Josh's Biphasic Sleep Study

[Jduester]

Welcome to my sleep study. I wanted to have a thread that documented my transition from monophasic to biphasic sleeping. In the past few weeks, I've started experimenting with taking a nap in the early afternoon and getting up earlier. But this hasn't been consistent and so I don't think I've been seeing much for the benefits of biphasic sleeping. So starting Sunday night, I'll be much more disciplined in the schedule outlined below.
I read through Steve Bird's thread to get some general information on the pattern and will be going through his links this week yet. Switching to Biphasic Sleeping? Start here.

I am currently getting over a cold. So I anticipate starting Sunday night. Here is a little about myself. I am a financial instruments trader (stocks and currencies currently). My schedule allows me great flexibility in my sleep schedule, but not in the early morning hours. Currently, I'm trying to sleep from 10pm-3:45am and then take a 90 minute nap. So this is close to ideal biphasic. But I need to be getting up at 2:00 (or 2:30 initially)...this is what I'll be doing starting Sunday:

Core Sleep - 10:00PM - 2:30AM
Nap - 12:30PM - 2:00 PM
Total sleep per 24hours = 6hours.


Concerns:
- Some have posted that the nap should be no more than 5 hours prior to the core sleep. Mine is currently 8 hours prior...
- I've generally been one to get 8 hours of total monophasic sleep a night... how will my body adjust to much less?
- I would like to eventually use monophasic sleeping on the weekends, but I'll initially try to keep the above schedule 7 days/week...

To help in this exciting test, I'll continue to exercise at dawn, eat healthy, drink lots of water, use earplugs for afternoon naps, concentrate on not oversleeping and allowing enough time to fall asleep, and documenting my findings.

Reasons for transitioning to Biphasic Sleep
1. The best time to trade currencies begins with the London market open, which is about 2:00am for me...so work related.
2. To get better sleep and feel refreshed throughout the day.
3. To have more free time, as my task list seems to always have 10-30 hours of work on it. I also hope to start new hobbies with this extra time, possibly learning guitar, an in-depth study of economics history, or more focused Bible memorization.
4. Of course, to spend more time with my wife.

I'd like to thank the founders of this thread and Scott Bird, who has provided much information on this subject.

Feel free to comment on my findings. I only ask that you keep it in good taste and within the scope of this thread.

Josh

[Jduester]

Day 1 has been a huge success so far.

Core sleep - 10:00pm Sunday night - 2:36am, 4.5hours.
No alarm (set for 2:40am). No out of normal drowsiness (I normally get slightly drowsy between 10:30-11:30am, depending on what I've been doing, which normally is reading dry work stuff online).

Exercise - 5mile run beginning around 7:00am. Followed by oatmeal mixed from a protein shake with strawberries on top.

Lunch - multigrain bread with a hotdog. Pita bread with low fat cream cheese. Not the most healthy, I know... ah, free leftovers.

Nap - 12:35pm - 2:16pm. About 1.5 hours. Again no alarm needed. It took me a little while to fall asleep. I didn't try reading prior to sleep and I didn't have my earplugs in initially. Once I put in my ear plugs, I fell asleep right away. (Didn't have the dark sheets over the windows either, which often helps).

It's now 2:30pm. Feeling well rested. Have a slight headache that I'm pretty sure is because I didn't drink enough water prior to running. I need to be drinking well over a gallon a day just to keep from getting dehydrated, and running increases that by another 1/2 gallon... Will keep drinking it, get an apple, and hopefully will be fine in a bit.

Total sleep in 24 hours: 6 hours.

I think I'll generally post between my nap and my core sleep, so late afternoons/early evenings. Maybe I'll just stick to posting right after my nap...

I'd like to think I won't need an alarm clock throughout this test, but I don't think that's reasonable. I will use an alarm clock for my core sleep, but will not use it for my nap. That way, if my body needs an extra cycle sometimes, it can get it.

Josh

[vmiller]

Hi Josh,

I can't imagine ever trying this, but I have to admit that I'm curious about it. I'll be following your progress and I hope it goes well for you. You certainly have the perfect job for it!

Good luck!

[ruchirkc]

Good luck!

Even I want to try biphasic sleeping for a month or two, I'll be doing it when my current 30-Day Challenge ends.

Do keep updating this thread!

[Jduester]

Monday Dinner, 6:00pm - whole grain spaghetti and Italian sausage meatballs.

No drowsiness between nap and core sleep, which was an initial concern... will continue to monitor.

Core sleep - 10:45pm Monday night - 3:18am, 4.5hours. or so.
Did use alarm this time. I was drowsy from about 4-6am this morning. I had a little hard time falling asleep and I didn't get to my bed early either (was finishing up a movie till 10:20pm).
Possible causes for not sleeping right away:
1. I was watching tv right up until I was trying to fall asleep...I usually wind down by reading or crosswords
2. Ice cream with chocolate syrup at 8:30pm
3. Exercise by playing a softball game from 7-8pm

Exercise - 2.75mile jog beginning around 7:00am. Followed by oatmeal mixed from a protein shake with strawberries on top.

Lunch - more spaghetti and meatballs; pita with cream cheese, milk

Nap - 1:00ish - 3:18. It took me a bit to fall asleep again, so about 1.5 hours. No alarm. Strongly recommend a dark sheet. It seemed to help both get me to sleep and keep me asleep.

It's now 3:30pm. Feeling Great! Headache went away shortly after the extra water and apple yesterday. Definitely need more water with this schedule than before. At about a gallon already today, with 6.5hours left till I sleep again, and I didn't sweat nearly as hard as yesterday.

Total sleep in 24 hours: 6 hours.

Will try to get to sleep by 10 tonight, to get back to a 2:30am wake up. Also want to space out my lunch and nap a little bit. Maybe lunch at 11:15-11:30ish and nap at 1... will allow some digestion prior to trying to sleep.
Josh

[Jduester]

Tuesday Dinner, 7:00pm - Fresh Pepp. Pizza. Glass of red wine.

Again, no drowsiness between my nap and core sleep last night, despite reading a boring book. Started to get sleepy around 9:30pm.

Core sleep - 10:00pm Tuesday night - 2:32am, 4.5hours. or so.
No alarm needed. Fell asleep pretty quick.

Exercise - Basketball from 6-7am. Then oatmeal made with protein shake.

Lunch, 11:30 - leftover pizza, carrots, homemade peanut butter.

Nap - 1:00ish - 2:45. It took me a bit to fall asleep again, so about 1.5 hours. No alarm. Not sure of the quality of this sleep today woke up a few times in my nap...

It's now 3:00pm. Feeling a little tired but more refreshed than before my nap.

Total sleep in 24 hours: 6 hours.

Didn't see much difference in quality of my nap by me spacing it out from lunch...I think I could still eat a little less, and then eat a small meal after my lunch.

Surprised with how smooth this is going so far...Core sleep is going fantastic. It's just a matter of figuring out how to relax enough to get solid nap times now.

Josh

[juice43]

Seems like everything is going well for you. When I tried this out, I wasn't really drowsy but wasn't able to take out the time for doing this kind of thing. I feel like I should change my diet or something to make it easier, but either way I can't try something like this until I have some free time.

Hopefully you can pull through the trial (maybe even keep it indefinitely)...Good luck!

[Jduester]

Wednesday Dinner, 6:30pm - Bean Soup, Pita Bread, Milk,
Ice cream around 8:30pm.

Started to get sleepy around 9:30pm.

Core sleep - 10:00pm Tuesday night - 2:40am, 4.5hours. or so.
Fell asleep pretty quick, but slept through first snooze, which I never do. I was tired from 3-6am too...

Exercise - 3 mile run. Then oatmeal made with protein shake.

Lunch, 11:30 - leftover pizza.

Nap - 1:00ish - 2:50. Fell asleep pretty quick. Woke up twice, but I think it was pretty good sleep overall. I am not sure I'm getting a real sleep cycle in the afternoon nap sessions... But I have generally felt refreshed from 3-9pm...

It's now 4:35pm. Need to focus on drinking more water, especially as summer approaches...this might mean keeping a gallon of water with me.

Total sleep in 24 hours: 6 hours.

I can tell when I'm not getting quite enough sleep, as my general mood changes. I'm more on edge, get upset easier. Perhaps the correct word is crabby .

Almost the weekend and I haven't decided if I will keep this up throughout or if I'll start to do 5 biphasic/2 monophasic each week of the test... I think I'll do biphasic at least this weekend. But I know a nap on Saturday will be tough as I'll be out of the house...

Josh

[Jduester]

Thursday Dinner, 5:00pm - Spaghetti, Pita Bread, Milk

Started to get sleepy around 9:30pm.

Core sleep - 10:00pm Tuesday night - 2:30am, 4.5hours. or so.

Snack of two whole grain pancakes around 4:00am

Exercise - Basketball from 6-7am. Then oatmeal made with protein shake.

Lunch, 1:00 - leftover pizza (yes, it's now gone )

Nap - 1:30ish - 2:30. Fell asleep pretty quick. Didn't feel real tired going in. Slept soundly for about 45 minutes though. I ate right before I went to bed. So I'm thinking this doesn't really have an effect on my ability to fall asleep.

It's now 2:45pm. Need to focus on drinking more water, especially as summer approaches...this might mean keeping a gallon of water with me. Sounds like a broken record...Is there something that is a better hydrator for my body than water? That is virtually free?

Total sleep in 24 hours: 5.5 hours.

I was in a much better mood today too. I think I slept really well last night, which might have helped. I didn't feel tired in the early morning hours.

I'll be continuing this pattern through the weekend.

Josh

[Jduester]

Friday Dinner, 6:00pm - Bean Soup, toast
Rhubarb Crisp/Ice cream at 8:30

Started to get sleepy a little after 9. This seems to be pretty normal. I'm usually not doing anything too important from 9-10 anyway. But some weeks I'll have 9:00 softball games, which will be interesting...maybe a nap later in the afternoon.

Core sleep - 10:00pm Friday night - 2:40am, 4.5hours. or so. Needed alarm.

Exercise - 2.3mile jog. Toast/juice for Breakfast... ok and a little rhubarb crisp.

Lunch, 12:00 - Chicken and sticky rice and a Brat.

Nap - 2:30 - 4:10. Fell asleep pretty quick. I didn't get home until a little after 2:00 this afternoon. Felt a bit tired by that time. Layed down and read for about 10 minutes and started dozing off. So easy to fall asleep today. Slept till I woke up (no alarm for naps)...

It's now 6:00pm. I feel really refreshed now. Getting that full 90 minutes of good sleep in the afternoon makes a lot of difference. But it's historically been tough for me to stop everything and calm myself enough to take a nap. It will take some time for it to become natural, but it's already getting easier than a week ago.

Total sleep in 24 hours: 6 hours.

No drowsiness from 3-6am this morning. And no regrets that I didn't 'sleep in'...This pattern is golden. I get so much more done and don't feel any more tired than normal. In fact, I might even feel more awake from 7-9pm than I was feeling prior. The only downside that I can see is the afternoon nap when I have a full day... Scott Bird says that he is able to miss an occasional nap without noticing a difference. He's been doing this pattern much longer than I have so maybe once I build the routine (habit), that will also be the case for me.

Josh

[Jduester]

Well, it's been a week now. I think they normally say the first week is the hardest. This one was certainly doable.

Saturday Dinner, 7:00pm - Chicken, Corn (on the cob), cornbread.
Rhubarb Crisp/Ice cream at 8:30

Sleepy just after 9.

Core sleep - 10:00pm Saturday night - 2:40am, 4.5hours. or so. Needed alarm.

Felt a little tired early morning but was fine once the sun was up.

Took the morning off for exercise as it was only 37 degrees out. burr. Toast for breakfast.

Lunch, 12:00 - Chicken, beans, rolls
Nap - 1:00-3:10pm... a longer nap today. Felt good. Fell asleep right away and slept soundly.

It's now 3:50pm. Feeling quite refreshed and wondering if I'll have any problems sleeping at 10:00 tonight since I slept longer this afternoon...

Total sleep in 24 hours: 6.7hours


Josh

[Jduester]

Went on a 4.5 mile walk after my nap yesterday.

Sunday Dinner, 6:00pm - Spaghetti.
Rhubarb Crisp/Ice cream at 9:30

Wasn't too tired between 9-10, but fell asleep right away anyway.

Core sleep - 10:00pm Sunday night - 2:40am, 4.5hours. or so. Needed alarm.

Felt tired early morning but was fine once the sun was up. Maybe I need to think about changing my activities between 3-6am such that I'm doing things that keep me awake better.

Exercise: 3.1mile run. Oatmeal made with protein shake for breakfast.

Lunch, 11:20 - Bean soup, cornbread.

Nap - 12:00-2:50pm... a longer nap again today. Felt good. Fell asleep right away and slept soundly. But is this going to become normal? This isn't saving me as much time...

It's now 3:10pm. Feeling quite refreshed.

Total sleep in 24 hours: 6.9hours

I'm beginning to wonder if I can tell a difference in my exercise level. I ran 3 hard miles today but I was pretty out of breath when I was done, which never happens...

Josh

[Jduester]

Monday Dinner, 6:30pm - Grilled Cheese, corn

Softball game at 8. Had plenty of energy after dinner. Took a little longer to fall asleep but not too bad.

Core sleep - 10:15pm Sunday night - 2:40am, 4.5hours. or so. Needed alarm.

Felt tired early morning but was fine once the sun was up.

Exercise: 2 mile walk. Bran Flakes for breakfast.

Lunch, 11:20 - Bean soup, cornbread.

Nap - 1-2:00pm... Just an hour nap today...

Apple for a snack.

It's now 4:40pm. Feeling quite refreshed.

Total sleep in 24 hours: 5.5hours

Josh

[isufreak24]

Nice analysis on the EUR/GBP. Oh wait, wrong forum...

I just registered here at SP and recognized your username immediately while browsing the health and fitness section. I used to avidly follow J16, although I'm taking a new direction in my financial studies. Anyways, just thought that was a really funny coincidence.

I'll be following your study. I'm extremely hesitant to try and experiment with my sleeping habits, but it's definitely enticing because of the potential benefits.

Best of luck!

[Jduester]

Originally Posted by isufreak24

Nice analysis on the EUR/GBP. Oh wait, wrong forum...

I just registered here at SP and recognized your username immediately while browsing the health and fitness section. I used to avidly follow J16, although I'm taking a new direction in my financial studies. Anyways, just thought that was a really funny coincidence.

I'll be following your study. I'm extremely hesitant to try and experiment with my sleeping habits, but it's definitely enticing because of the potential benefits.

Best of luck!

Haha! When I started to read your message, I thought I had posted in the wrong forum! I generally have both up in the same browser window and I posted a setup in the E/G today... I recognize your username too.

I don't know how else to get enough sleep and still be around the markets around the clock... Been meaning to do a search on sleep in the FF. Anyway, glad you found my thread and let me know if you ever do try biphasic.

Josh

[Jduester]

Tuesday Dinner, 6:30pm - Culvers!

Core sleep - 10:00pm Tuesday night - 2:40am, 4.5hours. or so. Needed alarm.

Exercise: Basketball. Oatmeal for breakfast.

Lunch, 11:20 - Pita bread and hummus

Nap - 1-3pm...

Apple for a snack.

Time for bed again! 10:00 here...

Total sleep in 24 hours: 6.5hours

I'm not finding that my diet affects my sleep pattern at all. This is starting to get monotonous. So I'm only going to post interesting things from now on... I'll continue to do the schedule for the next 20 days however.

At that point, I'll decide if I want to revise it at all, adopt it, or abandon it.

Josh

[Jduester]

About 6.0-6.5 hours again. Had a full 1.5-2hour nap today. Not sure how the nap is for my sleep schedule because it's rarely about 90 minutes nowadays. It's either 60 or 120, lol...
Whatever works I guess. Never seem to get tired between nap and core sleep, so that concern has been unfounded.

It is still early, but what I'm finding confirms what my brother and I have said for a while - You can train your body to do almost anything. Gives me another idea... maybe after the 30 days, I try 3hour core sleep and 1.5 hour nap... Or 3/3...

Josh

[Jduester]

Well, hopefully it wasn't because I was tired...

I caught a sharp elbow this morning playing basketball, causing the need for 6 stitches to my left cheek. This after 4.5 hour of sleep.

Still got home in time for oatmeal. Nap was on my opposite side, but still lasted a few hours, for a total of 6.5 in the last 24.

Josh

[Jduester]

I slept monophasically Saturday night. I followed what Scott Bird does in adding a cycle to my core sleep (in addition to my nap time) to give me a total of 7.5hrs Saturday night. This worked really well. I had plenty of energy all day long. In fact, I woke up this morning without an alarm after 4.5hours of core sleep to get back into my routine...

I continue to say that if your schedule allows for a 90 minute nap during or right after work, then this method of sleep could really work wonders for you.

Josh

[Jduester]

6 hours of sleep in last 24. 90 minute nap today without alarm. That's the first time I've woke up after 90 minutes in a while. usually it's a 2 hour nap or more.

Josh

[Jduester]

I have noticed each of the last two nights that I've woke up at 1:00am. This is exactly 2 sleep cycles into my core sleep. Last night I had to get up to use the restroom. It's interesting that I wake up only between the sleep cycles.

Gives evidence that you sleep better when you introduce bi-phasic sleeping. Granted, I'd still rather sleep all 4.5 hours without waking up but...

Naps have been ending right around 90 minutes still too... better than the 2hours+ from last week.

Probably monophasic sleep tonight and tomorrow because I won't get a nap tomorrow or Sunday afternoon.

Josh

[Jduester]

Well, I"ve basically completed my first weekend of monophasic sleeping... I slept about 7 hours Friday night and 6.5 hours last night. Ideally, I would try to get about 7.5 both nights...

Starting tonight, I will go back to the biphasic listed in above posts.

The only question remaining in this sleep study is whether getting less sleep is contributing to my nagging cold. I haven't been taking the right meds but I've been loading up on Vitamin C to no avail. On the other hand, it's difficult to simply blame the lack of sleep because I tend to get allergy related colds around this time of year anyway... whenever we have extreme temperature changes... I ran a few days ago when it was in the mid 40's... today, it felt like 80 outside...dusty, but hot...

Keep on keepin' on....

Josh

[Jduester]

So this is Day 30. I've stuck with the biphasic schedule every weekday in the last month and most weekends. I used a 7.5hr monophasic schedule this past weekend as I wasn't around during the day for a nap. I didn't find any problems with this Sat/Sun, but when I got up at 2:30am again on Monday to resume biphasic, I did feel more tired than most mornings. Suppose this can be expected. I'm feeling back to normal today though.

I haven't decided if I will try the next step of moving to 3hours core sleep and 1.5 hour nap or even 3hr core and 3hr nap...

I guess the only drawback with this schedule is that the sleep you do get is all the more important. Having a restless night gets compounded because you don't have the hours to make the sleep up...The earplugs help keep this at a minimum. It might be necessary to take a few moments before bed to 'empty your mind' if you typically lie awake thinking about your 'to-do list'...

I plan to continue this sleep pattern for the foreseeable future. I expect weekends to continue to be challenging, but I'd like to at least have 1 of the weekend days stay biphasic (to make the Monday transition negligible)...

Finally, I have not experienced a biphasic day where I missed a nap. Scott Bird has said that as long as it doesn't happen often, he doesn't have a problem. I can't imagine myself by early evening if I don't get my nap in the afternoon... I've waited till about 3:00pm at the latest (2 hours longer than normal) and just feel super tired by that time... maybe I'd get a second wind if I didn't sleep...I'm not going to purposely miss a nap though...

Hope you are encouraged to try biphasic sleeping as it is available in your schedules. The benefits of getting more sound sleep as well as getting a few extra hours of time far outweigh the 'hassle' of naps.

I'll probably continue to post periodically to update this blog on my schedule.

Josh

[Jduester]

Things continue to go great on the Biphasic sleeping. I recently read about how one individual deals with having weekend conflicts with the nap.

I've been sleeping monophasically the night BEFORE I know I will miss a nap in the afternoon, getting about 7.5hrs on those nights. But this person simply misses the nap and sleeps monophasically the night OF missing the nap. This is interesting in that it accounts for last minute conflicts...

I have been very apprehensive about trying to miss a nap, but I will try it at some point and see the affects.

My work schedule might be changing somewhat in the next month or so as well. I am considering switching to 2 three hour core sleep intervals. So still 6 hours total/24 hours but having the sleep cycle be 2/2 instead of 3/1. I haven't seen much information on this schedule as yet (perhaps because no one wants to miss 3 hours of evening time???)...

Tentative new schedule would be:
10:00pm - 1:00am
12:00pm-3:00pm

Again, I will update this blog before I make the change.


Anyone else try this schedule out yet? What are you waiting for? Life is too short to not experiment with how you sleep best. Sleep is awesome... now I get to sleep twice a day!

Josh

[Matiasfx]

Oh boy, just see who i end up finding here!!! The "pin bar terror" Josh!!!

I was always interested on biphasic sleep since i read steve's posts long time ago but never tryed it yet. Anyway, i really enjoyed your journal man, thanks for sharing, i look forward to more updates and as everyday i look forward to your posts over the FF

Cheers

Matty

[Jduester]

Originally Posted by Matiasfx

Oh boy, just see who i end up finding here!!! The "pin bar terror" Josh!!!

I was always interested on biphasic sleep since i read steve's posts long time ago but never tryed it yet. Anyway, i really enjoyed your journal man, thanks for sharing, i look forward to more updates and as everyday i look forward to your posts over the FF

Cheers

Matty

Hey thanks Matty. I like your stuff on J16 too. Would like to join the PF at some point... know you're a member.

I am actually thinking about how I'm going to change my sleep pattern starting in July, when I start demo trading intraday (4hour mainly)... I think the midnight CT. 4hour close is pretty important, but I'm sleeping at that time currently.

I've considered switching my core sleep with my nap... which could work since the 4:00pm CT close isn't too time sensitive (normally). My trading day ends at 4:00pm ct too, so I place new trades off the daily at that time... I'm also intrigued with 4-5 1.5 hour sleep cycles (ie, going true polyphasic), but we'll see...

Still researching and will post once I know what I"m doing, lol.

Josh

[Matiasfx]

Originally Posted by Jduester

Hey thanks Matty. I like your stuff on J16 too. Would like to join the PF at some point... know you're a member.

I am actually thinking about how I'm going to change my sleep pattern starting in July, when I start demo trading intraday (4hour mainly)... I think the midnight CT. 4hour close is pretty important, but I'm sleeping at that time currently.

I've considered switching my core sleep with my nap... which could work since the 4:00pm CT close isn't too time sensitive (normally). My trading day ends at 4:00pm ct too, so I place new trades off the daily at that time... I'm also intrigued with 4-5 1.5 hour sleep cycles (ie, going true polyphasic), but we'll see...

Still researching and will post once I know what I"m doing, lol.

Josh

Yeah, you gonna love the PF for sure.

With my sleeping patterns i only miss one 4h close, the one at 1:00 am EST (2am my time), which its in the asian session prior to london open.
I currently go to bed at 00:00 or 1:00am my time and wake up at 5:45am to start my day and go for a run after i check the 6:00am 4h bar close. And i nap almost every weekday 1 or 2 hours after the 2:00pm 4h bar close. So im also kind of biphasic too

I look forward to keep learning from you from your trading and your sleeping experience.

Regards

Matty

[Jduester]

Hey guys. Thought I'd update you on my past week.

I started working 1am - noon; 3:30-6pm. That meant that I needed to change my sleep schedule.

I tried doing two 3 hour sleep intervals... 10-1am and noon-3pm. I only did it three days, but it's a much tougher adjustment than my normal 4.5/1.5 cycles. I'm going to go back to the 4.5/1.5 for the time being, mainly because I'm going to back off trading one of my strategies (DIBS for those who 'know'.). I will still have a midnight conflict (when I start trading the strategy live, I will want to be up for that bar, which I deam the most important of the 6 daily 4hr bars)... Maybe I can just get up for that 30 minutes and then go back to bed? hmmm... still gotta figure that out.

I might try to move up my 4.5 interval too. Maybe try 8pm-12:30am. I just don't think I can get enough quality sleep to try a 4.5hours of straight sleep during the day. Can't hurt to try though (which would basically mean switching to 1.5/4.5).

I really like the 4.5/1.5 hour biphasic method. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to get more done in their day and have the schedule to allow for it. I would not recommend it for those who have a varying schedule, for those going through a transition in their life, or those that need lots of interpersonal interaction. Sleeping this schedule means you are awake when much of your community is sleeping and vice versa...

Josh

[Jduester]

Been a while since I updated my thread. I continue to sleep on a biphasic schedule, though I've only recently renewed the 4.5/1.5 intervals. I had been using 6/1.5 during my marathon training all Spring to allow for extra rest. Now that that is complete, I have resumed sleeping 10-2:30am/1-2:30pm local time. It was an easy transition as my body was already used to taking a nap.

Josh