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An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

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Re: An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

#41

I'm the dad of a five-week old and, give or take a little, this seems pretty much the pattern I had for weeks 0-3. The thing I found most surprising was how I did manage to function after waking, and in a relatively short space of time after waking. The second most surprising thing was how hellish, for me, it felt to be waking after the naps. Edit: Since about week 4, I've tried to pack more 'regular' sleep in.

Congratulations!

Re: An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

#42

I'm the dad of a five-week old and, give or take a little, this seems pretty much the pattern I had for weeks 0-3. The thing I found most surprising was how I did manage to function after waking, and in a relatively short space of time after waking. The second most surprising thing was how hellish, for me, it felt to be waking after the naps. Edit: Since about week 4, I've tried to pack more 'regular' sleep in.

That's something I remember about having an infant, how the experience of waking up was literally painful. Sometimes, I would stay up later than was wise, just because I was dreading the experience of dawn. Obviously, that's not a smart strategy.

Re: An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

#43
"I found myself constantly switching between reading, coding or the next shiny thing finding it hard to focus on any given one."

This is a symptom of ADD, however it is caused by lack of sleep. I experience this, so I'm very familiar with it. I've tried CPAP, oral sleep appliances, and everything else. Nothing has worked perfectly.

Re: An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

#44
post #35

It's hard for me to say anything on this topic without resorting to hyperbole. I have a serious sleep disorder and in desperation, I tried a polyphasic experiment about 7 years ago. I was determined to see it through no matter what the cost. The conclusion I came to was that it is a complete scam, perpetrated on life-hackers who are often, productivity hounds. Polyphasic sleep does not work; it does not improve produ…

I know a developer who tried polyphasic sleep. He said it worked as far as productivity goes, but his unwelcome side effect was that he would get sick very easily.

Re: An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

#45

I attempted the Uberman sleep cycle about a year ago. I managed to get by with 20 minutes sleep every 4 hours. I lasted 2 weeks before bad things started happening (hallucinating, extreme weakness, and major cognitive deterioration). It was a fun experience but something I am convinced is fabricated and doesn't work despite some peoples anecdotal evidence. Eventually I ran into this blog and when I read it I immediat…

That was my experience as well when I tried it 10 years ago.

I started with Uberman, but had to shift to a schedule with 4 hours of core sleep towards the end of the second week, as I was getting severely sleep deprived and unable to function. I'd gone close to four days without sleep a few years prior, and the feeling was pretty much the same.

My interest was sparked as I've always had trouble with my circadian cycle, and my free running sleep eventually evolved to a polyphasic rythm to keep up with work, study and social life. I eventually had to give that up, as I ended up having extremely vivid dreams that were hard to discern from reality.

Getting a good nights sleep and possibly an afternoon nap really is the key.

Re: An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

#46
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a while in college I was like that. It's like you confuse your circadian rhythm enough that it stops bothering you. It was super convenient, but once you sleep the several days in the row it starts breaking down. You just need to constantly be changing it up a bit.

My experience is the same. If I constantly change it up, I have no problems. On weekends I try to hold to a more timezone specific schedule, but include odd naps at odd times to sort of keep the schedule of broken sleep. One other aspect I've noticed is I used to feel more tired and people would always comment on how tired I looked. Now I feel much more awake and in the moment, although honestly I have no idea why th…

About 1:30 is usual natural sleep cycle length.

Re: An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

#47
Is there any actual evidence that anyone has ever been able to stick to one of these polyphasic sleeping schedules for a long period of time? All I ever hear about it is vague unsubstantiated claims about how a bunch of really smart people did it their entire lives and stories about how people tried it for a week or two and then stopped.

Re: An Experiment: Polyphasic Sleeping

#48
The BBC published an interesting article recently about how it was possibly customary until fairly recently to sleep in two sessions at night, with an hour or two of wakefulness in between them. People would get up, read, eat, talk with their partners etc. in the wakeful hours.

TBH, I'm not sure the evidence is convincing, but it'd an interesting concept.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783

[edit: earlier HN discussion of the BBC article: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620742]

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