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On A Whim: Polyphasic Sleep

Blogs > Celial
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Celial
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
2602 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-09-03 04:00:43
September 01 2011 20:15 GMT
#1
Sup TL.net!

I wanted to try polyphasic sleep for a couple years now. Now I have not so many things to do over the next couple weeks and just want to try it out. I want to see how it feels. The weekend is coming up, I have no appointments in the near future (except a visit from my dear family next week). I'll stick to the classic Uberman shedule: 20 minutes every four hours. From what I read the first three to five days are going to push me near the sleep deprivation limit until my brain adapts.

My hours are going to be: 18:30, 22:30, 02:30, 06:30, 10:30, 14:30.

I will update as I begin my descend into madness.

+ Show Spoiler [September 3rd, 06:00] +
My head and eyes feels so heavy and like being under high pressure the whole day. I can't concentrate, my mind seems to have slowed down to a snails pace. Also, the time between the 2:30 and 6:30 nap is really fucking with me. I need something exciting to do between those times else I am guaranteed to doze off.


+ Show Spoiler [September 2nd, 14:02] +
I can hardly keep my eyes open. Much less follow the plot of the series or movies I watch. I really don't know if I will get up when I nap in about half an hour. I feel like shit.

+ Show Spoiler [ September 2nd, 05:21] +
A little over an hour to go until the next nap, and I am fucking tired. Worst of all: No entertaining streams online.

+ Show Spoiler [September 2nd, 02:56] +
I slept a little during the second nap in this experiment. Still feeling tired.


*****
Do not regret. Always forward, never back.
L_Master
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States8017 Posts
September 01 2011 20:17 GMT
#2
Ah now this will be interesting. I'm not aware of any large scale studies about the practicality or possibility of polyphasic sleep, but I have read some anecdotal reports of people adjusting to it and using it for some time.

Good luck!
EffOrt and Soulkey Hwaiting!
Saechiis
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands4989 Posts
September 01 2011 20:18 GMT
#3
Lol, I'd just fall asleep and wake up 10 hours later

Glgl, don't die.
I think esports is pretty nice.
Djzapz
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada10681 Posts
September 01 2011 20:21 GMT
#4
good luck
"My incompetence with power tools had been increasing exponentially over the course of 20 years spent inhaling experimental oven cleaners"
v1dom
Profile Joined August 2010
159 Posts
September 01 2011 20:22 GMT
#5
I did summers during college on a poly sleep schedule and I'll try to give you a heads up on a couple things.

#1. It is extremely hard to get started with polyphasic sleep. Biphasic is way easier, because you can get started with a "nap," then just force yourself to get up even though you're tired. The first weekish is going to be hell. You won't want to get up, and you might have trouble staying awake.

#2. Once you're adjusted a poly schedule, you feel AMAZING. Not only do you sleep way less overall, but once you do finally adjust, you feel totally refreshed every time you wake up. Sleeping for 20 mins is hard at first, but seems almost more natural once you're on it.

#3. Give yourself at least 2-3 days when you need to "come out of it," and start by sleeping longer and longer as you can. I've also got out of it by just staying up a whole 24 hours, then crashing, but as your body is used to waking up after 20 minutes, it's harder to get a good night's sleep for a couple weeks.


I still do biphasic sleep Mon-Fri. I generally sleep from 630-10pm when I get home from work, then 5am-9am when I get up. I feel way better doing this than I do with a regular 8 or 9 hour, once a night sleep schedule. I would do poly still if I didn't have a 9-5 job, and highly recommend it as a discipline test, as well as to anyone who just needs more time in the day.
elevengaming / 4Kings - retired
sob3k
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States7572 Posts
September 01 2011 20:24 GMT
#6
if you dont like the 20min uberman, you should try a less extreme version ( longer sleep on longer intervals), the 20 min one is really hardcore and actually inconvenient because of the frequency of sleep
In Hungry Hungry Hippos there are no such constraints—one can constantly attempt to collect marbles with one’s hippo, limited only by one’s hippo-levering capabilities.
Chrispy
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada5878 Posts
September 01 2011 20:34 GMT
#7
This just sounds horrifying to me. Sleep is wonderful.
Retvrn to Forvms
darunia
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States139 Posts
September 01 2011 20:44 GMT
#8
I have tried something very similar before. The best advice I have is to keep busy and eat PLENTY of calories!!

gl hf
If it sounds good, it is good.
Golden Ghost
Profile Joined February 2003
Netherlands1041 Posts
September 01 2011 20:45 GMT
#9
Check this TL thread out for some discussion on the subject:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=89983
Life is to give and take. You take a vacation and you give to the poor.
tryummm
Profile Joined August 2009
774 Posts
September 01 2011 20:53 GMT
#10
I've been using biphasic sleep in a few months chunk of time over the last 3 years. By that I mean I sleep biphasically for 3 months, then sleep monophasically for a month. Then I repeat. I have never tried a polyphasic sleep cycle, so I'm interested how it works out for you. I've heard some rumors that polyphasic sleep can be dangerous if used for extended periods of time.



When I started sleeping biphasically I would only do so once every other day. That way the tiredness wouldn't be as bad at the beginning. This will take persistence however, as you may subconsciously attempt to course yourself into adapting back to a monophasic sleep cycle.
Haemonculus
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
United States6980 Posts
September 01 2011 20:56 GMT
#11
My boyfriend in college tried this for about a month.

It was not fun for either of us, nor any of our flatmates.
I admire your commitment to being *very* oily
Swwww
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Switzerland812 Posts
September 01 2011 21:01 GMT
#12
I have done this for about 3 months in my past, it was at a time which I could actually commit to it. I personally found I ate a lot more but didnt gain weight and also smoked a fuckload lol.

Also drinking will mess you up pretty hard or at least I found that it did the one or two times when I had been out with friends!

Good luck to you!
"What is this TeamSupportGroup?" - mahnini.
Meta
Profile Blog Joined June 2003
United States6225 Posts
September 01 2011 21:15 GMT
#13
Good luck man, seems like an intense sleep schedule. Right now I'm on pretty much the polar opposite - 20-30 hours of being awake followed by 12-16 hours of sleep. It's spectacular.
good vibes only
Hassybaby
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United Kingdom10823 Posts
September 01 2011 21:21 GMT
#14
Please don't die. Otherwise, good luck, hope we hear back with good results
"These guys are mindfucking me into a sex coma" | "Mayonnaise is a must-have lubricant when performing necrophilia"
Heyoka
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Katowice25012 Posts
September 01 2011 21:34 GMT
#15
Best of luck, I have fun reading these.
@RealHeyoka | ESL / DreamHack StarCraft Lead
FoolieCoolie
Profile Joined November 2010
Serbia71 Posts
September 01 2011 21:58 GMT
#16
I wasnt able to find time to dedicate myself to that schedule so Im looking forward to your future posts! ^^
Gl hf
Chimpalimp
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1135 Posts
September 01 2011 22:13 GMT
#17
I love sleeping and feeling awesome after a good nap. I don't think its worth it to do polyphasic, as most people's schedules in the modern world revolve around ordinary 8-10 hour sleeping. But I suppose it'll be an interesting adventure.
I like money. You like money too? We should hang out.
Celial
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
2602 Posts
September 01 2011 23:20 GMT
#18
I'm starting to get tired, about one hour left till the next nap.
Do not regret. Always forward, never back.
intotheheart
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Canada33091 Posts
September 01 2011 23:28 GMT
#19
When you've finished metamorphosizing please post how you feel.
kiss kiss fall in love
HackBenjamin
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Canada1094 Posts
September 01 2011 23:30 GMT
#20
Keep this going, I'm bookmarking this so I can see how it goes!
Sarasin
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada109 Posts
September 02 2011 00:45 GMT
#21
Read this as Polyphasic Sheep. Was very confused at first. Now that thats cleared up keep blogging so I know how this goes was thinking of trying this myself =)
Celial
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
2602 Posts
September 02 2011 00:59 GMT
#22
So, I slept a little. I guess I am still not tired enough to fall asleep instantly. Not sure if that is good or bad :D
However, I'm currently killing time by watching the second season of Leverage =)
Do not regret. Always forward, never back.
Probulous
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Australia3894 Posts
September 02 2011 01:41 GMT
#23
On September 02 2011 09:45 Sarasin wrote:
Read this as Polyphasic Sheep. Was very confused at first. Now that thats cleared up keep blogging so I know how this goes was thinking of trying this myself =)


Same here. I kept picturing the following

[image loading]

Which may or may not help with your non-sheep sleep...
"Dude has some really interesting midgame switches that I wouldn't have expected. "I violated your house" into "HIHO THE DAIRY OH!" really threw me. You don't usually expect children's poetry harass as a follow up " - AmericanUmlaut
Xenocide_Knight
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Korea (South)2625 Posts
September 02 2011 02:34 GMT
#24
Looking forward to seeing how this goes!

also, +1 to the Polyphasic Sheep comment
Shine[Kal] #1 fan
XXGeneration
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States625 Posts
September 02 2011 02:35 GMT
#25
I always wanted to try it; unfortunately my desire to grow is greater than my desire to have more time in the day.
"I was so surprised when I first played StarCraft 2. I couldn't believe that such an easy game exists... I guess the best way to attract people these days is to make things easy and simple." -Midas
tenpointwo
Profile Joined August 2011
2 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-09-02 20:38:49
September 02 2011 20:34 GMT
#26
Hi,

I tried a polyphasic sleep schedule with a friend of mine in my freshman year of college, but nothing as intense as the Uberman's, we tried Everyman's. That consists of three 20 minute naps during the day and a 3 hour core sleep time, which totals to 4 hours of sleep every day, double Uberman's.

It was pretty hard at first, but we both found that once you adapt to the schedule, it's quite easy and almost intuitive. I don't know about my friend, but after a month of doing the schedule, I would get tired right around my nap time. Some people that have stuck with it past a couple months say they don't need alarms anymore to wake from their naps, but I wasn't at that stage yet.

One of the neat things I noticed was that my dreams became very vivid, and I would have a dream every time I took a nap. This makes sense, once your brain adapts, you kick off into REM immediately when you fall asleep so all you have are dreams. And since the naps are 20 minutes, it's enough time for a good vivid dream that you will remember easily when you wake. I would have several dreams during my core naps, but don't remember all of them.

The main problem I had with the schedule, my friend agrees, is that we did not plan adequately enough to fill the extra time we gained with things to do. When I was starting out, there were too many days when I would wake from my core nap and just simply not have anything to do so the inactivity would cause me to fall asleep and screw up my schedule. My friend and I tried going on Skype (we attended different colleges) to keep ourselves company, but that only helped slightly.

Another problem I faced was trying to schedule my naps so that my classes would not conflict with them. This meant changing my sleep schedule every time the quarter would end. Although I should have set permanent times for my naps and chosen my class schedules around them, sometimes there is only one time for a mandatory class and there is no getting around it.

In any case, I hope your Uberman's works out and you get a lot done. A question I want to ask is, 'What are you trying to get out of a polyphasic sleep schedule?' It shouldn't be enough that you just want to see what it's like. Unless you have really strong dedication, it's really difficult to make that initial adaption. I think a big reason a lot of people switch to polyphasic sleeping is because they _require_ more time in order to get every thing done.

Another thing I've read is that Uberman's schedule is very strict and offers little room for flexibility. So try to stick on schedule with your naps! I've also heard that if you miss a nap, it takes 2-4 naps to get back to normal, but in between you feel like shit. Just a heads up. Luckily, Everyman's is slightly more flexible (I'm assuming because you have that 3 hour core sleep) so your 20 minute naps can vary slightly.

The main thing is that you will be tired while you're adapting and you must do everything you can to distract yourself from your bed and sleep. Pick up hobbies, do all the things you said you would do when you have the time, read a lot, and try not to be near your bed.

I would like to expand a bit more but I have a final exam in an hour so I have to switch priorities now. Keep us updated on your endeavors of polyphasic sleeping!
And now for something completely different.
Celial
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
2602 Posts
September 03 2011 03:59 GMT
#27
My head and eyes feels so heavy and like being under high pressure the whole day. I can't concentrate, my mind seems to have slowed down to a snails pace. Also, the time between the 2:30 and 6:30 nap is really fucking with me. I need something exciting to do between those times else I am guaranteed to doze off.
Do not regret. Always forward, never back.
Enderbantoo
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States465 Posts
September 03 2011 04:31 GMT
#28
I've tried this a couple times, always fail around day 10. I know if i can make it 20 days ill be fine, but my willpower just DIES and i sleep for like 20-30 hours. Good luck!
At the biggest upset of all of bw, Shanghai SPL finals 2011
IronMonocle
Profile Joined September 2009
Canada142 Posts
September 03 2011 07:06 GMT
#29
I've wanted to try this, but the uberman doesn't seem practical with 8 hour work days.
My armor is contempt. My shield is disgust. My sword is hatred.
ShadowDrgn
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States2497 Posts
September 03 2011 07:22 GMT
#30
I've never been able to stick to Everyman for more than a few days. I have no willpower when it comes to getting out of bed after a 3 hour "sleep."
Of course, you only live one life, and you make all your mistakes, and learn what not to do, and that’s the end of you.
Celial
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
2602 Posts
September 04 2011 20:38 GMT
#31
I may consider this failed, I dozed off several times despite sitting on a very uncomfortable chair in front of my computer, and wasn't able to get up after 20 minutes earlier today and slept like 5 hours.
Do not regret. Always forward, never back.
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