A Brief Introduction

This blog is my reports on my sleeping activity during my polyphasic sleep experiment. For this experiment, I am sleeping for 5.1 hours each day: a 4.5 hour core-sleep at night, and two 20-min naps scheduled evenly throughout the day. In order for this to work, I need to be strict about my sleeping schedule. Bedtimes must be punctual, and naps must be within an hour of my assigned times. It is a tough endeavor, but may eventually be worth the 4 hours I gain during my day.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Preface

I've decided to attempt polyphasic sleep cycle. More specifically the Everyman 4.5. If I succeed, I will be living on 4.5 hours of sleep a night, with 2 dedicated 20-minute naps scheduled precisely during my the day. Effectively, I will be optimizing my sleep habits: finally getting myself on a set sleeping schedule (no sleeping in on Saturdays!) and minimizing wasted sleeping time by going immediately into REM sleep cycles. If I pull this off, I should be getting as much effective rest as I would normally.

The theory is that during the night, you sleep very inefficiently, with much 'dead' time between REM cycles. REM is really what your body uses to re-energize itself. If I sleep for intervals of 90 minutes and get myself on a set sleeping schedule, I will never wake up in the middle of a cycle, and therefore feel less tired during the day. The naps are a way of spacing out the sleep I lost during the day. A 20-minute nap will put me straight into REM, but will not be long enough to impact my sleep cycle, it's just short recharge in the day.


Why?
To satisfy a personal curiosity, and to make more time to do the things I like to do.
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