Sleep patterns, effect on life, provide a link

Peter Harris · #1 08-30-2006, 05:14 PM

Hey guys,
I live in the UK, and as such the juiciest time to play is between about 2am and 7am. Given that's the middle of the night, I was wondering how this is going to affect a body clock which loves its circadian rhythm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep provides some information on the concept of polyphasic sleep, whereby one has a 3-4 hour "sleep" supplemented by naps throughout the day. however, as it's a wiki article, it's notoriously incomplete.

Further, other links such as http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/15/103358/720 and http://www.dentalplans.com/Dental-Health...snt-Fit-All.asp and http://science-education.nih.gov/sup...info-sleep.htm provide inconclusive data, partisan opinions or glib comments, which doesn't help.

I was wondering, does anyone here sleep in "shifts" or use a polyphasic pattern? Is someone an ardent fan of circadian rhythm?

Basically i was wondering if it's healthy to go to bed around 8.30, 9 or 10pm, sleep till 2.30am, get up and then have a second sleep around 2pm till 5pm, for example. that way I'm getting 6-8 hours, but of course I'm disrupting a circadian cycle. Am i receiving the necessary rest, and access to REM cycles?

If you have an opinion, backed with a link, please provide it. I was looking to stimulate a debate between say 3 camps - one that says I should go to bed about 6.30pm and have one 8-hour sleep shift, like normal; another which says i should have 2x 4-hour sleep shifts; a final one which says I should sleep for 3-4 hours and then supplement it with 45mins-1hr every 5hrs or so.

My colleague from SSSH True thinks that my idea of sleeping in 2 shifts is quite destructive, and scoffs at the idea of sleeping, working, doing chores and then sleeping again. Any comments would be greatly received and strongly considered.

I'm planning on moving in a couple of weeks, and have the relative luxury of giving a 4-month "shot" at 'pro' play (4-5hrs or more, 5-6 days a week, looking to play at least 30,000 hands a month and generate about $750/month), and want to ensure that I'm going everything i can for my body to ensure sharpness.

For further information, I have a sensible diet, drink alcohol infrequently, engage in sporting activity [cricket/rugby] and am 23 years old.

Again, any comments appreciated, even anecdotal evidence.

Regards,
Pete

diebitter · #2 08-30-2006, 05:27 PM

I used to be all over the shop sleepwise, but that was when I was working at home, and I think just not going out, is just less tired. I'm sure any of the OOTers from old will vouch I used to post any time of the day or night back then.

However, I am now working pretty hard away from home, and usually leave at 7am and don't get back home till 7-8pm, and I really do need to sleep well, as the work is quite intense and requires high levels of sustained concentration (developing business information systems FYI).

I can't say better sleep has helped my game...I only get to play 2 sessions a week at the moment, and as I'm playing MTTs mainly now, I can't possibly tell if I'm better or worse...the winrate seems about the same to me. It might be marginally better maybe as I do tend to really get into it and concentrate as it's relatively infrequent, but it might just be variance.

This isn't very helpful, I know.

Peter Harris · #3 08-30-2006, 05:37 PM

anything is better than nothing db, thanks for the input. I started out on SNGs and MTTs and I know what you mean about concentration with regards to them.

MyTurn2Raise · #4 08-30-2006, 05:59 PM

www.stevepavlina.com

he experimented with polyphasic sleep for awhile
links somewhere along the left column

Peter Harris · #5 08-30-2006, 11:14 PM

[ QUOTE ]
www.stevepavlina.com

he experimented with polyphasic sleep for awhile
links somewhere along the left column

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, i saw his site too. It was very gushing, i had a problem admitting it as reliable information (my internet BS radar is quite high).

milesdyson · #6 08-30-2006, 06:59 PM

"4-5hrs or more, 5-6 days a week, looking to play at least 30,000 hands a month and generate about $750/month"

huh?

Peter Harris · #7 08-30-2006, 09:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
"4-5hrs or more, 5-6 days a week, looking to play at least 30,000 hands a month and generate about $750/month"

huh?

[/ QUOTE ]

What i mean is that playing those amount of hours for those number of days should easily clear x hands, and that unless i run like a good i will turn over the $750 needed to sustain myself for anohter month. Obviously I expect to play more hands and turn over more cash.

Bill C · #8 08-30-2006, 10:58 PM

Personally, I kind of work the edges of sleep deprivation, and then catch up with naps every so often. These are generally 20-30 minute naps.

Today, there was an article on msn.com that might be of some help. It goes into the proper interval and best length of napping.

bill c

Peter Harris · #9 08-30-2006, 11:26 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Personally, I kind of work the edges of sleep deprivation, and then catch up with naps every so often. These are generally 20-30 minute naps.

Today, there was an article on msn.com that might be of some help. It goes into the proper interval and best length of napping.

bill c

[/ QUOTE ]

The article seems not to know if it's promoting a 2hr nap along with an 8hr sleep, a 30min nap, several naps or whatever.
It gets confused discussing Uberman and a schedule that doesn't correlate to his work.

Anyone with anecdotal evidence? I would have thought that after shift workers, poker players would screw with their body clocks lots too [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Right now I think I'm cool with 2x 4hr sleeps; I still dream in both, so I'm getting some restorative sleep.
As long as my second shift isn't close to my first, I will sleep in both, so it looks like 9.30-10-11pm to 2.45am, then
again about 11am-12pm to 2-3pm seems reasonable. That's a 4-5 hour sleep shift then a 3-4hr one, spaced 6-7hrs apart in the evening and 8-9 in the morning.

Unless an article can be provided that such a pattern that in neither cycle do i reach the same level of rest/repair as in one 8hr cycle, how do peeps think that sounds?

Pete

Jdanz · #10 08-31-2006, 02:10 AM

Some really anecdotal evidence. I sleep best when i go to sleep when i get tired and wake up when i feel rested.

Doing something in the day to make me tired invariablly helps me sleep better.

I once read an article that suggested the best way to sleep. It was pretty specific that sleeping in a cool dark room for 8-9 hours the same times every night was far and away the best thing for you. It suggested that you go to sleep naturally and wake up naturally.

It seemed incredibly hard to do, so i ignored it.
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I'm still pretty sure that if you work out regularly you're about a billion percent less likely to have sleep issues.