The Polyphasic Sleep (Uberman's Sleep Schedule)

• Vinhthehero wrote on 2011-09-19 16:07
  The Uberman's Sleep Shedule gives you more time during the day by replacing your sleep with six thirty-minute naps. Basically the idea behind this is that, when we sleep at night, we go through several sleep stages. Uberman did some research and saw that we really only need one sleep stage, and that is Stage 5, the REM sleep (the stage of which we dream). This stage is the stage that makes us "feel good" when we wake up. You'll notice sometimes you sleep or nap, you wake up feeling tired. Well, the Uberman's Sleep Schedule makes us hit REM sleep once we start our 30 minute period naps.
  
  It takes about 1-2 weeks of getting used to and you have to stay by this schedule each day. If you miss a nap, you'll feel real tired and your circadian rhythm might get out of control. With this schedule, we only get 3 hours of sleep and gain an extra 5 hours a day (usually 8 hours of sleep is what we should be having).
  
  So here are some tips and steps to pulling this off:
  
  1. Build a schedule for each day that consists of your six thirty-minute naps. However, you can put a variation to your schedule if you can't find any time for your naps. Try sleeping for one hour then taking four thirty-minute naps, etc.
  
  2. Be focused. During your first week of implementing this schedule, you'll soon find out that you actually have a lot of free time. Keep yourself busy, as since this is your first week, your circadian rhythm is "wondering what you are doing" and it might drag you back to sleep. That will ruin your schedule.
  
  3. Try not to oversleep. As that will also ruin your schedule. Use an alarm to wake you back up. Once your circadian rhythm is used to this sleep schedule, you'll be pulling it off easily.
  
  4. The hard part is tricking your mind into hitting REM sleep during your naps. So try napping in a dark room, simulate your regular sleep. Once you pull it off, you'll be hitting REM and dreaming each nap. You'll then remember each of your dreams better and they might be even "weirder".
  
  5. You'll notice some drawbacks. You might have a change of appetite and I recommend sticking to some sort of diet or at least watch what you eat as it can affect your sleep schedule. You'll probably have a sudden loss of energy if you start staying up too long and you'll crave another nap. Another minor drawback revolves around your social situations. During your first week, you'll feel more fatigued than usual and this may affect your reaction time, listening skills, and more.
  
  One thing I'd like to note is that there is no scientific study on using this sleep schedule for prolong periods of time. We don't know if this can affect you in unhealthy ways if you keep doing this. I know a lot of College/University students have tried this to have more time to study. However, if you don't like this schedule or want to switch back, nothing is stopping you from doing so. Maybe try it for a couple of weeks to see if you can keep the schedule.
  
  More information on Uberman's Sleep Schedule:
  http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm
  http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/15/103358/720
  
• Spicyapple wrote on 2011-09-19 16:13
  Funny, I was just researching this to write a paper on. I actually want to try it for about a month and see the effects :o
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-09-19 16:14
  Sleep is very important for your health, so messing around with it with things like this to supposedly save yourself some time is.. unwise. If you wanna turn yourself into some sort of sleep experiment, however, then by all means. xd
  
  Nevertheless, it's an interesting idea.
• Sekwaf wrote on 2011-09-19 16:52
  Well I can see the science behind it and it makes perfect sense. I've always been interested in sleep and the like (REm, Lucid dreamin, ect.) and as much as I'd like to try this there's a major problem I can see. What about work or school? With School that's 7 hours out of my day when you have no chance to take a nap. I'd assume for this to work you'd need to space these 6 naps equal times apart. Apart from that it seems fine, and not to mention you could get some serious lucid dreaming done if you nap 6 times a day (especially since that's one of the best ways to reach lucidity).
  
  Edit: Upon research, I have discovered a few alternatives to the Uberman that seem much more practical. The two I might consider (next summer to avoid being a zombie at school) are the Everyman and the Dymaxion sleep cycle. The Everyman is one 3 hour sleep and 3 20 minute naps later in the day, it can be quite flexible. The Dymaxion method is basically the Uberman except it's 4 30-45 minute naps. Neither have any reports of detrimental effects and both increase awareness and energy.
• Intex wrote on 2011-09-19 17:21
  From what I've read the problems with this sleep schedule are:
  1) It's very hard to start. You go completely sleep deprived since your body does not automatically kick into REM sleep during your naps and if you do not stick to your schedule you can completely mess up. Staying up for 48 hours was already a horrible experience so I couldn't imagine pulling this off for even three days.
  2) It's impractical for most people. People who have certain jobs or need to attend school can't always fit in naps every four hours. If you wanted to go out with friends you wouldn't be able to stay out for more than five hours. This is all assuming your nap schedule is extremely inflexible and that missing a nap really screws you over.
  
  I've read accounts of people who have used this sleep schedule and stated that they could probably continue with it indefinitely but that it was simply not practical for them.
  
  @Vinh: Do you follow this sleep schedule yourself? If so would you really recommend this to others?
  
  Edit: Did a little more looking up and found this site that discounts this sleep schedule http://www.supermemo.com/help/faq/polyphasic.htm