Polyphase sleep - a story of good experience
The article you are reading is an extract from more than 20 chronological reports detailing the progress of the polyphase sleep experiment of an American blogger and self-development guru, Steve Pavlina.
If you are seriously interested in polyphase sleep, and you are ready to spend several hours reading one of the most detailed reports on this topic, you are here: Polyphase sleep . For the rest - this digest.
The essence of polyphase sleep is that instead of one long sleep per day, we sleep little by little, several times during the day. One of the popular polyphase sleep patterns is Uberman Mode, which offers a breakdown of the day into 6 short (20-30 minutes) periods of sleep, alternating with uniform (about 4 hours) periods of wakefulness. This means that the total sleep time is reduced to 2-3 hours per day.
Normal human sleep consists of 90-minute cycles, and each such cycle ends with a REM phase. REM is the most important phase of sleep, it is during it that we see dreams, and depriving a person of the REM phase for a long time leads to serious nervous disorders. During the practice of polyphase sleep, the body learns to enter REM immediately after falling asleep, and not at the end of the cycle. Therefore, the first week, while the body will adapt to shortened sleep cycles, it will experience increased stress. But then it will feel great, perhaps even better than before.
Most likely, readers of my articles “How to Become a Lark” and “How to Learn to Get Up by the Alarm Clock” sent me some links to information about polyphase sleep. Of course, I became interested. The thought of an extra 30-40 hours of time per week for several days haunts me.
Among other things, this is just a crazy idea. She is so crazy that I want to try. What pushes me to take this step is, first of all, curiosity and a desire to test the strength of my self-discipline. In addition, it goes well with my other eccentricities.
I am starting my polyphase sleep experiment today, so last night was the last "normal" night. Today, as usual, I woke up at 5 in the morning, and I will go to bed every 4 hours. In order not to oversleep, I will set the countdown timer for 30 minutes. I decided that I would go to bed at 1:00, 5:00, 9:00, 13:00, 17:00, 21:00. I intend to hold out, at least until Halloween ... or die, whichever comes first.
Almost 36 hours have passed since I overslept my last "normal" night. Fatigue, decreased concentration, and drowsiness are present, but they are not a serious problem. I evaluate my performance, both mental and physical, at about 50% of the norm. Therefore, the main work that I did today was to select articles for subsequent reading and preparing the ingredients for food. In the morning, after the flood at 9:00, I was so vigorous that I recorded the planned podcast. But this is the last serious matter that was in my plans before Halloween. I deliberately suffered all more or less important matters, so now I have some kind of rest. Including from sleep :)
I received several letters from people who tried to sleep in multiple phases, but none of them went through the adaptation completely (did not last more than a few days), so I am wary of their advice.
My main strategic task now is to undergo adaptation, in other words, to withstand this regime for several days (approximately 4-7) until the body is rebuilt. The main tactical task is to find an occupation for the current 3.5 hours, until the next bed break, so as not to focus on fatigue. The publication of these reports also helps solve this problem.
The second day was much harder than the previous one. But I hold on.
I feel conscious and alert, but my brain is too tired to think properly. The most difficult periods of wakefulness are nocturnal (from 1:00 to 5:00). As an activity at this time, cooking is well suited, while reading, on the contrary, drives into a nap.
It helps my skill to instantly wake up on the alarm clock and immediately get up, which I already described in my blog. For myself, I decided that if I feel that I’m close to falling from fatigue or drowsiness, I can try to somehow enter the extra 20 minutes of sleep so as not to ruin the experiment at all.
I almost don’t feel like eating, apparently the stomach is also rebuilding. I immediately decided to refuse coffee. Caffeine, of course, will help for a short period, but most likely it will lengthen the adaptation period. Many reviews have tips for refusing meat and heavy foods for the time being, but since I'm vegan anyway, I stick to my usual menu.
At some point, I spent an hour and a half lying on the couch and watching the movement of other family members. I feel like a half-dead zombie.
It seems that the adaptation process has moved off the ground. I began to dream, which indicates the achievement of the REM phase of sleep. If yesterday I rated my condition at 5 out of 10, today I am ready to set myself 7 points. I'm not the same zombie that I was yesterday.
I am finally inclined to the idea of increasing the number of fillings from 6 to 8 or even 10 by the time of adaptation, while leaving their duration the same. Last night, I arranged for myself two additional 20 minute sleeps, and this probably allows me to still hold on, get up every time with the alarm and continue the experiment. Let me remind you that my goal is not to deprivate myself from sleep and rest, but only to deprivate the REM phase, and only until the adaptation takes place.
At the moment, from the beginning of the experiment, I slept only 10 hours out of 80.
It seems that the turning point was left behind. I feel a clear improvement in my condition. Last night, I added one additional 20-minute break at 3:00 to my schedule (between the planned at 1:00 and 5:00), and as a result, for the first time these days, I feel sleepy. Ready to evaluate my energy and mental clarity on 8 out of 10.
Appetite began to return. I caught myself thinking that I feel increased sensitivity to cold. It’s cold for me to work in a room with the usual temperature (I had to increase it from 20 to 22 degrees) and I am cold while walking in clothes that are usual for this temperature. I hope this is a temporary phenomenon.
In principle, I am already able to function normally and it's time to think about where to spend the freed up time.
I began to think about the naturalness of our usual monophasic regimen. My 2-year-old son, now living in a regime very reminiscent of mine, is pushing me toward these thoughts. It is possible that the monophasic model of sleep is not so natural.
Many people are interested in my motivation, which prompted me to this experiment. As I expected, many believe that this is a desire to increase their own effectiveness. This is a good guess, but the real answer is banal curiosity.
It seems to me that people who are thinking of switching to polyphase sleep, guided by the desire to increase their productivity, are less likely to successfully go through the period of adaptation. Increasing productivity in the long run is bad motivation for most people. If this is your only goal, then it is highly likely that you will spit and fall off after several days of lack of sleep, in the absence of positive results. You will surely think that exchanging a serene dream for hard work is too much a sacrifice.
And today I have plans to conduct a brainstorming session, the purpose of which will be to search for options for spending night time. I want to find a way to reduce or completely defeat night sleepiness, and not just find a way to not notice it.
Today was definitely the best day since the start of the experiment. Right now I can say that I feel exactly the same as it was in monophasic sleep mode (10 on a 10-point scale).
Print speed and hand motility are almost back to normal. It is almost unbelievable that I am able to feel as vigorous, attentive and energetic as usual, devoting sleep only 2-3 hours a day. It is a pity that I did not try polyphase sleep 10 years ago.
And my perception of time has changed. Life ceased to be divided into day and night and turned into a single, continuous stream. At first this is very unusual, but every day I get more used to it and find more and more advantages in it.
Today I felt even better than yesterday. There was no trace of fog in my head. Reflexes work as before. Today, for the first time in the past week, I got behind the wheel of a car and did not feel any discomfort. This is just amazing, considering that this week I slept no more than 20 hours.
I continue to practice the 7th shedding at 3:00, when I feel the greatest drowsiness, but each time I feel less and less need for it. Today I started to set my countdown timer to 25 minutes, instead of 30. It seems to me that it will be better. 30 minutes is too long. I increasingly wake up before the alarm rings.
I am going to continue the experiment for another week before drawing any conclusions and making long-term plans. I'm tired of keeping daily reports, so now I will do them less often and only when I have some new, interesting information for you.
Since my experiment with polyphase sleep is quite successful, I decided in the last couple of days to complicate my task a bit. I’m interested in better feeling the limits of my possibilities.
I made my first trip since the beginning of the polyphase experiment. I did not have the opportunity to adhere to my standard sleep schedule (every 4 hours), and I sometimes had to increase the intervals between sleeps to more than 6 hours or try to get in the car while my wife was driving. All in all, I was amazed at how well this works. I had no problems either with sleep in the car, or with a 6-hour break in my sleep.
Of course, car naps, this is a half measure. Of course, I am able to sleep and sitting, but still lying in bed or on the couch, I rest much better. Nevertheless, this was enough for me to feel fine until the next opportunity to sleep.
Now I have learned to fall asleep in 1-2 minutes, every time I go to bed. On average, I go to bed, fall asleep, sleep and dream, wake up and get up in 15 minutes. So it's not long at all, even if you leave the company in the middle of a conversation.
In general, I realized that polyphase sleep is a very practical and very flexible tool. I am still impressed with how easily I adapted to this trip.
Today is the 18th day of my experiment. Compared to last week, now I am able to conduct more tests, pay attention to finer tuning of my sleep, and overall I am pleased with my progress.
I came to the conclusion that polyphase sleep is much more flexible than it seemed to me initially. I completely gave up sleep on a schedule. Now I let my body inform me of the need to take a nap, and this alignment completely suits me. I feel good if I go to bed 6-7 times a day, but not always at regular intervals. The intervals between sleep are usually 5-6 hours during the day and 2-4 hours at night. I freely change my sleep time from day to day. A clear schedule is not necessary.
The 12th day of my experiment was not very successful. I missed one afternoon nap and the gaps between the daytime pieces of sleep were more than 7 hours. And when I woke up at 22:30 after another dream, I decided not to get up right away, but to lie around a bit ... I woke up at 4 in the morning the next day. I could not believe my eyes that I slept for more than 6 hours in a row. Of course, then I returned to my usual polyphase sleep schedule.
At first I was a little upset by this incident, but now, looking back, I am even glad that this happened. This case helped me more clearly understand the boundaries of my capabilities, in particular, that you should not miss one of the naps.
On day 18, I experienced a lucid dream. And yesterday, just after midnight, another thing happened to me. This dream was not as bright as the previous one, but I considered this an important event, because almost never had lucid dreams for two nights in a row. If polyphase sleep increases the frequency of lucid dreams, then this will be a big bonus for me.
Since now my life does not have pronounced sleep breaks, I am experimenting with modes of operation. I found the period most suitable for my main job from 2:00 to 10:00. I like to use this time for a number of reasons. Silence in the house, general relaxation, lack of feelings of hunger, lack of phone calls, but most importantly - by 10 am, when homework wakes up, I have already done all the work planned for the day and am ready to spend time with my family.
Now that I have found the optimal time for work, I am going to experiment with the routine of the rest, daily activities. Plan exercise, entertainment, reading / education, meditation, family leisure, etc. I got so much extra time that it became necessary to decide what to spend it on.
The third week of this amazing experiment came to an end. During this time, I noticed the following changes.
In food I am less and less attracted to any cooked or processed products. About 70% of my diet now consists of raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts, in all its diversity (let me remind you, I’ve been a vegan since 1997).
I resumed playing sports and have already managed to recover from the break associated with adaptation.
I note an increase in mindfulness and energy compared to the monophasic past. It seems to me that my depth, clarity and speed of thoughts have increased. The decision-making process has also undergone changes. Now I make decisions very quickly, practically without analyzing them. The right decision comes out by itself, without the participation of my verbal system. This is similar to many times reinforced intuition.
One of the most important (and extremely unexpected) events that occurred to me during the practice of polyphase sleep was a change in the perception of the passage of time during my naps. Now, after waking up, I feel that much more time has passed than the clock shows. Almost every time, waking up, I am sure (according to physical sensations) that I slept for at least 1-2 hours. My dream is deeper and stronger than ever before. I have very rich and vivid dreams.
I feel that time flows much slower than it actually is. In combination with the fact that I am awake for 21-22 hours a day, the illusion of stretching time in a dream gives me the feeling that a day is almost doubled. By the way, I also almost lost the intuitive feeling of the day.
For me, this turns into a transcendental, almost mystical experience. I was well accustomed to the feeling of the passage of time, and suddenly this feeling left me. Time has become thick and sticky for me.
The feeling that time is running very slowly, which I mentioned in a previous report, continues. I am amazed at how long this weekend lasted and how many things happened.
Measuring time by the number of days no longer seems relevant to me. Technically, the day ends and a new one begins when the clock strikes midnight. But, since the night dream that divides our days has remained for me in the past, the string of days has turned for me into a single, continuous time continuum. A specific date or day of the week has lost its former meaning. Now I evaluate the course of time in terms of the order in which I performed various tasks while working on my projects. A reference to a date or time is meaningless to me. Therefore, I can’t answer what I did on Wednesday or Thursday, but I can tell you in what order I solved the problems.
External signals, such as sunrise, a clock showing 12:00 or children going to bed, ceased to carry important information for me. Now I listen more to my inner signals. If I feel tired, I understand that the time has come for sleep, I take a break to take a nap, and then return to the interrupted affairs and continue them from the place where I stopped. As if my internal clock is no longer in sync with the external. I observe external signals only as a passive witness.
Today is the 31st day of my experiment. 30 full days spent in polyphase sleep mode are behind.
Last week was notable for its stability. The adaptation period was rather chaotic, but now I feel as comfortable as possible. I found a convenient and reasonable mode for myself, and it practically does not need further configuration. I am pleased with the feeling of a slower flow of time and the whole set of advantages that my current lifestyle gives.
To evaluate the whole experiment as a whole, the phrase “it works amazingly” is best suited. The first week was the most difficult, since physical adjustment took place, during the second and third weeks the psyche was adjusted. Now I feel nothing but pleasure.
I can’t believe that only 60 days have passed. According to my feelings, at least 120 days have passed.
Yes, I still sleep in polyphase. And yes, I'm still alive. As for my sanity, I heard the opinion that it was lost long before the start of this experiment, therefore, decide whether to read further or not.
Probably the most popular question I asked in the last 30 days was: “Why did I manage to adapt to polyphase sleep, while many failed?”
I was able to highlight some of the differences that gave me an advantage: Flexibility of my work and life schedule, developed habit of getting up at 5 in the morning, lack of attachment to coffee, long-term veganism, increased motivation in the form of thousands of readers following the experiment, pumped up self-discipline skills, the habit of feeling myself an eccentric, rich experience in self-development ... (All these points are disclosed in detail in the full version of the report ).
On day 90, it seems strange to call it an experiment, because polyphase sleep has become part of my life.
Physically and emotionally, I feel great. I am extremely happy. It is more like a physical sensation, as if my body began to produce more endorphins. Sometimes terrible thoughts come to me that I can explode from the energy overwhelming me.
Now it’s hard to say whether I will continue to sleep polyphase all my life, return to monophasic sleep, or try something else. I will stick to my current regime until I have a good reason to switch to something else.
This week I tried to make some adjustments to my polyphase sleep pattern. I felt that I had already reached a certain stability and I can afford a little experiment. I decided that since I was so used to the current template of the day, there would be little risk if I tried something else for a couple of days. And that turned out to be the right assumption.
I tried: Skipping sleep, skipping sleep with coffee, sleeping without an alarm, 30 minutes sleep, 30 minutes sleep every 6 hours and some other deviations from the basic pattern.
Most of these experiments were unsuccessful, but they let me feel the limits of my own abilities. One way or another, I returned to the base Uberman model (6 x 20 min)
After about 5 ½ months spent in polyphase sleep, I decided to go back to monophasic. I made this decision about 10 days ago, and by now I have already managed to say goodbye to polyphase sleep.
First of all, I must say that I had no good reason for this step. I could easily continue to live in polyphase mode further. As I have repeatedly noted in my reports, I find many positive aspects in polyphase mode.
Also, I want to emphasize that my decision to terminate the experiment is not related to health. During my life in polyphase mode, I have never been sick, even a cold.
The main reason I decided to return is because the rest of the world around me is monophasic. If a sufficient number of people around me lived in polyphase mode, I would most likely stay here.
Another problem was the need to often be distracted by sleep, on average, every 4 hours. Of course, I could stretch the time a little between the two fillings, but then I needed to make up for this time. Considering that I always liked to work for 5-6 hours without a break, it annoys me a little. I don’t like splitting all my work into 3.5-hour blocks, and it annoys me a lot that daytime sleep constantly pulls me out of the flow state.
Another problem was family relationships. Like it or not, and the couple should sleep together in the same bed. The children did not like it when, while watching the film, dad asked for a half-hour intermission and retired to take a nap.
Each of these factors individually is rather insignificant, but together they led me to the decision to return to monophasic sleep. In a polyphase dream there were things that I really liked, but there were also those that were very annoying. Even now, when I returned to monophase mode, I can’t say for sure what was more. I also cannot say that I will never return to the polyphase regime in the future, under a favorable set of circumstances. Now, in my current life, I find the monophasic mode more convenient for myself. So, from now on I’m ready to sleep again :)
If you are seriously interested in polyphase sleep, and you are ready to spend several hours reading one of the most detailed reports on this topic, you are here: Polyphase sleep . For the rest - this digest.
The essence of polyphase sleep is that instead of one long sleep per day, we sleep little by little, several times during the day. One of the popular polyphase sleep patterns is Uberman Mode, which offers a breakdown of the day into 6 short (20-30 minutes) periods of sleep, alternating with uniform (about 4 hours) periods of wakefulness. This means that the total sleep time is reduced to 2-3 hours per day.
Normal human sleep consists of 90-minute cycles, and each such cycle ends with a REM phase. REM is the most important phase of sleep, it is during it that we see dreams, and depriving a person of the REM phase for a long time leads to serious nervous disorders. During the practice of polyphase sleep, the body learns to enter REM immediately after falling asleep, and not at the end of the cycle. Therefore, the first week, while the body will adapt to shortened sleep cycles, it will experience increased stress. But then it will feel great, perhaps even better than before.
0 day
Most likely, readers of my articles “How to Become a Lark” and “How to Learn to Get Up by the Alarm Clock” sent me some links to information about polyphase sleep. Of course, I became interested. The thought of an extra 30-40 hours of time per week for several days haunts me.
Among other things, this is just a crazy idea. She is so crazy that I want to try. What pushes me to take this step is, first of all, curiosity and a desire to test the strength of my self-discipline. In addition, it goes well with my other eccentricities.
I am starting my polyphase sleep experiment today, so last night was the last "normal" night. Today, as usual, I woke up at 5 in the morning, and I will go to bed every 4 hours. In order not to oversleep, I will set the countdown timer for 30 minutes. I decided that I would go to bed at 1:00, 5:00, 9:00, 13:00, 17:00, 21:00. I intend to hold out, at least until Halloween ... or die, whichever comes first.
1 day
Almost 36 hours have passed since I overslept my last "normal" night. Fatigue, decreased concentration, and drowsiness are present, but they are not a serious problem. I evaluate my performance, both mental and physical, at about 50% of the norm. Therefore, the main work that I did today was to select articles for subsequent reading and preparing the ingredients for food. In the morning, after the flood at 9:00, I was so vigorous that I recorded the planned podcast. But this is the last serious matter that was in my plans before Halloween. I deliberately suffered all more or less important matters, so now I have some kind of rest. Including from sleep :)
I received several letters from people who tried to sleep in multiple phases, but none of them went through the adaptation completely (did not last more than a few days), so I am wary of their advice.
My main strategic task now is to undergo adaptation, in other words, to withstand this regime for several days (approximately 4-7) until the body is rebuilt. The main tactical task is to find an occupation for the current 3.5 hours, until the next bed break, so as not to focus on fatigue. The publication of these reports also helps solve this problem.
2 day
The second day was much harder than the previous one. But I hold on.
I feel conscious and alert, but my brain is too tired to think properly. The most difficult periods of wakefulness are nocturnal (from 1:00 to 5:00). As an activity at this time, cooking is well suited, while reading, on the contrary, drives into a nap.
It helps my skill to instantly wake up on the alarm clock and immediately get up, which I already described in my blog. For myself, I decided that if I feel that I’m close to falling from fatigue or drowsiness, I can try to somehow enter the extra 20 minutes of sleep so as not to ruin the experiment at all.
I almost don’t feel like eating, apparently the stomach is also rebuilding. I immediately decided to refuse coffee. Caffeine, of course, will help for a short period, but most likely it will lengthen the adaptation period. Many reviews have tips for refusing meat and heavy foods for the time being, but since I'm vegan anyway, I stick to my usual menu.
At some point, I spent an hour and a half lying on the couch and watching the movement of other family members. I feel like a half-dead zombie.
3 day
It seems that the adaptation process has moved off the ground. I began to dream, which indicates the achievement of the REM phase of sleep. If yesterday I rated my condition at 5 out of 10, today I am ready to set myself 7 points. I'm not the same zombie that I was yesterday.
I am finally inclined to the idea of increasing the number of fillings from 6 to 8 or even 10 by the time of adaptation, while leaving their duration the same. Last night, I arranged for myself two additional 20 minute sleeps, and this probably allows me to still hold on, get up every time with the alarm and continue the experiment. Let me remind you that my goal is not to deprivate myself from sleep and rest, but only to deprivate the REM phase, and only until the adaptation takes place.
At the moment, from the beginning of the experiment, I slept only 10 hours out of 80.
4 day
It seems that the turning point was left behind. I feel a clear improvement in my condition. Last night, I added one additional 20-minute break at 3:00 to my schedule (between the planned at 1:00 and 5:00), and as a result, for the first time these days, I feel sleepy. Ready to evaluate my energy and mental clarity on 8 out of 10.
Appetite began to return. I caught myself thinking that I feel increased sensitivity to cold. It’s cold for me to work in a room with the usual temperature (I had to increase it from 20 to 22 degrees) and I am cold while walking in clothes that are usual for this temperature. I hope this is a temporary phenomenon.
In principle, I am already able to function normally and it's time to think about where to spend the freed up time.
I began to think about the naturalness of our usual monophasic regimen. My 2-year-old son, now living in a regime very reminiscent of mine, is pushing me toward these thoughts. It is possible that the monophasic model of sleep is not so natural.
5 day
Many people are interested in my motivation, which prompted me to this experiment. As I expected, many believe that this is a desire to increase their own effectiveness. This is a good guess, but the real answer is banal curiosity.
It seems to me that people who are thinking of switching to polyphase sleep, guided by the desire to increase their productivity, are less likely to successfully go through the period of adaptation. Increasing productivity in the long run is bad motivation for most people. If this is your only goal, then it is highly likely that you will spit and fall off after several days of lack of sleep, in the absence of positive results. You will surely think that exchanging a serene dream for hard work is too much a sacrifice.
And today I have plans to conduct a brainstorming session, the purpose of which will be to search for options for spending night time. I want to find a way to reduce or completely defeat night sleepiness, and not just find a way to not notice it.
6 day
Today was definitely the best day since the start of the experiment. Right now I can say that I feel exactly the same as it was in monophasic sleep mode (10 on a 10-point scale).
Print speed and hand motility are almost back to normal. It is almost unbelievable that I am able to feel as vigorous, attentive and energetic as usual, devoting sleep only 2-3 hours a day. It is a pity that I did not try polyphase sleep 10 years ago.
And my perception of time has changed. Life ceased to be divided into day and night and turned into a single, continuous stream. At first this is very unusual, but every day I get more used to it and find more and more advantages in it.
7 day
Today I felt even better than yesterday. There was no trace of fog in my head. Reflexes work as before. Today, for the first time in the past week, I got behind the wheel of a car and did not feel any discomfort. This is just amazing, considering that this week I slept no more than 20 hours.
I continue to practice the 7th shedding at 3:00, when I feel the greatest drowsiness, but each time I feel less and less need for it. Today I started to set my countdown timer to 25 minutes, instead of 30. It seems to me that it will be better. 30 minutes is too long. I increasingly wake up before the alarm rings.
I am going to continue the experiment for another week before drawing any conclusions and making long-term plans. I'm tired of keeping daily reports, so now I will do them less often and only when I have some new, interesting information for you.
11 day
Since my experiment with polyphase sleep is quite successful, I decided in the last couple of days to complicate my task a bit. I’m interested in better feeling the limits of my possibilities.
I made my first trip since the beginning of the polyphase experiment. I did not have the opportunity to adhere to my standard sleep schedule (every 4 hours), and I sometimes had to increase the intervals between sleeps to more than 6 hours or try to get in the car while my wife was driving. All in all, I was amazed at how well this works. I had no problems either with sleep in the car, or with a 6-hour break in my sleep.
Of course, car naps, this is a half measure. Of course, I am able to sleep and sitting, but still lying in bed or on the couch, I rest much better. Nevertheless, this was enough for me to feel fine until the next opportunity to sleep.
Now I have learned to fall asleep in 1-2 minutes, every time I go to bed. On average, I go to bed, fall asleep, sleep and dream, wake up and get up in 15 minutes. So it's not long at all, even if you leave the company in the middle of a conversation.
In general, I realized that polyphase sleep is a very practical and very flexible tool. I am still impressed with how easily I adapted to this trip.
18 day
Today is the 18th day of my experiment. Compared to last week, now I am able to conduct more tests, pay attention to finer tuning of my sleep, and overall I am pleased with my progress.
I came to the conclusion that polyphase sleep is much more flexible than it seemed to me initially. I completely gave up sleep on a schedule. Now I let my body inform me of the need to take a nap, and this alignment completely suits me. I feel good if I go to bed 6-7 times a day, but not always at regular intervals. The intervals between sleep are usually 5-6 hours during the day and 2-4 hours at night. I freely change my sleep time from day to day. A clear schedule is not necessary.
The 12th day of my experiment was not very successful. I missed one afternoon nap and the gaps between the daytime pieces of sleep were more than 7 hours. And when I woke up at 22:30 after another dream, I decided not to get up right away, but to lie around a bit ... I woke up at 4 in the morning the next day. I could not believe my eyes that I slept for more than 6 hours in a row. Of course, then I returned to my usual polyphase sleep schedule.
At first I was a little upset by this incident, but now, looking back, I am even glad that this happened. This case helped me more clearly understand the boundaries of my capabilities, in particular, that you should not miss one of the naps.
20 day
On day 18, I experienced a lucid dream. And yesterday, just after midnight, another thing happened to me. This dream was not as bright as the previous one, but I considered this an important event, because almost never had lucid dreams for two nights in a row. If polyphase sleep increases the frequency of lucid dreams, then this will be a big bonus for me.
Since now my life does not have pronounced sleep breaks, I am experimenting with modes of operation. I found the period most suitable for my main job from 2:00 to 10:00. I like to use this time for a number of reasons. Silence in the house, general relaxation, lack of feelings of hunger, lack of phone calls, but most importantly - by 10 am, when homework wakes up, I have already done all the work planned for the day and am ready to spend time with my family.
Now that I have found the optimal time for work, I am going to experiment with the routine of the rest, daily activities. Plan exercise, entertainment, reading / education, meditation, family leisure, etc. I got so much extra time that it became necessary to decide what to spend it on.
21 day
The third week of this amazing experiment came to an end. During this time, I noticed the following changes.
In food I am less and less attracted to any cooked or processed products. About 70% of my diet now consists of raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts, in all its diversity (let me remind you, I’ve been a vegan since 1997).
I resumed playing sports and have already managed to recover from the break associated with adaptation.
I note an increase in mindfulness and energy compared to the monophasic past. It seems to me that my depth, clarity and speed of thoughts have increased. The decision-making process has also undergone changes. Now I make decisions very quickly, practically without analyzing them. The right decision comes out by itself, without the participation of my verbal system. This is similar to many times reinforced intuition.
22 day
One of the most important (and extremely unexpected) events that occurred to me during the practice of polyphase sleep was a change in the perception of the passage of time during my naps. Now, after waking up, I feel that much more time has passed than the clock shows. Almost every time, waking up, I am sure (according to physical sensations) that I slept for at least 1-2 hours. My dream is deeper and stronger than ever before. I have very rich and vivid dreams.
I feel that time flows much slower than it actually is. In combination with the fact that I am awake for 21-22 hours a day, the illusion of stretching time in a dream gives me the feeling that a day is almost doubled. By the way, I also almost lost the intuitive feeling of the day.
For me, this turns into a transcendental, almost mystical experience. I was well accustomed to the feeling of the passage of time, and suddenly this feeling left me. Time has become thick and sticky for me.
24 day
The feeling that time is running very slowly, which I mentioned in a previous report, continues. I am amazed at how long this weekend lasted and how many things happened.
Measuring time by the number of days no longer seems relevant to me. Technically, the day ends and a new one begins when the clock strikes midnight. But, since the night dream that divides our days has remained for me in the past, the string of days has turned for me into a single, continuous time continuum. A specific date or day of the week has lost its former meaning. Now I evaluate the course of time in terms of the order in which I performed various tasks while working on my projects. A reference to a date or time is meaningless to me. Therefore, I can’t answer what I did on Wednesday or Thursday, but I can tell you in what order I solved the problems.
External signals, such as sunrise, a clock showing 12:00 or children going to bed, ceased to carry important information for me. Now I listen more to my inner signals. If I feel tired, I understand that the time has come for sleep, I take a break to take a nap, and then return to the interrupted affairs and continue them from the place where I stopped. As if my internal clock is no longer in sync with the external. I observe external signals only as a passive witness.
30 day
Today is the 31st day of my experiment. 30 full days spent in polyphase sleep mode are behind.
Last week was notable for its stability. The adaptation period was rather chaotic, but now I feel as comfortable as possible. I found a convenient and reasonable mode for myself, and it practically does not need further configuration. I am pleased with the feeling of a slower flow of time and the whole set of advantages that my current lifestyle gives.
To evaluate the whole experiment as a whole, the phrase “it works amazingly” is best suited. The first week was the most difficult, since physical adjustment took place, during the second and third weeks the psyche was adjusted. Now I feel nothing but pleasure.
60 day
I can’t believe that only 60 days have passed. According to my feelings, at least 120 days have passed.
Yes, I still sleep in polyphase. And yes, I'm still alive. As for my sanity, I heard the opinion that it was lost long before the start of this experiment, therefore, decide whether to read further or not.
Probably the most popular question I asked in the last 30 days was: “Why did I manage to adapt to polyphase sleep, while many failed?”
I was able to highlight some of the differences that gave me an advantage: Flexibility of my work and life schedule, developed habit of getting up at 5 in the morning, lack of attachment to coffee, long-term veganism, increased motivation in the form of thousands of readers following the experiment, pumped up self-discipline skills, the habit of feeling myself an eccentric, rich experience in self-development ... (All these points are disclosed in detail in the full version of the report ).
90 day
On day 90, it seems strange to call it an experiment, because polyphase sleep has become part of my life.
Physically and emotionally, I feel great. I am extremely happy. It is more like a physical sensation, as if my body began to produce more endorphins. Sometimes terrible thoughts come to me that I can explode from the energy overwhelming me.
Now it’s hard to say whether I will continue to sleep polyphase all my life, return to monophasic sleep, or try something else. I will stick to my current regime until I have a good reason to switch to something else.
120 day
This week I tried to make some adjustments to my polyphase sleep pattern. I felt that I had already reached a certain stability and I can afford a little experiment. I decided that since I was so used to the current template of the day, there would be little risk if I tried something else for a couple of days. And that turned out to be the right assumption.
I tried: Skipping sleep, skipping sleep with coffee, sleeping without an alarm, 30 minutes sleep, 30 minutes sleep every 6 hours and some other deviations from the basic pattern.
Most of these experiments were unsuccessful, but they let me feel the limits of my own abilities. One way or another, I returned to the base Uberman model (6 x 20 min)
Return to monophasic sleep
After about 5 ½ months spent in polyphase sleep, I decided to go back to monophasic. I made this decision about 10 days ago, and by now I have already managed to say goodbye to polyphase sleep.
First of all, I must say that I had no good reason for this step. I could easily continue to live in polyphase mode further. As I have repeatedly noted in my reports, I find many positive aspects in polyphase mode.
Also, I want to emphasize that my decision to terminate the experiment is not related to health. During my life in polyphase mode, I have never been sick, even a cold.
The main reason I decided to return is because the rest of the world around me is monophasic. If a sufficient number of people around me lived in polyphase mode, I would most likely stay here.
Another problem was the need to often be distracted by sleep, on average, every 4 hours. Of course, I could stretch the time a little between the two fillings, but then I needed to make up for this time. Considering that I always liked to work for 5-6 hours without a break, it annoys me a little. I don’t like splitting all my work into 3.5-hour blocks, and it annoys me a lot that daytime sleep constantly pulls me out of the flow state.
Another problem was family relationships. Like it or not, and the couple should sleep together in the same bed. The children did not like it when, while watching the film, dad asked for a half-hour intermission and retired to take a nap.
Each of these factors individually is rather insignificant, but together they led me to the decision to return to monophasic sleep. In a polyphase dream there were things that I really liked, but there were also those that were very annoying. Even now, when I returned to monophase mode, I can’t say for sure what was more. I also cannot say that I will never return to the polyphase regime in the future, under a favorable set of circumstances. Now, in my current life, I find the monophasic mode more convenient for myself. So, from now on I’m ready to sleep again :)
