Polyphasic Sleep

Watch the Seinfeld episode where Kramer tries this. Do it.

I just dont sleep :D Try that....If you guys get 5hrs a night you should be used to it....And by the way, you wont hit reach REM by sleeping 20 minutes, only deep sleep. >_< It usually takes 1.5 hours to hit REM after you fall asleep.

I usually sleep 5-6 hours and feel good.

You could try the ipod touch application that wakes you in your lightest sleep stage :D

Sometimes I wonder if the reason I struggle to wake from my naps is that I enter REM when I mentally try to wake up. I do tend to dream that I am trying to wake up. Example: Moving around as if going through the motions of getting up, but then realizing that I haven't moved and imagined the whole senerio. I wonder if I should extend or shorten the naps to avoid this.

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Originally Posted by Dbeltran24

Sometimes I wonder if the reason I struggle to wake from my naps is that I enter REM when I mentally try to wake up. I do tend to dream that I am trying to wake up. Example: Moving around as if going through the motions of getting up, but then realizing that I haven't moved and imagined the whole senerio. I wonder if I should extend or shorten the naps to avoid this.

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I do this ALL the time. Fo realz yo.

the first two weeks are going to be the most difficult. also, if you are seriously considering doing this, i recommend also giving up caffeine (i'm caffeine free for almost 7 weeks, and i feel LOADS better). i remember reading about a guy a while back who would stay up for 1 hour and 45 minutes and sleep for 15 minutes. repeat. he lived like that for nearly two years without issue.

as another person trying to straighten out his sleep schedule, i'd like to know how this turns out for you

Wasn't this a Seinfeld episode? Didn't Kramer end up at the bottom of the East River after trying this? Hahaha.

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Originally Posted by onebadmollafolla

Watch the Seinfeld episode where Kramer tries this. Do it.

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Originally Posted by Alex3000gt

Wasn't this a Seinfeld episode? Didn't Kramer end up at the bottom of the East River after trying this? Hahaha.

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I believe this can be explained by some sort of time warp where I actually posted first but it didn't wind up on the forum until after your post.

True story.

I wish I could sleep only 2 hours a day. I'd be able to do more things...

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Originally Posted by akotten

So my roommate and I are going to try something new. We generally find ourselves staying up until 3am or so doing homework. We both have class at 8 or 9am so this usually nets us about 4-5 hours of sleep. My current schedule has two 1 hour openings between classes that allow me to take naps and try to catch up. Here is where Polyphasic Sleep comes in.

Polyphasic sleep basically means sleeping several times a day instead of 8 hours straight each night. There are a few different patterns you can follow but the idea is to sleep enough throughout the day to achieve enough REM sleep to stay healthy. We've chosen to sleep from 5am-8am for our 3 core hours, and then take three 20 minute naps at 1:15, 5:30, and 11:00. I already generally take a nap after lunch and dinner so those first two will feel pretty much normal.

Eventually, your body will adjust (about a week or two) and you begin to enter your REM sleep much sooner so that each of those 20 minute naps becomes very important. Before even learning about polyphasic sleep, I noticed that when I would get 2 hours of sleep, I enter my REM very quickly and actually don't feel too drained the following morning (two hours later haha).

I've also read that even once you go back to normal 8 hour sleep patterns, you retain the ability to enter REM sleep nearly instantly and a 15 minute nap can give you a LOT of energy.

The idea is to gain 4 more hours in each day but also feeling very energetic all of the time. Anyone else ever try this? I will keep this updated over the next week or so with the results.

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I've had a history of insomnia/ nightmares for about as long as I can remember. I've currently been on the polyphasic sleep schedule for well over a year now, with no problems. But instead of the schedule you suggest, I get two hours of core sleep, and take three 15 minute naps throughout the day. It's enough for me, but I don't recommend it. Before that, I tried the uberman sleep schedule. I eventually got that to work for me, but it's too difficult to keep it up without life getting in the way.

But a word of warning. This is not for everyone, and missing a nap will not only be terrible to endure, but can also be very dangerous. Back in June, I had a bout of insomnia. I didn't sleep for over four days (believe it was around 98 hours or so), and I passed out at work. I hit my head pretty hard and suffered a concussion. When going on break, some of my coworkers found me lying in the basement bleeding and called the paramedics. Prior to starting the polyphasic schedule, I did this regularly and never had a problem (aside from being tired). So missing a little bit of sleep while doing this schedule is much more detrimental that being on a regular sleep schedule and missing a full day or two of sleep.

So just remember, if you do miss a nap, do not drive or operate any type of machinery, and don't overexert yourself. Also, if you get a full night of sleep, or go out drinking and sleep for a while, it will completely fuck you up. Once you get in the habit of sleeping like this, and then mess with it, your body will not be happy, and you will pay dearly for it.

Scott