[MuFu]

Polyphasic sleep is a sleep pattern specification intended to compress sleep time to 2–5 hours daily. This is achieved by spreading out sleep into short naps of around 20–45 minutes throughout the day. This is supposed to allow for more waking hours with relatively high alertness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep

Anybody ever tried this? It's a fascinating notion.

It seems that most people who try to adjust to a polyphasic sleeping pattern with any kind of determination seem to reach an acceptable state of being after a couple of weeks - many even report higher states of alertness than with monophasic sleep. The long-term effects are totally undocumented though, which obvious entails caution.

Imagine how many posts you could make in those extra few hours...

[_xxx_]

I tried it and it works to some extent. I have days where I don't sleep at all, but take a few 30-60 min pauses where I just "turn my brain off" and calm down without fully sleeping. I don't think it would work for long, though. After a few days like that you definitely need a real, long sleep.

It won't keep you really fit, though. After 2-3 days like that your ability to think/act is perceptibly lower. On the other side, the longer "active" periods compensate for that.

I'd say it's a give some, take some kind of thing. I usually never sleep longer than 5 hrs anyway, so I just might be the wrong test person.

[MuFu]

Have you tried it for any prolonged period of time though? I haven't seen much to contradict the general consensus that unless you're going to do it for more than two weeks it isn't really worth it. Those two weeks will be absolute hell too.

Some of the guys at work tried it last year with mixed results. A lot of them "crashed" in the adjustment period, accidentally sleeping far longer than the intended 30 mins. Seems like if you're disciplined enough to stick with it there might be some worthwhile results though.

I tend to sleep about 9 hours usually, but my habits are fucked up. I'll go days without getting to bed before 4-5 then absolutely kill myself with a couple of 8am starts and pass out for 12 hrs+. If I sleep 5/6 hours I'll have to grab a half hour's sleep during the day. Curiously, I feel more alert after 4 hours of sleep than 5/6, which makes me buy into the 2xREM cycle idea somewhat.

[digitalwanderer]

I think I did polyphasic sleeping patterns when my kids were babies for the first few months, there just ain't no other way!

Now I try diligently to get 2-12 hours sleep a night and usually pull it off....

[_xxx_]

Dunno, at some point you just lose the sense of time and start wondering if it's 8 a.m. or p.m. and such things. Haven't tried it for long and also don't think I will

[Kanyamagufa]

I guess it's an interesting thing to try...I just love getting comfortable and going to sleep for hours at a time too much to stop it.

[John Reynolds]

Originally Posted by MuFu

I tend to sleep about 9 hours usually, but my habits are fucked up. I'll go days without getting to bed before 4-5 then absolutely kill myself with a couple of 8am starts and pass out for 12 hrs+. If I sleep 5/6 hours I'll have to grab a half hour's sleep during the day. Curiously, I feel more alert after 4 hours of sleep than 5/6, which makes me buy into the 2xREM cycle idea somewhat.

I'm the exact same way, though I never nap during the day. I don't know why but after a short afternoon nap I wake up meaner than anyone you've ever met. My father was the exact same way too, yet he napped on a daily basis (made for interesting afternoons, to say the least).

[Crisidelm]

I could never do that: I just can't switch my brain off at will.

[Moloch]

Nope and wouldnt.
Im fine with my 6-10 hours of sleep (damn 9am class..) and I cannot take naps.
Even when I used to work at 5am and got up at 4 and quite frequenty I would only get 4 hours of sleep I still couldn't fall asleep, I just drank lots of caffiene.

[MuFu]

It's impossible to say what it will ultimately be like if you're a monophasic sleeper - you need to spend 2-4 weeks reprogramming yourself. Lots of reports say that the satisfaction of sleeping actually increases and sleep/wake states become increasingly polar. I can't really nap effectively either, but this is something you supposedly train yourself to do during the adjustment period. What's encouraging is that once you're in a polyphasic pattern, it doesn't seem to do be a problem to occasionally go back to a monophasic one for a couple of days.

I've read enough about it now to make me really want to try it (just to satisfy my own curiosity, if nothing else), BUT I think I'm going to have to make use of my current waking hours fully first. Seems a bit silly otherwise - I'm worried that the extra 3-4 hours will just be frittered away in typical me-fashion, especially during the adjustment period.

Maybe after Xmas - there are a few mates who also want to try it and we might approach the university's Sleep Research Centre to see if they want to wire us up.

[mondoterrifico]

I've seen this Seinfeld episode. Didn't go well for Kramer.

[Diplo]

I can't really see polyphasic sleep patterns being conducive to holding down a job, relationship or anything else that revolves around interacting with the majority of people who are monophasic sleepers. It might be theoretically better but it doesn't fit with how society usually operates.

[Ragemare]

I think it more suits a chaotic lifestyle where you just get sleep when you can have it.