I used to work nights and go to school during the day so I learned really quickly how to break my sleep into 90min cycles. This kept me functional however, a string of successive sleep cycles let's you get a much deeper and energizing rest, in my experience.
Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
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Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#12I hate when an article states a question making you expect an answer. This article ends with exactly the same question it starts out with.
The article ends with: The answer - 20-minute naps are arguably too short for a restorative nap - 30 minutes a time would be better, but 90 minutes allows a full sleep cycle
Interestingly, newborn babies are on a 90 minute schedule. So are the parents...
Though to be fair, that only lasts a few months until it's 2x90 min, 3x90 min, etc.
Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#13I think my mileage experience with uberman is on the crappy end. I did it for 2 weeks, and toward the end, I felt I was unable to focus on anything for more than 30 seconds, and ultimately had to stop when I started seeing blood in the toilet. To this day, I have no idea if my uberman sleep schedule actually caused it or not, but seeing dark red in the water definitely scared me and correlation is one hell of a incentive to stop doing something.
Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#14I did the "uberman" sleep schedule for a few months about 10 years ago. It works; you can definitely survive and stay surprisingly functional on a 20 minute nap every 4 hours. You do lose some cognitive ability, though. The advice in the OP is pretty bad, though. Any nap of more than 20 minutes will leave you feeling groggy when you wake up, especially if you're sleep deprived, which could be catastrophic for a pilot…
The reason uberman works is because you are getting REM sleep during those 20 minute naps. Your body adjusts to the 20 minute nap cycle and throws you into REM faster, hence why that first week or so adjust period is rather hellish. Before your body adjust there is a lack that much needed REM sleep.
It is a really crappy article though
Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#15I did the "uberman" sleep schedule for a few months about 10 years ago. It works; you can definitely survive and stay surprisingly functional on a 20 minute nap every 4 hours. You do lose some cognitive ability, though. The advice in the OP is pretty bad, though. Any nap of more than 20 minutes will leave you feeling groggy when you wake up, especially if you're sleep deprived, which could be catastrophic for a pilot…
How old were you? It seems like if you're in your teens or twenties you can pretty much do any crazy sleep schedule and be fine with it as you're in the "superpowers" stage of your life.
Its a little different in your 40s. As someone with sleep apnea, sleep quality is so important to me. I can't imagine messing with it, especially considering we don't fully understand sleep and if there may be long term consequences with weird sleep schedules. We do know that sufferers of apnea have increased risk of stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression.
Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#16after having experimented with all sorts of sleep 'arrangements' in college, 10 years later i can pretty much say without a doubt i like going to bed around midnight and getting up exactly 8 hours later.
Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#17I did the "uberman" sleep schedule for a few months about 10 years ago. It works; you can definitely survive and stay surprisingly functional on a 20 minute nap every 4 hours. You do lose some cognitive ability, though. The advice in the OP is pretty bad, though. Any nap of more than 20 minutes will leave you feeling groggy when you wake up, especially if you're sleep deprived, which could be catastrophic for a pilot…
I did uberman for a month when I was first starting out and just doing freelance. I could set whatever schedule I wanted so, I decided to give it a shot.
The big thing for me is, I really like the kind of concentration that the nigth brings, but I also like the early mornings. I've even been contemplating switching to a two-sleep cycle system again so I can enjoy both my mornings and nights.
Back to the uberman: week one was hell. Weeks two and three were amazing. I felt like I was getting so much done and I could fully enjoy any time of the day. Things started to fall apart around week four though. I began having difficulties with grasping at causation. I seemed to still be going through my day and somehow getting things done but I saw the world as just a snapshot of present moments and couldn't quite grasp how one moment transitioned into the next. So I gave it up.
Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#18It was definitely bad for me. I switch to "short days" when I have to build a large number of identical things, but when I'm doing design or coding that's even a bit creative, I need my beauty sleep.
Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#19Link to the original article about Uberman: http://everything2.com/title/Uberman%2527s+Sleep+Schedule
Re: Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
#20I tried this 9 years ago. Does not work whatsoever. It's a really stupid idea. Cognitive abilities go down the toilet.