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Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

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Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#51

Post by zelphirkalt »

bonniemuffin wrote: post #5

Having recently experienced raising an infant, let me tell you, getting all my sleep in I was getting what this article suggests would be a viable polyphasic sleep schedule (total of 8 hours per 24 hour period, in chunks of 1-2 hours throughout the day and night whenever the baby slept), but I started hallucinating, got deeply depressed, and felt like I was losing touch with reality. All the symptoms vanished as soon…

That is one reason, why I tell people raising a child is a whole day job. However, often people will tell me something like: "Oh it cannot be that bad!" or "Nah, it's more like you can sleep 3-4h."

Well, I warned them.

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#52

Post by xcambar »

bonniemuffin wrote: post #5

Having recently experienced raising an infant, let me tell you, getting all my sleep in I was getting what this article suggests would be a viable polyphasic sleep schedule (total of 8 hours per 24 hour period, in chunks of 1-2 hours throughout the day and night whenever the baby slept), but I started hallucinating, got deeply depressed, and felt like I was losing touch with reality. All the symptoms vanished as soon…

I think every parent relates to that at various degrees.

To future parents: congratulations. Also, take every possible opportunity to sleep. When baby sleeps, you sleep.

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#53

Post by js8 »

krustyburger wrote: post #44
whymauri wrote: post #41

I maintained a pseudo-polyphasic schedule for two years during high school. I think it went like this: 2:00 or 3:00 AM - 6:00 AM (three to four hours) 6:20 AM - 7:20 AM transit (one hour) At least three 10- to 20-minute naps throughout the school day. I negotiated with my teachers to make this acceptable. One pre-lunch nap, one around lunch hours, and one after. 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM transit (one hour) 8:30 PM - 9:30 PM…

What made you do this? Was it to gain an academic advantage? I don’t mean to sound judgmental; I honestly find this fascinating.

I can't make any recommendations (because it's anecdotal) but I did have some good experience with biphasic sleep when studying mathematics for the university exams. Roughly the schedule was:

- Wake up at around 9 am, study till around 3 pm.

- Sleep till around 7 pm.

- Study some more, till 2-3 am.

- Sleep again.

I think there is something about the sleep that organizes your thoughts and therefore it might very beneficial to sleep more often (but not necessarily less) if you are either learning something very quickly or trying to solve a difficult mental problem.

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#54

Post by monkeydreams »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #47
monkeydreams wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> getting all my sleep in I can sympathise with this. My son spent about 18 months (from 4 months old onwards) only sleeping 45 -50 minutes at a time, before waking up crying. It felt like every aspect of our lives at that point was outside of our control and any attempt to organise ourselves or to co-ordinate outside assistance (in the form of family, friends, medical intervention) was an ordeal beyond our mental ca…

> He went from 45 minute sleep to 6 hour sleep in the course of two days. That must have been the happiest days of your life!

> That must have been the happiest days of your life!

We woke up and thought he had died. 10 minutes later everything was awesome.

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#55

Post by stolen_biscuit »

rsfern wrote: post #45
tomc1985 wrote: post #40

20 minute naps? That seems like barely enough time to lose consciousness let alone get any kind of REM sleep.

20 minute power naps are awesome if you can get the timing right. I usually use an alarm, because if I nap much longer than 20 minutes then coming out of deep sleep leaves me feeling super disoriented.

20 minute power naps are a lifesaver for me. If I only got around <= 5-6 hours sleep the night before, getting a solid 20 minutes in in the afternoon is enough to make me feel alert and awake until my regular bedtime. Anything over 25 minutes and I feel groggy and lethargic until the next day. Do not go beyond 20-25 minutes in one nap.

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#56

Post by swader999 »

kren wrote: post #42

I attempted uberman on two separate occasions and had to stop in fear that lack of sleep would permanently damage my brain. I was able to hit rem every nap after 2-3 weeks but never recovered on sleep within the 30 day transition period. I'm pretty sure it is because it is much easier if you are a vegetarian since eating meat is so heavy and messes with your sleep. It was a neat experience though. I had the most vivi…

Tried it as well with similar experience. Concluded that it sort of works but I didn't feel my concentration was superior on it. Socially it's terrible. If you miss your scheduled 20 minute nap every four hours it's devastating.

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#57

Post by eru »

kccqzy wrote: post #46
ghettoimp wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Biphasic and triphasic are actually pretty normal, historically. Is there evidence of this? I'm not doubting - I think I've seen this suggested before. I just don't know how people figured this out?

Biphasic sleep is pretty common in Asian cultures. An afternoon nap is common in pre-schools and elementary schools, less common but still not non-existent in higher education and the workplace.

Compare also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siesta

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#58

Post by yosito »

elliekelly wrote: post #15
FirefoxIsSlow wrote: post #12

Does biphasic sleep count as polyphasic? I've been doing it for years following the 6 hr core and 20 minute nap. (Basically this https://efficiencyiseverything.com/sleep/ ) It's been extremely doable for over a year. Sure I sleep in when I'm hungover or on a lazy Saturday, but it's closer to a regular 8 hour sleep rather than 10 hours. I'm not in agreement of this overly simple article.

How do you keep your nap to just 20 minutes though? I literally can’t sleep for that short amount of time. I’ll either stay awake for the full 20 minutes or I’ll fall so dead asleep that I don’t wake up again until morning.

For me, I tense all of my muscles for 5 seconds, then relax, close my eyes and let my mind go blank. I don't "try" to sleep, I just try to enjoy relaxing. 9/10 times, I'm waking up to the 21 minute alarm I set before I even notice I had fallen asleep. Every once in awhile, I don't fall asleep, and then I assume that my body didn't need it. Very rarely, my alarm goes off and I decide that I'm going to nap longer. In those cases, I lose the rest of my day, but it's usually because my body really needed it.

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#59

Post by eru »

nradov wrote: post #43
nijaru wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growing up somewhere with a Mediterranean climate that has hot summers, I’ve always assumed it was to sleep through the heat before a/c was invented.

How can people sleep during the hottest part of the day? I've never been able to manage that.

You can doze off. And falling asleep is a skill you can train.

(I can nap in hotter and brighter conditions during the day than I can tolerate at night.)

Re: Polyphasic sleep takes napping to the extreme

#60

Post by atoav »

bonniemuffin wrote: post #5

Having recently experienced raising an infant, let me tell you, getting all my sleep in I was getting what this article suggests would be a viable polyphasic sleep schedule (total of 8 hours per 24 hour period, in chunks of 1-2 hours throughout the day and night whenever the baby slept), but I started hallucinating, got deeply depressed, and felt like I was losing touch with reality. All the symptoms vanished as soon…

What I read, real polyphasic sleep is extremely sensitive to delays — if you go to sleep 10 mins late or early that could already break the rhythm. The more sleep phases your polyphasic sleep has, the more important this gets.

I can't really imagine one would be able to keep that schedule accurately with an infant in the house.

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