It's been almost a year because I ended my polyphasic sleep experiment. If you didn't follow that experiment, for 5-1/2 months (Oct 2005 - Apr 2006) I followed a pattern of sleeping about 20 minutes when every 4 hours all the time - 6 naps every 24 Hr, about 2 hours of sleep each day. I blogged about it as I went along, and you can discover the connect to all those log entries by following the link above.
Adjusting to polyphasic sleep took numerous days, and I seemed like a zombie the very first week. At one point I simply rested on the sofa looking at a wall for 90 minutes, not able to form any ideas. However ultimately I had the ability to adjust, and it was among the most uncommon experiences of my life.
I was fortunate to have a way of life that offered me every possible benefit in performing this experiment, consisting of working from house, a versatile schedule, and an encouraging household. The majority of people who try polyphasic sleep cannot make it fit their schedules, and it takes a great deal of discipline to prevent oversleeping. You can move your naps around a little, however not by much. As quickly as you awaken from a nap, you have just 3 hours 40 minutes up until your next one. By adjusting to polyphasic sleep, you might get some waking hours every day, however you give up a great deal of schedule versatility.
the pattern and went back to monophasic sleep, generally due to social factors as I discussed in my last post of the series: The Go back to Monophasic. The remainder of the world merely isn't really polyphasic. Nevertheless, going back to my initial sleep pattern had not been rather the very same after that experiment. Something returned with me.Hint spooky sci-fi music ...
No, I didn't return had ... although some may describe my current ramblings on subjective truth and polarity as proof to the contrary. Exactly what occurred was that part of the polyphasic sleep adjustment appears to have actually stuck with me.
Polyphasic napping
The crucial part of polyphasic adjustment is to reach the point where you can take a 20-minute nap and hit Rapid Eye Movement. Throughout common nighttime sleep, you do not typically strike your very first Rapid Eye Movement cycle till after about 90 minutes. So when you initially try polyphasic sleep, you'll at first struggle with awful sleep deprivation due to the fact that you will not be getting any Rapid Eye Movement throughout your naps. You'll awaken sensation much more exhausted, and you WILL CERTAINLY seem like a zombie for lots of days, potentially weeks.
If you can endure the sleep deprivation long enough, your body ultimately adjusts, and you start experiencing Rapid Eye Movement throughout your naps. Dreams happen throughout Rapid Eye Movement, so you'll understand you're arriving when you begin having dreams throughout your naps. As soon as this begins taking place, it might take a couple of more days to offset the sleep deprivation and begin feeling practical once more. Rapid Eye Movement naps leave you feeling rested and invigorated.
After adjusting to polyphasic sleep, I might rest for a nap, set a timer for 20 minutes, go to sleep, and get up bearing in mind an exceptionally brilliant dream. Throughout my polyphasic experiments I might usually drop off to sleep within a couple of minutes, and I 'd frequently get up naturally a minute or 2 prior to the alarm went off. The dreams I had throughout these times were incredibly dazzling, and I experienced a sense of time expansion. Despite the fact that I was just asleep for 15 minutes approximately, it seemed like my dreams lasted more than an hour. I 'd awaken surprised at how little time had actually passed.
The intriguing thing is that I still have this capability today. I presume it might be an irreversible adjustment. I slept this afternoon, had a dream that appeared about an hour long, and awakened naturally feeling freshened and with a clear memory of the dream. However the overall time I was resting was just 13 minutes. As long as I'm in a relatively calm mindset, I can still generally do this at any time of day.
Likewise, throughout my routine nighttime monophasic sleep duration, I will certainly typically awaken within the very first 20 minutes after I go to sleep, keeping in mind a really dazzling dream. Generally I can fall back asleep once again relatively quickly after this takes place. Generally the quality of my nighttime sleep does not feel any various than it was throughout my pre-polyphasic days.
Psychological clearness
Whenever I rest nowadays, I awaken with the exact same sensation I had when I was polyphasic. I explained this sensation in a few of my log entries. It's a sensation of being exceptionally mellow and unwinded, as if my mind is a blank slate without any background sound. Prior to going polyphasic I never ever experienced this precise mindset. Today my 20-minute naps practically constantly return me to this frame of mind, which generally lasts for hours later on. I'm in this state today.
This post-nap state is great for composing due to the fact that concepts circulation through my mind extremely quickly. I definitely had a high blogging output (a minimum of for me) throughout my polyphasic experience - you can confirm that simply by taking a look at the archives (Oct 2005 - Apr 2006).
Long-term physiological modifications?
For great or ill, my sleep physiology appears to have actually been completely modified by my polyphasic sleep experiment. I would not even understand the best ways to totally return back to my pre-polyphasic pattern.
I think about these after-effects to be favorable, however who understands exactly what the long-lasting repercussions could be?
Polyphasic fond memories
Regardless of its weirdness I frequently miss my polyphasic days, other than for the adjustment duration obviously. Having a lot additional time offered was actually great, and to a level I took pleasure in the balance of social time and alone time. I suched as that I constantly had a lot of time to check out numerous interests. It was odd tending a residence of hibernating bears in the evening and the fuzzy borders in between days took some getting utilized to, however I definitely got a lot done.
Re-adaptation?
My present sleep pattern is that I go to sleep around 10-11pm each night and stand up at 5am, still utilizing an alarm clock. It's the standard early riser pattern I utilized prior to the polyphasic experiment. In a typical night I sleep about 6.5 hours, and I typically do not nap throughout the day any longer.
Due to the fact that of the sticking around after-effects of my polyphasic experiment, I wonder about whether it may be possible for me to re-adapt to polyphasic sleep much more quickly if I were to attempt it once more. Would I need to withstand another week or more of zombie-hood, or could I readapt within a few days? Obviously I still have the Rapid Eye Movement adjustment, which I think is the most essential aspect.
Exactly what if it were possible to change backward and forward in between monophasic and polyphasic sleep patterns with relative ease after making the polyphasic adjustment the very first time? Exactly what if an individual could go one week on polyphasic sleep and the next week on monophasic sleep? Then you might get the advantages of polyphasic sleep while drawing on a monophasic pattern when polyphasic sleep was unwise. For instance, a student might go polyphasic throughout spring break and go back to monophasic the following week. I feel polyphasic sleep would still be unwise for me as a long-lasting pattern, however I might make adequate use of it for a couple of weeks every quarter if it were possible to change within a day or more.
I have no concept exactly what it would resemble to readapt to polyphasic sleep now, however I presume it would be a lot easier the 2nd time around. I'm definitely curious, however I'm not dedicated to checking this right now. I simply ran the concept past Erin, and she's opposed to it since she keeps in mind all the schedule balancing that needed to be done to accommodate my naps, specifically when taking a trip.
Nonetheless, I'm going to provide it some idea and think about whether I 'd wish to provide polyphasic sleep another trial to see exactly what a 2nd adjustment duration would resemble. The drawback is that if I do this, I need to be gotten ready for it to take simply as long as (or longer than) it did the very first time, which was definitely no picnic.
I mostly wished to share this info for the advantage of those who are thinking about changing their sleep patterns (polyphasic, biphasic, triphasic, or otherwise). I 'd warn that as soon as you cross a particular limit, things may never ever be the very same once more. That isn't really always a bad thing, however such experiments should not be ignored.