Have you ever felt like the day has too few hours to do everything your current life asks of you? Do you feel sleeping at night is overrated? Do the chains of morpheus bind you to normality and limit your possibilities?
I may very well have a little something for you. It's 4:00am, February 28th and I'm nearing the start of my 2nd sleep block of the day. Yes, the second, of four total. Confused?
Well, let me tell you the story of how it all began
One morning, a couple days ago, I found myself perusing Youtube videos about how to care for my plants, from their nutrition to their light cycle. Perhaps because of this last bit, Youtube ended up playing a video about sleep cycles by the account BRIGHT SIDE in which a guy talks about his experience both during his transition to and his day to day life with polyphasic sleep.
I was convinced by the end of the video. The only thing going through my mind at the time was "I gotta try this".
But, what is polyphasic sleep?
According to the Polyphasic Society website, polyphasic sleep is the ancient practice of sleeping, rather than 8 hours straight, in several different blocks during the day. A pretty easy example for polyphasic sleep would be taking a relatively long nap after lunch, like Spanish siestas and what your average college student does.
Historical records exist indicating a segmented sleep schedule was pretty normal around the 15th century, and several aboriginal tribes all around the world practice variations of polyphasic sleep. Supposedly, the need to be aware of predators and always active in case one needed to run made polyphasic sleep the logical, natural choice back in the day, and our brains could work in just the same way even now--if one takes the time to adapt to it.
Doing so can, according to the aforementioned website and several individual testimonials, increase your productivity, your energy, your clearheadedness and most importantly give you more time to live your life. That's because most polyphasic sleep schedules end up making you sleep less time, relying on a better sleep quality and falling into the important sleep cycles of REM and DEEP SLEEP faster and at more beneficial times.
It's a schedule more in tune to the body's circadian rhythm, which in theory makes it more efficient. It worked for Churchill, Napoleon, DaVinci and even Nikola Tesla. Why wouldn't it work for me?
That is what I've decided to do for the next couple of weeks, and...
I'll be posting my progress to Steemit.
Much like the guy in the video, I've decided to document my progress as I get accustomed to the new schedules. I'll talk about the difficulties and strategies I use to manage them, and I'll eventually talk about what effect it has on my life. I expect the series to go on for around two weeks at to-be-determined periods for a total of 4 posts.
I believe this could be both entertaining and informative, specially to those interested in giving themselves an extra push to get things done. It's important to note that I'll also be covering how relatively frequent cannabis use affects my transition and if it somehow interferes with the system. I haven't been able to find any such testimonial online.
So, let's get technical
There are several possible polyphasic sleep schedules. I've chosen to present three of them to give you an idea.
Uberman
This is easily one of the most famous options, probably because of how insane it is. Six 20 minute naps evenly spaced throughout the day. A total of 2 hours. This is rumored to be extremely efficient and energizing, but it's clearly not for everybody. Personally, just because of practical reasons (needing to interact with a monophasic society), I doubt I'd pull it off.
Everyman
This is by far the most common and reportedly easy to pull off options. It relies both on the circadian and ultradian rhythms of the body. One must be highly strict with timing to manage adapting, but once you do it interferes little with your daily life and interactions with other members of society. If by chance I fail at the one I'm attempting, this is the one I'm falling back on to continue the experiment.
Dual Core 2 - This is the one I'm trying out.
Finally, my personal challenge. Much like the Everyman, it's easier than a nap-only schedule, but the dual core sleeps during the night will allow me to have 3.5 hours of productivity in complete isolation. As a writer and translator, I couldn't possibly ask for more. I'll sleep a grand total of 5 hours each day (I made the naps slightly longer). Not so different from what college students need to pull off during mid-terms, but more organized and hopefully efficient.
Let the experiment begin.
I'm hopeful this will not only give me more time and make me more alert and productive, but also force me to keep a more strict sleeping, eating and exercising schedules. En fin, a healthier life.
If you have any experience, suggestions or simply questions about this, do leave a comment! I'll be very happy to answer and know what's going through your mind!
Steem on!
Images are accompanied by their sources. Some were modified by adding Bitmoji.