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Staredit Network -> Lite Discussion -> Polyphasic Sleep!

Report, edit, etc...Posted by TERRAINFIGHTER on 2006-06-15 at 10:29:59

I found a very helpful list of Pros/Cons for anyone wanting to try it, here it is,

QUOTE(Pros)

22 hours a day to get things done in! We felt like superman. Time-and-a-half college...homework done. Extracurricular activities? No problem. Part-time jobs? Easy. And we STILL went to nearly every party. My dorm room was spotless, I got lots done on my writing, and studying was a cinch when you could do it at Denny's between 4 and 8 a.m.
Lots of energy. I really was never tired; or rather, by the time I got tired, it was time for a nap. Overall, I was less tired on this schedule than I can ever remember being on any other, and the Uberman is not the only whacko thing I've tried, heh. (It is the only one I'd do again.)
Easy to diet (in fact, hard not to lose too much weight...I lost 10 pounds right off the bat, and had to make myself remember to eat at least 4 meals in every 24 hour period after that, to keep my weight steady. I was relatively physically active during this period, but not actually involved in sports or anything.)
Able to be up at night without missing out on daytime (probably the single biggest reason I did it...I'm a night-owl perpetually stuck on a day schedule!)
And a big one: Evaporation of sleep disorders. At the time I started this schedule, I was sleep-walking, talking, had rampant recurring insomnia, nightmares, night terrors (try punching a cinderblock wall in your sleep...mmmm) and lord knows what else. All of them went away within the first week. And, oddly enough, they never really came back...I've had small bouts of one or another since then, but nothing like the that sleeping had been for me for a couple years before I tried this.
Sort of like the last one, but more of a common man's problem: You won't get sore from sleeping. If you have neck, back or ligament problems, you know what it's like to wake up in agony...but you won't, when you've only been asleep for 20 minutes! Having neck problems myself, I really appreciated that.
Really easy to do, once you get used to it. After about 2 months, N. and I didn't need alarm clocks; we'd look up about five minutes before naptime, realizing we were tired; we could crash out anywhere and wake up automatically at the right time. No tossing and turning, no thinking too much, and oddly enough, almost no dreaming. Just *wham* - lights out - and *ping* - lights on. I woke up totally refreshed after every nap, once I got used to the schedule.
One pro you missed was that each nap feels like hours. About 2 hours in my case. And another is that I'm no longer ratty and impatient, as I know that I'll have enough time to myself at night. Previously I got easily annoyed at people wasting my time.
I also had no trouble going back on a monophasic schedule after the experiment was over; I may have been a little groggy for a day, but if so it wasn't even bad enough to bother remembering.
People are probably right about your lack of sleep causing your immune system to falter; I had the same problem. I did not find that I got "sicker" on the Uberman schedule (or sick more often), nor did I "prepare" for it by sleeping well for a few nights (I *couldn't* sleep well at the time anyway).

QUOTE(Cons)

Boredom. I don't bore easily, having nearly endless reading, Internet, art, and organization fetishes; but if you do, you'll hate this. One of the crew trying it with me had that problem, and it looked like it really sucked. There ISN'T enough television to fill 22 hours a day. There's a reason this was a schedule preferred by mad genius types who did enough work to fill two lifetimes! (Side-note: When starting the schedule, for the first week or two, have a HUGE list of things to do ready. You'll be so tired you can barely think, so things like cleaning / organizing, walking, going to social events and outdoors, and art projects are all good. I had a list of over 100 items to get done, and I got them all done in six days! ...But I'd probably have been screwed without that list, because without things to do, it's nearly impossible to fight that kind of tiredness.)
Really hard to get used to. Takes a week or two to get even slightly comfortable with, and during that week or two you feel like a bus is perpetually running you over. Having to drive or work during that time would be -- but I did it while going to school and didn't die; it just sucked.
Hard to maintain. Requires absolute attention to nap-times; missing naps and/or oversleeping, even once, will seriously screw with you. Out of the fifteen or so people who ended up trying this, about 12 of them dropped out within the first month of starting, because they gave in to oversleeping or missed a nap or two and couldn't catch back up.
Difficult to adjust around things like job-changes, illness, travel, etc. Not as difficult as you'd think, maybe, since you have to remember that you (well, I, at least) could sleep *anywhere*, and sleeping only takes 20 minutes, so it isn't that hard to get someone to watch your crap in the airport while you snozz in a chair. But a significant disruption might throw you off, and once it does, you'll be tired for a few *days* while you get back on track. Another thing to mention is that the *times* are very important; you can't just decide to take one nap ten minutes late and the next ten minutes late too, to keep up the four-hour ratio. We found this out the hard way: Once you settle on times to sleep, you'd better stick right on them. If you take one nap late, take the next one *on time*, and get back on track asap.
And a weird one: It gets hard to keep track of what day it is. We ended up having to invent names for night-times, and have fourteen-day weeks. Because when you're up and moving at 3 a.m. every day, and then still up and moving at 3 p.m., when does Monday end and Tuesday start? Trying to divide it up over one naptime, or at midnight, just didn't work for me. We don't realize, I think, how much sleeping in a long chunk pushes the "Reset: New Day" button for us. You lose that with this, and it can get confusing. Naming the nights working great for me, though. If you don't like being on the same page as the rest of the herd...well, this isn't for you; but I'd think that would be obvious!
You forgot some cons IMO: going back to monophasic takes a few days to adjust to properly and the world isn't particularly helpful in maintaining the difficult to maintain schedule.
The 'lots of energy' is true, but requires that you eat a decent diet to maintain it. I suppose this is obvious.
I haven't been able to find a way to do it with a "normal" job in the six years since this experiment took place. *sigh* If anybody figures that out, it's information I'd pay to have.
I sleep with my head on the desk, on a blanket propped up a bit. I also place a note on the back of my chair .. 'Back in a few minutes'
Needless to say, my colleagues think I'm wierd

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mp)7-7 on 2006-06-15 at 11:58:09

I dont think that I am going to try this anytime soon. I dont have enough time on my hands! But I would enjoy trying this sometime, with my friend. How many days do you have to do this?

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mini Moose 2707 on 2006-06-15 at 12:05:01

This isn't something you just do because you feel like it. A sleep cycle is not something to be toyed around with and thrown about. But, you could do it for the rest of your life if you want to, because eventually your body adjusts to it.

Report, edit, etc...Posted by TERRAINFIGHTER on 2006-06-15 at 13:49:41

I plan to start this as soon as I can (if I can), so expect to see me on this in about 2 weeks (that's when I'm not busy)

why would I start it? it sounds like a very good plan, the benefits are really good, and it gives me control of the sleeping part of my brain

why wouldn't I start it? I don't really see any reason not to, none of the problems are that bad (except boredom),
and the only reason it's called a disorder is because it increases cortisol to keep you from dying of hunger, and gives you more energy since you're awake longer

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mini Moose 2707 on 2006-06-15 at 14:12:05

QUOTE(TERRAINFIGHTER @ Jun 15 2006, 01:49 PM)

and gives you more energy since you're awake longer

WTF? If people get more energy from being awake longer, why would anyone ever sleep?

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Deathawk on 2006-06-15 at 14:58:57

Unfortunatly, you really can't play with this unless you don't have (middle or high) school at the time

I really want to do this when I get into college.. I need the extra time

Report, edit, etc...Posted by TERRAINFIGHTER on 2006-06-15 at 16:12:22

QUOTE(Mini Moose 2707 @ Jun 15 2006, 01:11 PM)

WTF? If people get more energy from being awake longer, why would anyone ever sleep?

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Perhaps I should've explained it better, what I meant is your body generates and uses more adrenaline with that sleep pattern, just don't ask me how, I really don't know

maybe the brain creates cortisol and adrenaline, and uses some of it while you're asleep?

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mp)7-7 on 2006-06-15 at 16:38:40

I got an idea! We should make a thread in Null or something only for people that are doing this type of sleep, and we can just chat in there! We should all do it sometime, When we do we should make this and try to sleep at the same time then we can give eachother someone to talk to and stuff!

Or we could make a free forum on a website and accounts and stuff!

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mini Moose 2707 on 2006-06-15 at 16:46:42

There's lots of links to sites like that on Wikipedia.

Report, edit, etc...Posted by TERRAINFIGHTER on 2006-06-15 at 22:16:22

Demaris, mind telling us your progress or if you quit?

also, once I start this do you mind if I use the topic you started instead of creating a new one that's almost the same?

Report, edit, etc...Posted by FatalException on 2006-06-15 at 22:36:25

I'm gonna do this sometime this summer. I'll get my dad to not turn off the internet at 11:00 like he usually does

And if I don't have someone spending the night, then I guess I'll just have to be bored all alone...

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mini Moose 2707 on 2006-06-15 at 22:42:47

QUOTE(TERRAINFIGHTER @ Jun 15 2006, 10:16 PM)

Demaris, mind telling us your progress or if you quit?

also, once I start this do you mind if I use the topic you started instead of creating a new one that's almost the same?

If you're going to start keeping a journal or something, I'd prefer you use the Null forum.

Report, edit, etc...Posted by TERRAINFIGHTER on 2006-06-16 at 17:11:34

When I do start this, what sleeping plan do you think would work better?

1. the Uberman schedule, sleep 20 minutes every 4 hours
2. a modified Uberman schedule, sleep 30 minutes every 6 hours (dunno if it works)
3. a custom sleep pattern, post one if you think I should use it instead

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Toothfariy on 2006-06-16 at 23:14:52

i kinda did this in a way.

i would basicly do this,

stay up almost all night. get to sleep around 1 am. wake at 6 am. thats 2 hours. then i would shower and get ready for early band pratice. and while we do parade marching and stand stills, i'd just take the time to catch up on a lil sleep. then when we got into our 1st period, i would take notes and finsih homework really fat, then sleep rest of class, or sleep during notes. then the next period i'd goof off with my friends and this was lunchtime, so i could get some suger

. then i'd sleep the remainder of the 2nd period. then i'd go to drivers ed and we dont do nothin in there so i'd sleep for like an hour. then sleep on the bus. then come home and do it all over again

so lets add it all up

5 hrs for night
10 minutes for band pratice
30 mins for 1st period
30 mins 2nd period
1 hour drivers ed
1 hour bus ride

this makes 8 hours and 10 mins roughly. so im spreading out my sleep through the day. i still get the normal recomended amount only, i get more time to do what i want at home.

now keep in mind it's not exactly like demaris' expirement. but thats how i did it last fall. then classes changed and i couldn't keep the schedule.

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Deathawk on 2006-06-17 at 07:27:38

It's not exactly a good idea to sleep during class. And that'd just be awkward sleeping in school.. =\

I think the uberman schedule is the best, only because it's more widespread and stuff.

But I recommend you to just sleep an ~8 hour sleep period. ;\

Report, edit, etc...Posted by TERRAINFIGHTER on 2006-06-17 at 10:14:14

Deathawk, you seem to be missing the point...

The good thing about the sleeping pattern is you only sleep 2 hours, instead of 8

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Mini Moose 2707 on 2006-06-17 at 10:39:01

I think if I did try something like this I'd take one hour of sleep every six hours. Five hours awake and one hour sleep fits very nicely into a 24-hour schedule.

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Deathawk on 2006-06-17 at 11:42:23

QUOTE(TERRAINFIGHTER @ Jun 17 2006, 09:13 AM)

Deathawk, you seem to be missing the point...

The good thing about the sleeping pattern is you only sleep 2 hours, instead of 8
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I'm not missing any point. Uberman isn't exactly the healthiest sleeping pattern. You're missing a lot of other sleeping stuff that helps you fight sickness, grow, etc. You should have enough time with 16 hours a day anyway.

It's a pretty unconventional sleeping pattern too. I mean, it's sort of hard to fit it around a job and work.

With 8 hours, it's traditional, and both school and work shifts are shaped around it. =\

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Doodan on 2006-06-17 at 15:14:08

QUOTE(Doodan @ Jun 14 2006, 09:19 AM)

Wow, this sleep schedule sounds like a great way to save time. I'm a workaholic, myself, and I often get frustrated by the needs of the body because I'd rather just keep working on my things. Factor in the face I have a little boy to take care of, and you'll see that I never accomplish things as quickly as I want to. If I ever get the determination, I might try this so I'll have more ME time.
[right][snapback]506412[/snapback][/right]

Factor in the face? ROFL

I meant FACT

Report, edit, etc...Posted by TERRAINFIGHTER on 2006-06-23 at 11:40:25

since I'm going to start this in ~6 days, anyone have any last minute tips/sugguestions/riticule for getting started?

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Whisper_Blade on 2006-06-23 at 18:54:40

I've tried the schedule, but it conflicted with school, and I didn't have luxury of sleeping through Algebra.

After a while though, your body will time the 30 minutes on it's own. Just go to sleep, and you'll automatically wake up in 30 minutes. It ROCKS.

If you have access to video games.

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