The Polyphasic Sleep Experiment: Day 1

I've been interested in polyphasic sleeping patterns ever since I first read about them. I mean of course I'd be interested: an extra 4 to 6 hours of time per day to do things and still feeling completely rested? Hells yes!

After reading an article about polyphasic sleep a few months ago, my interest in the subject was reignited. Unfortunately at that point in time, polyphasic sleeping was not a very viable option for me. I was working full time as an electrician: 7:30am to 3:30-4:30pm with a 15-45 minute lunch, depending on the day. Yes, theoretically I could have insisted on taking a half-hour lunch every day at roughly the same time and found some hiding place on the jobsite to go sleep, but I didn't want to look like a complete weirdoface.

Anyways, now that I have quit my electrician's job and am on a much more flexible schedule, I thought I'd give it a try. I looked at the various different common cycles: Uberman, Everyman, Biphasic, and Dymaxion.

I knew I didn't want to do Biphasic, because the time-gain wasn't nearly as much as the rest. Uberman seemed like too much trouble: the naps have to be at the same time every day and skipping even one can make you super tired. Dymaxion seemed like a good option but also a pretty drastic one. So I ended up going with Everyman. It would allow me to keep a fairly regular schedule while also reaping the benefits of a polyphasic pattern.

I decided to make my core sleep be from 11pm to 2am and my three 20-30 minute naps be at 7am, 12:30pm, and 6pm. This way I would still be starting my day at 7:30 and going to bed at 11 - but then I'd have an entire 5 extra hours in the early morning to get shit done.

All of this planning and thinking was done yesterday night at about 1am. I figured that I might as well start right away, so I did. I slept from about 2am until my alarm went off at 5:30, and then the plan was to wake up and start my napping schedule. I ended up falling asleep again before my allotted nap time, but my alarm woke me up at 7:30 and things started rolling.

I missed my midday nap by a couple of hours, but still got it in at about 2:30. My 6:00 nap got pushed back to 8, and I didn't start my core sleep until about 11:45. But overall I think it was a pretty good start. I was able to fall asleep pretty quickly during my naps and felt good throughout the day. I feel bit tired now, but nothing too bad. I'm psyched about all the extra time I'll have!

I'll be posting daily updates on the progress of the Everyman cycle, so come back tomorrow to read the next unbearably exciting episode! I know you will be clinging to your chair in anticipation.

Cooper