need a bit of extra discipline to do this....probably because we are not operating on the same social cues as the rest of the world..maybe because of something else. Maybe there is something physiological there as well, although with just a bit of discipline up front, it seems the physiological kicks in...like the automatic awakenings at or before 90 minutes..

Originally Posted by David Hausladen

.... I think the more consistency I apply to my biphasic sleep schedule, the more energy I'll get out of it for the time that I put into it.

I do still think that as well, but may need to wait til after the holidays to really see it, we'll see....

Originally Posted by David Hausladen

It isn't always immediately apparent that you need a given sleep period at the scheduled time. It's basically the same problem that's experienced by monophasic sleepers with staying up too late--just twice a day instead of once, and with the problem being more significant because consistency is more important to biphasic sleep.

In short: yup, it's definitely self-discipline in my case, and it sounds like in your case as well.

Yah, but also circumstances, sometimes we just have to be patient with ourselves. For example, I have a student working with me now...that's more to do, although really good all around. The holidays...Getting ready for some musical stuff early in January...Getting ready to go visit my parents next week....Getting our house and lives ready for holiday family company for a week....all that....Some time periods just have more in them and it's going to be more difficult to maintain a semblance of a non-socially-cued sleep pattern. What's going to be most interesting to me is just what part of this holds together--how little can I actually stay on track, while aiming for the top...and still reap the physiological rewards???? (No matter how much the schedule has been goofed up, I've felt incredibly good compared to prior for the past 21 days!) That's a good question to try to answer during this time period--It's only about 3 1/2 weeks after all.

Will be real interesting to then see both that and how things are during the next 3 weeks after all this hubadub is over, as good as it is!

Originally Posted by David Hausladen

Good question. My "rough draft" of an answer: 7 days in a row with core sleep and nap consistently on-schedule, no more than one 25-minute catnap on any particular day. (For me, the number of catnaps in the day is a good measure of how tired I was that day, so cutting it to zero or one for a given day would mean I had little or no tiredness that day.)

Really what it means for this to "work" depends on what you wanted from it in the first place: I wanted maximum energy with minimum sleep, so I think the test above would be a good way to confirm that. Also, if it takes me more than 30 days to get there, I'm okay with that since I'm close enough now that I know it's very possible to achieve that goal.

For me, 6 hours/24 with plenty energy and focus is OK. I did have a thought during a brief period of sleeping on track, that maybe I could back that up to 3 cycles, though....

Originally Posted by Wanderer

... I mean, I did have only 3 sleep cycles which is good, but If I dont start napping its never going to work... On the plus side I dont feel tierd so if I can do 3 a night and not feel tierd that would be ace!
I should definately get a nap tomorrow and thursday, then we shall see I guess. Any thoughts on improving it???

I think you'll fall asleep Wanderer, others have had very similar experience to what you're describing here!

Originally Posted by andrew

....So all in all, not really bad. It's really not a lot more sleep that I've been getting, but the 90 minut nap is nice

Great start, Andrew, it's fun to see others' starting. I'm leaving my days on the log for now just in case anyone wants to compare notes in regards to timing of things.

Originally Posted by copla

Wow, COMPLETELY fell apart today in my biphasic schedule. Woke up at 5 after 3 hours per my plan, but at about 1 I decided to take a 20 minute nap, which turned into another, and nother, then it was 4, and at 5 I decided to just take my 1.5 hour nap early. Yowza. I'll just go to bed in ten minutes and then get back on the horse tomorrow, but it's sobering just how quickly you can fail based on a momentary lack of discipline in taking an early nap.

Yah! It goes on....

---
Late evening working, no nap, longer sleep because of full day anticipated today, hope to get back to nap this evening.....

Day 22 12/6 Wed NO NAP//7:30/5Cycles
Day 21 12/5 Tues Nap 530-7P//1:30 +7:30=8:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 20 12/4 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30 + 4.30=6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 19 12/3 Sun NO NAP//7:30hrs/5Cycles NO NAP

Day 18 12/2 Sat Nap 8-930P//1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 17 12/1 Fri Nap 8:30-10P//1:30+6:00=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 16 11/30 Thurs Nap 1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles
Day 15 11/29 Wed Nap 1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 14 11/28 Tues Nap 630-8P//1:30+6=7.30hrs/5CyclesOVERSLEEP?ETIO?

Day 13 11/27 Mon Nap 6-730P//1:30+4:30=6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 12 11/26 Sun XXX

Day 11 11/25 Sat Nap 12N-130P//1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/ 4Cycles

Day 10 11/24 Fri Nap 530-700P// 1:30 + 8:00hrs = 9:30hrs(!!!)/570m/
6Cycles+30m OVERSLEEP ??TURKEY???

Day 9 11/23 Thurs Nap 330-500P//1:30 + 4:30h = 6hrs /4Cycles

Day 8,7 11/22,21 Wed, Tues XXX
Days 6 11/20 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30+6:00=7:30 hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 7 11/19 Sun NO NAP//0 + 4:45 hrs (3~+ cycles)NO NAP
Day 6 11/18 Sat NO NAP//0 + 6.5 hrs NO NAP/OVERSLEEP
Day 5 11/17 Fri Nap4-450P//:50+7=7:50hrs/5Cyc/InterruptedNap,OVERSLP

Day 4 11/16 Thurs Nap 615-745P// 1:30 + 4:30 hrs=6hrs/4Cycles

Day 3 11/15 Wed Nap 800-1100PM// 3:00hrs + 4:15= 7:15hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 2 11/14 Tues Nap 730-1030P//3:00+4:30=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 1 11/13 Monday Nap 630-800PM---1:30+4:30=6hrs/4Cycles

90 min Cycles: 1=1:30hrs; 2=3:00hrs; 3=4:30hrs; 4=6:00hrs; 5=7:30hrs
__________________

[Wanderer]

Hmmmm...
Hi to the new people

The last 3 days I have woke up at 5 and then either layed in bed or fallen back to sleep.
The nap today was refreshing (helped me grade at jujitsu I think), but Im not sure how much was sleep n how much was just resting and refreshing myself

Drastic action is required to force me up, I had no problem at the weekend when I needed 2 get up so... the plan...

New sleep times: 2:30am - 7:00 core sleep
5:30pm - 7:00/ 10:00 -11:30 nap

This way I need to get up in the morning for school, so the oversleeping should stop - and hopefully the nap will help me stay alert till 2:30
Thoughts?

Day 5: 4 sleep cycles (monophasic) = change plan
Day 4: 3 sleep cycles (monophasic) = curious
Day 3: 4 sleep cycles (monophasic 6 hours) = Oversleep
Day 2: 3.5 sleep cycles (5.25 hours) = Fine
Day 1: 4 sleep cycles (6 hours) = Fine

[Jm4362]

Hello again--my Polyphasic 30-Day Trial is coming up in just 5 days, and will begin on December 11th. Here's the plan:

Ultimate goal: total of eight 15 minute naps daily, adds up to 2 hours. One nap every three hours. It just turned out that it works this way around college classes without me having to skip.

The plan: Start out with 8 naps daily of 1 hour length and over a week, remove time to minimize sleep deprivation. I anticipate some anyway, though, since 1 hr. isn't long enough for a normal sleep cycle in the first place. But I have almost a month to see if it's reasonable for me. (Shouldn't use the word "reasonable"... this is not "reasonable" to "normal" people.)

On a related note, I've decided to record the results using an Excel spreadsheet. How do you post an Excel spreadsheet? can you just cut and paste, or what?

Thanks!

~Jm4362

[David Hausladen]

Originally Posted by Ramses

This post has two purposes. First, I just want to introduce myself to the community. I've been on a polyphasic schedule since August, and it's become a pretty natural sleep regimine to me, and much more flexible than I would have guessed.

Sweet! I've been waiting for a well-adapted polyphasic sleeper to show up on this thread, mostly because I know micth and Jm4362 were planning to start their 30-day trials of polyphasic sleep soon. If you have the time to keep track of what goes on here, I think your experience would be an invaluable asset to the little group of experimenters here.

Originally Posted by Jm4362

Hello again--my Polyphasic 30-Day Trial is coming up in just 5 days, and will begin on December 11th.

Here's wishing you the best of luck on that!

Originally Posted by Jm4362

The plan: Start out with 8 naps daily of 1 hour length and over a week, remove time to minimize sleep deprivation. I anticipate some anyway, though, since 1 hr. isn't long enough for a normal sleep cycle in the first place.

That's going to be tough to wake from, but the longer naps mean you may be able to get deep sleep even in the early part of the adaptation (usually polyphasic sleepers survive on only Stage 1 and 2 sleep--no deep sleep--until two or three weeks into adaptation). So the benefits of longer naps may outweight the problems if you can wake yourself up from them.

Originally Posted by Jm4362

On a related note, I've decided to record the results using an Excel spreadsheet. How do you post an Excel spreadsheet? can you just cut and paste, or what?

I can't think of any good way to post Excel spreadsheets directly on the forums. If you've got online file space, you could upload it there and link to it from your posts here.

[Hurricane]

Hi I just wanted to introduce myself to the communitry. I first heard of the concent of polyphasic sleep in Neil Strauss's The Game, last Friday. I became fascinated with the concept and stayed up until 7:30AM reading about it online, and I want to point out that Steve Pavlina's account of his polyphasic sleep experience has been very helpful. His tremendous success with polyphasic sleep is very inspiring. I have come across many disbelievers, and people tell me I'm crazy for wanting to try polyphasic sleep. I just can't help but think of the possiblities if I succeed. I think they're crazy for not wanting to try it.

I'm a freshman at the University of Florida, and I'm gonna be done with finals next week. I plan on starting on the Uberman schedule on the 15th. Now I play rugby, train in MMA (mixed martial arts), and lift weights regularly. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with very intense physical exercise, and how it's affected by Polyphasic sleep. Steve mentioned a little about lifting weights in his blog, but if anyone has additional information that would be great. I'm also going to keep a blog of this at Project Polyphasic Sleep. I'm not sure how that's going to work out because I don't know how much traffic I'll get there. I'll definetly post updates of my experience here, since there's interest here.

[Jm4362]

I have set up a blog to record my experiences. Thanks, Hurricane--I just copied your blog.

I don't remember how to set up a link, but here's the URL:

Polyphasic Sleep Experiment

I know directions for link-posting are around here somewhere...

~Jm4362

Edit: Ha! It made it a link automatically! Yay!

[David Hausladen]

Originally Posted by Hurricane

Hi I just wanted to introduce myself to the communitry.

Welcome Hurricane--good to have you here!

Originally Posted by Hurricane

I have come across many disbelievers, and people tell me I'm crazy for wanting to try polyphasic sleep. I just can't help but think of the possiblities if I succeed. I think they're crazy for not wanting to try it.

I know that feeling pretty well. Practically my whole family looks back on my summer polyphasic experiment as a "crazy time" in my life (as in they think I was temporarily crazy). I didn't even tell them about the last time (the one that I posted here about)! (And they didn't notice.)

What's funny about disbelievers is that they don't realize what how naive our current understanding of sleep is. There's lots of theories out there but our knowledge is not even close to complete. So I don't put too much faith in those who claim to "know" that it won't work or that it's not just as healthy as, if not healthier than, monophasic sleep.

Originally Posted by Hurricane

I'll definetly post updates of my experience here, since there's interest here.

I'll look forward to hearing about it!

Originally Posted by Jm4362

I know directions for link-posting are around here somewhere...

As you said, if you type in a URL it will automatically make it a link. If you want a different caption for the link than the title of the page or the URL itself, you can use the method described here (maybe those are the directions you were asking about).

I hope that helps!

[David Hausladen]

Biphasic Sleep, Day 19

Not exactly on schedule today, but fairly close. My core sleep ran over by an hour and a half, going from 2am to 6:30am. I figured I'd do the nap normally for consistency's sake, but I got distracted and completely missed it! I ended up only needing a half-hour nap around 5pm to compensate, so all things considered this was an excellent day.

[Ati]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

..Drastic action is required to force me up...

Wanderer, have you tried bright lights? I find that is working real well. I just turn on all the lights....

Originally Posted by Wanderer

This way I need to get up in the morning for school, so the oversleeping should stop - and hopefully the nap will help me stay alert till 2:30
Thoughts?

That sounds like a great idea. I've found any time I can use situational stuff to make things happen along these lines, it's helpful.....or I'll know the idea wasn't good in the first place if I find that I follow through on the situational needs ("cues"), and it doesn't work physiologically...

Originally Posted by Jm4362

Hello again--my Polyphasic 30-Day Trial is coming up in just 5 days, and will begin on December 11th.

Welcome! Will be interested to see how it goes!

Welcome also to Hurricane and Ramses!

Weird....pretty busy time right now. Got nap in just fine, not as awake afterwards so just read a bit. To sleep by 1145PM (30 min late), so set alarm at 415 for 4:30hrs sleep. Woke up at 3:45 anyway but slept til 4:15 to preserve the 90 minutes. REAL SLEEPY at 4:15.....thought maybe I need more sleep because it's a busy time, reset alarm for 90 minutes from then, at 545. Then woke up refreshed at 445 so got up.

Looks like...regularity of timing won out with wakefulness (I spontaneously woke up at 345am)....Sleeping til 4:15 to preserve 90 minute cycle didn't pan out (just this time) because I was REAL SLEEPY.....Then woke up at total of 3Cycles plus 30minutes.

OK, data posted I'll figure out if that means anything over more time. Maybe just a fluke.

Day 23 12/7 Thurs Nap 530-7P//1:30 + 5hrs/3 plus 1/3 Cycles OVERSLEEP
Day 22 12/6 Wed NO NAP//7:30/5Cycles NO NAP
Day 21 12/5 Tues Nap 530-7P//1:30 +7:30=8:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 20 12/4 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30 + 4.30=6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 19 12/3 Sun NO NAP//7:30hrs/5Cycles NO NAP

Day 18 12/2 Sat Nap 8-930P//1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 17 12/1 Fri Nap 8:30-10P//1:30+6:00=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 16 11/30 Thurs Nap 1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles
Day 15 11/29 Wed Nap 1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 14 11/28 Tues Nap 630-8P//1:30+6=7.30hrs/5CyclesOVERSLEEP?ETIO?

Day 13 11/27 Mon Nap 6-730P//1:30+4:30=6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 12 11/26 Sun XXX

Day 11 11/25 Sat Nap 12N-130P//1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/ 4Cycles

Day 10 11/24 Fri Nap 530-700P// 1:30 + 8:00hrs = 9:30hrs(!!!)/570m/
6Cycles+30m OVERSLEEP ??TURKEY???

Day 9 11/23 Thurs Nap 330-500P//1:30 + 4:30h = 6hrs /4Cycles

Day 8,7 11/22,21 Wed, Tues XXX
Days 6 11/20 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30+6:00=7:30 hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 7 11/19 Sun NO NAP//0 + 4:45 hrs (3~+ cycles)NO NAP
Day 6 11/18 Sat NO NAP//0 + 6.5 hrs NO NAP/OVERSLEEP
Day 5 11/17 Fri Nap4-450P//:50+7=7:50hrs/5Cyc/InterruptedNap,OVERSLP

Day 4 11/16 Thurs Nap 615-745P// 1:30 + 4:30 hrs=6hrs/4Cycles

Day 3 11/15 Wed Nap 800-1100PM// 3:00hrs + 4:15= 7:15hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 2 11/14 Tues Nap 730-1030P//3:00+4:30=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 1 11/13 Monday Nap 630-800PM---1:30+4:30=6hrs/4Cycles

90 min Cycles: 1=1:30hrs; 2=3:00hrs; 3=4:30hrs; 4=6:00hrs; 5=7:30hrs

[Ati]

Going a bit haywire here...Nap OK, then got woken up by alarm at 4:30 hrs and didn't like being woken up since I usually wake up myself at 90 minute cycle points. So decided to sleep more ...didn't wake up til total of 6 hrs. No other real change, except past few days have adjust intended awakening time to 4:30 cycles after whatever sleep time was--always later than usual. Not sure I'm that hooked into an 11:15 sleep time, but will try to be accurate about that and see what happens. Maybe I'll put down the actual sleep time (ST) each day to see if there is a connection to uncover.

Interesting, energy during the day fine after I get up. Last few days awakening from nap without the kind of "good morning!" energy I had before. We'll see....

24 is 6 days short of 30 days. Hmm.......

Day 24 12/8 Fri Nap 645-815 ST 1145//1:30 + 6hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 23 12/7 Thurs Nap 530-7P//1:30 + 5hrs/3 plus 1/3 Cycles OVERSLEEP
Day 22 12/6 Wed NO NAP//7:30/5Cycles NO NAP
Day 21 12/5 Tues Nap 530-7P//1:30 +7:30=8:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 20 12/4 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30 + 4.30=6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 19 12/3 Sun NO NAP//7:30hrs/5Cycles NO NAP

Day 18 12/2 Sat Nap 8-930P//1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 17 12/1 Fri Nap 8:30-10P//1:30+6:00=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 16 11/30 Thurs Nap 1:30 + 4:30 =6:00hrs/4Cycles
Day 15 11/29 Wed Nap 1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 14 11/28 Tues Nap 630-8P//1:30+6=7.30hrs/5CyclesOVERSLEEP?ETIO?

Day 13 11/27 Mon Nap 6-730P//1:30+4:30=6:00hrs/4Cycles

Day 12 11/26 Sun XXX

Day 11 11/25 Sat Nap 12N-130P//1:30 + 4:30 = 6:00hrs/ 4Cycles

Day 10 11/24 Fri Nap 530-700P// 1:30 + 8:00hrs = 9:30hrs(!!!)/570m/
6Cycles+30m OVERSLEEP ??TURKEY???

Day 9 11/23 Thurs Nap 330-500P//1:30 + 4:30h = 6hrs /4Cycles

Day 8,7 11/22,21 Wed, Tues XXX
Days 6 11/20 Mon Nap 5-630P//1:30+6:00=7:30 hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 7 11/19 Sun NO NAP//0 + 4:45 hrs (3~+ cycles)NO NAP
Day 6 11/18 Sat NO NAP//0 + 6.5 hrs NO NAP/OVERSLEEP
Day 5 11/17 Fri Nap4-450P//:50+7=7:50hrs/5Cyc/InterruptedNap,OVERSLP

Day 4 11/16 Thurs Nap 615-745P// 1:30 + 4:30 hrs=6hrs/4Cycles

Day 3 11/15 Wed Nap 800-1100PM// 3:00hrs + 4:15= 7:15hrs OVERSLEEP
Day 2 11/14 Tues Nap 730-1030P//3:00+4:30=7:30hrs/5Cycles OVERSLEEP

Day 1 11/13 Monday Nap 630-800PM---1:30+4:30=6hrs/4Cycles

90 min Cycles: 1=1:30hrs; 2=3:00hrs; 3=4:30hrs; 4=6:00hrs; 5=7:30hrs
__________________

[David Hausladen]

I know I've been pretty much silent for the past two days. I will resume writing my biphasic sleep logs tomorrow--things are going fine, I've just been very busy with an exciting project and have let tracking of my 30-day trials slip a bit.

[Ati]

Ha ha, yah me too, ahead of time....
I'm going to put in logs in a couple days, keeping brief notes, not much change. May need to go every other day on the logging here upcoming since I'll be doing some traveling, but we'll see. How hard can it be?

All best....

Ati

PS We might want to be careful not to let this slide if we want to keep it going, nearly 30 days is a pretty neat accomplishment, just that part of it! This "flexibility" is indeed a realistic part of life..And allowing it, then climbing back out of it is another part, no?

[Scott Bird]

I hope you guys get a chance to summarise your experiences over the first 30 days - sounds as if there have been some great positives.

[Wanderer]

I am sad to say my biphasic sleeping is over.

Why?

I think its a combination of reasons, the nap was fairly hard to fit in the afternoon, I often struggle to get to sleep and trying to get to sleep is harder twice in a day. With Christmas coming up I dont want to have to have a 90 minute nap on Christams day. Etc.

Although it didnt work for me I did learn quite alot, I will be much more open to using naps to help me sleep in the future, and I think I pushed my body closer to its sleeping limits, rather than sleeping 6 cycles a night, now hopefully Ill be on 3/4 with a 5 every now and again due to me going with practically no problems with less sleep.

I will continue to read updates as I still think the idea is great.

Thanks for everyones help.
W

[David Hausladen]

The point is to find the sleep schedule that works for you, Wanderer, so don't worry about it. Thanks for your help here!

[David Hausladen]

Biphasic Sleep, Day 23

After a short break from my regular updates, I'm back on now.

Day 20, my core sleep was 3:30am to 5am and my nap was 9am to 1:30pm.
Day 21, my core sleep was 3:30am to 5am and my nap was 9am to 12pm.
Day 22, my core sleep was 6am to 7:30am and my nap was 10:30am to 3pm.
This morning (Day 23), I had just one sleep period which drug from 5am to 2pm with a couple breaks, one to feed the cats and another to answer the phone. I could have gotten up earlier but at some point I decided to let my body get some extra sleep to recover from the inconsistent sleep periods of the past week or so.

I haven't felt too tired any of those days. Those days which I had more than one catnap (Days 20 and 21), I could have skipped them if I had been less relaxed.

I would still like to meet my earlier stated goal of 7 straight days of biphasic sleep without more than one catnap. To do that by the end of the 30-day trial, I would need tomorrow to be the first of those seven days. So I'll start my reading-in-bed time extra early tonight (probably around 1:15am) so I can definitely fall asleep in time for a full two sleep cycles from 2am to 5am. If that works well, I'll repeat it for later sleep periods. While this means I'll spend up to 45 minutes reading twice a day, I don't consider that wasted time at all (it's reading, who could complain?).

[Scott Bird]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

I am sad to say my biphasic sleeping is over.

Why?

I think its a combination of reasons, the nap was fairly hard to fit in the afternoon, I often struggle to get to sleep and trying to get to sleep is harder twice in a day. With Christmas coming up I dont want to have to have a 90 minute nap on Christams day. Etc.

Although it didnt work for me I did learn quite alot, I will be much more open to using naps to help me sleep in the future, and I think I pushed my body closer to its sleeping limits, rather than sleeping 6 cycles a night, now hopefully Ill be on 3/4 with a 5 every now and again due to me going with practically no problems with less sleep.

I will continue to read updates as I still think the idea is great.

Thanks for everyones help.
W

Sad to hear that. I'm curious to see how much sleep you need if you return to a monophasic schedule; I find that even if I do it for a single day (personal commitments, such as the upcoming Christmas Day gathering) I need a longer period of sleep, but I can switch straight back to biphasic the following day.