Polyphasic Sleep Experiment
We’re all stuck with the same 24 hours in a day.
Or are we?
I first heard about polyphasic sleeping when I was browsing Steve Pavlina’s blog. He kept a journal of his attempt to sleep less than 3 hours a day. This was intriguing to me and I instantly wanted to give it a try.
There are, of course, downsides. The acclamation period is two weeks of a foggy hell. You have to keep a highly regimented schedule of 20 – 30 minute naps every four hours. This means scheduling your entire life around sleep and even leaving parties to nap in the car.
If you’re late for a nap, it’s hard to catch up. If you miss a nap, you’re exhausted for days.
Considering my current life situation, this wasn’t feasible so a shelved under “some day”.
I recently purchased a copy of 4 Hour Body and read the chapter on polyphasic sleeping. This introduced me for the first time to the different levels of polyphasic sleeping. Basically, for every 20 minute nap you take during the day, you forego 1.5 to 2 hours of sleep at night. Also, on the easier levels of polyphasic sleeping, you can be a little more relaxed with your sleep schedule. If you’re an hour late for a nap, it’s no big deal.
Now this I can do!
Starting tonight, for the next (at least) 30 days I am going to run my life on the Everyman 2-Nap polyphasic schedule. This means 4.5 hours of “core sleep” at night (midnight to 4:30am) and then two 20 minute naps at noon and 4:30pm.
Does everybody get the same 24 hours or can you hack your sleep to, in my case, steal back an extra three? I’ll find out soon enough.
Photo by malias
