Personal experience, insights, and some health data
What is polyphase sleep?
Polyphasic sleep is marked by multiple intervals of sleep and wakefulness throughout the 24-hour day.
Basically, it means you will sleep less time but more times. The idea behind it is that having one long sleep is not effective. What matters is getting enough of that quality deep sleep and REM sleep. By tweaking your sleep schedule, you end up awake more hours each day. How much more? Well, that’s up to you. There are a bunch of different setups you can try, but if you’re looking to stretch your day a bit longer, two main approaches stand out.
First up, there’s the Everyman method. It’s about having one core sleep and a couple of naps. For example, Everyman 3 means you have one core sleep and three more naps. Then there’s the Uberman, which is pretty much all naps, all the time.
I believe there is a lot of good information out there to explain it better than I can. So, I will leave it to you to dig around. Some good sources:
Here, I want to tell you about my adaptation after over a month and share how I did it and what you should consider before doing it.
But, Why?
I used to sleep well, very well, usually around 8 hours a day. Sometimes, I’d wake up super early, like 5–6 AM, and feel unstoppable. Those mornings were the best. Everything just clicked.
But then, the midday slump would hit, and it was like running into a wall. Plus, going to bed early just didn’t feel right. That’s when I started thinking about polyphasic sleep. It seemed like it could give me those productive mornings without going to sleep early.
As you might be wondering, I had my fair share of doubts and concerns. A big one for me was about my social life. Would this mean I’d always be tired? And really, how long could I keep up with such a schedule?
It is not an Experiment — finding a schedule I can live by
Picking up a new habit or schedule is like buying new shoes. You need to find something comfortable closer to what you’re used to. It should be something that you could imagine walking miles in. Then, you’ll be more likely to stick with it. I read a lot of people’s stories; most of the time, they did it as an experiment or for some time, like exams or tight deadlines. But me? I was playing the long game.
I chose Everyman 2, which means having one core sleep and two naps. This schedule didn’t feel like reinventing the wheel. My first nap hits at 8 AM, right before the day really starts, and the second at 6 PM, just as I’m clocking off work. It slotted into my day like it was meant to be there, making the whole ‘I’m trying something new’ bit a lot less of a dramatic change.
“Join a cult, did you?”
That’s an actual quote from my spouse about my latest ‘genius’ plan. Trust me, this isn’t the first rodeo where I’ve started with a new crazy idea. But hey, when this one started to stick, she couldn’t help but label it ‘cultish’. And honestly, I can’t say I blame her. It’s not every day someone goes against something so fundamental as sleeping. I sweeten the pill by doing some housework early or hitting the market at 7 AM. You can’t be mad when a fresh coffee and croissant awaits you.
Sleep Data
Check out the sleep schedule chart below — it was my roadmap. I aimed for a core sleep of 4.5 hours, messing it up at first because I thought four hours was enough. Later, I learned about Ultradian Breaks, which means our body works in 90-minute cycles, so it’s better to sleep in these multiples, even for monophase sleep. For naps, I set flexible windows based on my day. Say I had dinner plans at 7 PM; I’d slot my nap around 5:30 to 6:00 PM.
Here’s the breakdown of my sleep before and after the switch, shown in these graphs. I cut almost 3 hours from my sleep time, but the cool part? Most of what I lost was just light sleep.
┌─────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ avg Total sleep │ avg REM sleep │ avg Deep sleep │ avg Light sleep │
├─────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────┼─────────────────┤
│ 7:22:54 │ 1:15:07 │ 1:23:00 │ 4:44:38 │
│ 4:44:47 │ 0:34:24 │ 1:17:47 │ 2:55:53 │
└─────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────────┴─────────────────┘
Before, I slept more than 7 hours, with a decent chunk of that being deep and REM sleep — what matters. Now, I’m down to under 5 hours, and guess what? The amount of deep sleep barely took a hit, and REM a bit, but still with a good %. So, it looks like my body’s adjusting to this whole polyphasic thing pretty well. Same quality, less quantity
All the data was gathered from my Gramin watch and extracted thanks to an amazing GitHub repo GraminDB. It lets you download all your data into a local SQL server.
High Maintenace – listen to your body
Cutting down on sleep means you’ve got to pay attention to other energy sources. For me, meals became more than just eating; they were fuel stops. Sunlight became an essential battery charge. Staying hydrated is far more critical. I drank so much water that only walking to the bathroom contributed a lot to my daily steps. And talking about daily steps, you should exercise as well, but more on that later.
Chopping my sleep into three chunks meant I was on a countdown to the next nap. Tired before naptime? Perfect — that’s naptime doing its job. But if I hit an energy drop around noon, I knew I needed a quick fix. A light snack or going outside usually did the trick. And hey, if a random walk sounds odd to you, just tie it to some chore. Need something from the store? Perfect excuse. Got a dog? Even better. With those extra 2–3 hours each day, taking a break wasn’t just possible. It was a no-brainer.
Social Life
I made a deal with myself: if this whole chopped-up sleep thing messed with my social life, it was out. But honestly, I was getting pretty attached to those extra waking hours. So, I got strategic about my social plans, making sure to squeeze in my naps without losing any fun. The big test was late nights out — my usual lights out was 11:30 PM. Would I start snoozing mid-party?
It turns out that after a few late nights out and one marathon birthday party that stretched into the early morning hours, I was still standing. Being social keeps the engines running just fine. And I had a trick up my sleeve for those long hauls—a power nap right before the evening kicked off. A quick snooze at 11 p.m., and I was good to go. It worked like a charm.
Hanging out with friends? No problem staying awake. But TV time? That’s a whole other story. My spouse and I love to watch TV series during our evening wind-down. In nearly every episode, I fell asleep on coach mid-episode. And it wasn’t just late at night, either. Even around 9 PM, I’d catch myself dozing off.
Workouts
Alright, let’s talk workouts. Was hitting the gym gonna work on 4–5 hours of sleep? To figure this out, I kept an eye on my Heart Rate Variability (HRV). It measures the variation in time between each heartbeat, indicating how well your body manages stress and recovers.
I work out 2–4 times a week, mixing full-body strength training with cardio. I tweak my routine depending on how I’m feeling.
Check out the before-and-after shots of my HRV. No shocker: The first two weeks, my body was like, ‘What’s happening?’ But after a bit, my HRV levels and sleep graphs showed I was adjusting just fine. Turns out, I could still recover well after my sessions.
Conclusion
Gaining an extra 2–3 hours a day turns out to be pretty sweet. Looks like I’m sticking with it for now. This bonus time has let me chill out more and amp up my workout. Initially, I was dreaming big — I thought I would finish every side project I had. Still, I’ve found myself less stressed by work and daily tasks and feeling pretty solid overall. And who would’ve guessed? Eating right and catching some sun actually does wonders.
Note: My experience with adjusting sleep patterns and the benefits I’ve noticed might not be the same for everyone. It’s crucial to closely monitor your health and well-being if you’re considering similar changes. Remember, this is a glimpse into my personal journey, and what works for one person doesn’t necessarily apply to all. Always prioritize your health and consult with a professional if needed.
