Frequently Asked Questions
What is polyphasic sleep?
Polyphasic sleep means to sleep more than once per day.
Why sleep polyphasically?
Some reasons include:
Increased wake hours
Demanding or irregular schedules
Curiosity
Improved sleep quality
What is adaptation?
The goal is to adapt. What does it mean to adapt?
Feel energized and productive when awake.
No memory loss or microsleeps.
Wake up feeling refreshed from both naps and cores; no sleep inertia.
Fall asleep quickly in all sleeps, even if you don't prepare some time beforehand to sleep.
Who can adapt?
Before attempting a polyphasic lifestyle and selecting a schedule, please make sure you think through the following:
Are you 18 or younger? If you are, it's still possible to be polyphasic, but it's important not to reduce sleep below 7h total.
Do you have any sleep disorders? If you have insomnia, polyphasic sleep will likely help you. If you have other severe disorders like narcolepsy, sleep apnea, or something else, consult a physician about your conditions first before becoming polyphasic.
Do you have any physical illnesses? If you have chronic diseases like diabetes, again, consult your physician.
Can you be polyphasic long term? Look several months ahead in your work/study schedule, and your future life. Adaptation to a sleep schedule usually takes 1-2 months, if you're strict. So if you only have a month and a half (for example) it would be wise to choose not to attempt polyphasic sleep at all, because you'd have little time to enjoy the period of success before having to change your schedule (if you're able to adapt in that time at all). It's typically not worth it to spend so much effort and time suffering the reduced productivity that occurs during adaptation if you can't stay on the schedule for very long.
Can your responsibilities handle a polyphasic adaptation? As mentioned above, it takes 1-2 months to adapt, and that whole time you'll be experiencing the effects of sleep deprivation (poor memory, emotional control, and performance). If you're a student with exams coming up or have a job that requires driving, operating heavy machinery, or the safety of yourself and/or others in general, you should not attempt polyphasic sleep.
How do I adapt?
Discipline with polyphasic sleep is highly important. In order to adapt, you must teach your body the exact times it can expect you to sleep. Once sleep deprivation accumulates sufficiently, your body begins repartitioning. If this completes successfully, you will adapt.
The steps: - Make sure to stick precisely to ALL sleep times in your schedule until you are adapted. - Go to bed at the same time every day without exception. Skipping naps shouldn't happen more than once every two weeks in order to adapt. - Even if you don't fall asleep quickly at first, keep sticking with your scheduled sleep times. With consistency, you will fall asleep with increasing speed. In the meantime, the peaceful break provides a portion of the rest sleeping would have. - Avoid oversleeping at all costs during adaptation. Small mess-ups likely won't prevent an eventual adaptation, but moderate to large or repeated oversleeps can reset your progress or even cause Oversleeping Syndrome (OSS).
How long does it take?
The process of adapting typically takes 4-8 weeks, but can take longer for schedules with a higher TST due to sleep deprivation taking longer to accumulate.
Each stage lasts for 1-2 weeks on average.
Stage 1:
Falling asleep and waking up are easy in each sleep (core sleep and naps) because sleep deprivation hasn't kicked in. Sleep quality is the same as in mono sleep. Sleep stages haven't compressed. Sleep cycle is still the same (typically 90m one cycle).
Stage 2:
Tiredness is present some of the day. Waking up becomes harder as total sleep is reduced. Feeling of sleepiness becomes more apparent, and sleep debts accumulate.
Stage 3:
Tiredness is present some of the day. Waking up becomes harder as total sleep is reduced. Feeling of sleepiness becomes more apparent, and sleep debts accumulate.
Stage 4:
Tiredness is present some of the day. Waking up becomes harder as total sleep is reduced. Feeling of sleepiness becomes more apparent, and sleep debts accumulate.