Becoming a polyphasic sleeper...

[yeah6]

Check out Neil Strauss' Book The Game. In the book he attempts to do what you re talking about. It's a very entertaining book. He only writes a little bit about trying to become a polyphaisc sleeper, and is unsuccessful at it. He just ended getting too tired and went back to regualr sleeping.

[fourkingbs]

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Check out Neil Strauss' Book The Game. In the book he attempts to do what you re talking about. It's a very entertaining book. He only writes a little bit about trying to become a polyphaisc sleeper, and is unsuccessful at it. He just ended getting too tired and went back to regualr sleeping.

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yea thats where i read about it... lol about the part where he has a 3sum but needs to sleep rofl "do u mind having a qiuck nap with me girls"

[nextgenneo]

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I know I would not be able to fall asleep once every four hours, at least it would take a while. Do you plan to sleep at work btw?

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Yeah, I work at a startup so its a young company and I am the 4th member of the team so I get to set my own hours, have a lot of freedom as long as I get work done. Also one of the guys I work with is gonna join me in my quest.

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I think you guys are wacked, seriously wacked. I will be extremely sadened to hear of you demise. I can see the news ticker across the bottom of CNN. Local youth dies in a single vehicle accident or falls off a building because he fell asleep because he believed sleep was a waste of time. You will have plenty of time to sleep after you are dead.

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What's wrong with trying? Obviously it might not work out, after I give it my best shot for a couple weeks (including changing my diet so its more engergy / no meat etc) if it doesn't work out then I will look into even better time management and 6hours + a nap or something. If you don't try then you will never know.

[PokerAce]

Read this:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...yphasic-sleep/

This is someone who was a polyphasic sleeper for nearly 6 months. After the first few weeks, he said that he felt better and was more alert than when he was a monophasic sleeper. He had little problems with being tired or oversleeping. He did not take drugs and actually had to give up caffeine in order to be able to fall asleep during his nap time. It's an interesting read.

The reason he quit polyphasic sleep wasn't due to any health reasons. He quit due to social reasons. He didn't like being out of sync with the rest of the world.

For those unaware, your body adjusts to enter REM sleep (the important part of sleep) almost immediately when you fall asleep. This is how people can survive sleeping only two hours of sleep. Most of that sleep is REM sleep.

I've given thought of trying this. I'm not sure I will though, because I enjoy having a definite beginning and a definite end to the day.

[Vincent]

If you're going to attempt the Uberman, then you need to schedule it so the next 10 to 14 days are not going to be important in getting things done. If you have a SO, friends, roommates, co-workers, anyone to help you stay on schedule, then use them. If you're like most people, it will be extremely difficult to get by the adjustment period. Do not ever oversleep. Keep a strict schedule during the adjustment period. Do not drink caffeine &/or alcohol. Do not use any drugs. Becareful about sex, heavy exercise, and heavy meals, which may knock you out for a prolong period of time. Eat light & healthy. Also it helps to do activities like go for a walk, and stand up & work if possible during those times you are really tired. The 2hr/day is the strictest, but most energizing schedule. It's been done by quite a few people for 4+ months. If you make it past the adjustment period, you will experience lucid dreams, and you will notice that you are much more mentally sharp then if you were accustomed to monophasic or biphasic sleep.

I personally think it's possible to do, with no really harmful effects if done for less than a year. However, there may be negative side effects (like death, haha jk, but not really), but these aren't well known. I'd highly recommend seeing a doctor during this time. Better advice would be to cut things out like poker that are basically a waste of time.

It's highly unlikely that our ancestors slept in a monophasic pattern, which is how most of civilization sleeps today. Also, the idea the your in REM sleep during those 20minute naps is just an idea. It's quite possible that you're body is getting different parts of each sleep phase.

[toots]

Health risks are non-existent? What the heck have you been reading (or better yet, not reading)?

It sure seems like the goal of this sleep regimine is to put your system into continual REM Rebound, which by just about any definition from sleep research equates to "dumb."

All the best research I've read on the topic says that the gold standard is getting whatever your body would require if you allowed yourself a proper night's sleep, which for most people averages a total of 7-8 hours.

REM Rebound aside, shorting your total sleep time by half just puts you into "sleep deprivation." You probably won't notice the effects, since one of the major effects of sleep deprivation is an IQ drop of about 15 points, which will put you into the "too clueless to recognize your confidence for the foolhardiness that it is."

[Vincent]

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"dumb."

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"sleep deprivation."

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"too clueless to recognize your confidence for the foolhardiness that it is."

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Who are you quoting? Do you have a link?

Anyways, I'd like to read about any studies on on PPSleep, and it's side effects, so if you have links, please link them. Thx.

[toots]

Do I have links handy? Sadly, no, not immediately. Mostly, it's stuff I remember from (recent) grad school on sleep research.

And I probably should offer links before going off like that, but the whole idea of PP Sleep so badly flies in the face of everything that I've learned about sleep that it just shocked me that people even take it as a goal.

I could very much be wrong on this, and if I am, well, consider me a poopie head, but reading about PP Sleep sounds very much like someone claiming that shooting yourself in the foot is a good idea. I don't have any specific links to support the notion that it's a bad idea, but based on what I've learned, it seems to be in the same ballpark.

[fourkingbs]

The only thing that is holding me back is...
the 4 hour blocks of "life" you have... some things take more than 4 hrs.
and also trying to find somewhere to sleep in emergencies

[nextgenneo]

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The only thing that is holding me back is...
the 4 hour blocks of "life" you have... some things take more than 4 hrs.
and also trying to find somewhere to sleep in emergencies

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well once you get used to it, you can push back naps to 6 hours as long as u have 6 a day (so have another nap 2 hours later). i agree it sounds unhealthy/dangerous. It goes against everything we have learned about sleep, so at first it does sound shocking. This is why I am going to be monitoring my health closely and eating a very very controlled diet (almost vegan with occassional fish / eggs and some dairy).

in terms of work allowing it, my two "bosses" (more like collegues) are gonna try it with me and seem very psyched so having a good support network is there. and it will be a trail for a month or two, and then reasses / see if it works. when i start in a few weeks will definatly log the journey daily. will be interesting