bi-phasic sleep and getting off schedule

[moltar]

I am thinking of going bi-phasic for a while and I have a question.

I remember Steve mentioned that when he was on the poly-phasic sleep, that getting even 10 minutes off schedule would ruin the next few cycles, i.e. he'd be tired and such.

I am wondering if there is the same effect with bi-phasic? Let's say I miss my main sleep time by a couple of hours, but will go to the shorter sleep cycle at the correct time, would it affect anything?

[Calculusaurus]

Originally Posted by moltar

I am thinking of going bi-phasic for a while and I have a question.

I remember Steve mentioned that when he was on the poly-phasic sleep, that getting even 10 minutes off schedule would ruin the next few cycles, i.e. he'd be tired and such.

I am wondering if there is the same effect with bi-phasic? Let's say I miss my main sleep time by a couple of hours, but will go to the shorter sleep cycle at the correct time, would it affect anything?

I thought Steve mentioned that sleep times were generally more flexible than he thought. (too lazy to actually check this)

The consensus among adapted Uberman sleepers is that hitting the ideal nap length -- 15m to 30m for most people -- is much more important than sticking to the exact nap times.

Uberman and bi-phasic are barely within the same ballpark, so information drawn from one can only go so far in infering information about the other.

[silicon toad2000]

hi moltar

I'm trialing bi-phasic atm. The timing is flexible. Steve was talking about poly-phasic which is another thing altogether. The start time for my naps range from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.

[moltar]

Originally Posted by silicon toad2000

hi moltar

I'm trialing bi-phasic atm. The timing is flexible. Steve was talking about poly-phasic which is another thing altogether. The start time for my naps range from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.

Thanks. That's good to hear!

[Iksander]

I think I might try this too, I rarely ever feel rested after a night's worth of sleep, but, if I take a 2 hour nap I end up not sleeping at all the next night (which to me, means I am getting better sleep during the nap then at night).

I get much better REM cycles during naps too. Sometimes I will have dreams that feel like hours long but were only within a 30 minute nap period...

[moltar]

Oh ya I am totally with you. I just proved to myself this theory to myself this weekend. I was waking up at 5am for two weeks. On Friday we had a party at a friend's house. Naturally, at 11pm I started feeling tired and sleepy. I took a 20 minute nap on the couch. Woke up a bit drowsy, but 10 minutes later I was better than ever. I ended staying up till 5am with no problem. Power naps are truly powerful.

[silicon toad2000]

from what I have been reading, REM sleep doesn't occur until the end of the 90 minute sleep cycle.
Also I have read quite a few articles claiming that dream occur in all phases of sleep, not just REM.

I can't remember what sites I found this info, but I have been googling biphasic sleep, sleep cycle and delta sleep.

[Kaspian]

Sleeping 3 hours at night, I can shift naps around by about an hour before it really starts messing with my energy level. Though going to bed early seems to be okay, I try not to start the core sleep more than 20 minutes late. When I was on the naps-only version of polyphasic sleep, it was best if I was within 15 minutes of on time.

Based on reading about others and on my own experience, I'd guess that on a biphasic schedule you'd have even more flexibility with nap times. There seems to be a pattern among polyphasic sleepers that the longer they sleep at night, the farther they can move naps around during the day. However, that's not what you asked about.

Originally Posted by moltar

Let's say I miss my main sleep time by a couple of hours, but will go to the shorter sleep cycle at the correct time, would it affect anything?

I'm guessing it might somewhat better than going to bed 2 hours late when you're monophasic, but that you'll still feel the effects of yanking your sleep schedule around.