Because you can survive with 2 hours of sleep, screw that 8 hours minimum!
Sleeping in Work. Photo from foxnews.com
Sleep is a shitty waste of time. 8 hours of sleep entraps a third of your day and all you do is nothing. That time can be used to consume miles of productivity and/or leisure, but we just lie down and succumb to weakness.
Sleep is important, I know that. It is our natural defense against stress. It regenerates our body cells for optimal function and it feels damn good to be well rested. We cannot take it out entirely, but we can reduce it to save more time.
8 hours of sleep is called the monophasic sleep cycle, and it is very inefficient. In that cycle, we sleep once a day but it doesn’t mean that all the 8 hours are used effectively. Real sleep, the deep trance where we dream and truly begin resting, is happening during REM stage. To get to the REM stage in the 8 hours sleep cycle, we have to remain put and count sheep before we got there. And once you get to REM stage, it doesn’t last until you wake up. It only amounts to 20% of your 8 hours sleep.
Polyphasic sleep cycles only need 2 hours of sleep, most if not all is in REM stage. It means that there’s no waiting for the dream to visit us because it’ll arrive right away. The dreams you’ll have, reportedly, will be more vivid and you’ll feel relaxed and your mind is more clear every after waking up.
There are four Polyphasic sleep cycles to choose from, which was succinctly explained in HighExistence. Just to give you an idea, there is the Uberman sleep cycle where you sleep 20 – 30 minutes every 4 hours throughout the day. See, you’ll feel refreshed six times a day and you have the whole day freed!
The one caveat is the terrible transition from monophasic to polyphasic. If you shifted to polyphasic, you won’t have REM in your firsts 20 – 30 minutes naps. Your body is not adjusted to the new cycle yet, but in time, your body will learn to have REM on every nap you’ll have. Your body will adapt to the new cycle just like moving to a place in different time zone – it takes a while but it’ll happen. Until your body mastered having REM on every 20 – 30 minute naps, you’ll feel tired because technically, you may not be dreaming.
Not many people have tried this. We don’t know the long term effects of this. There are accounts, people like Steve Pavlina who tried it and reported being totally fine or more than fine after gaining more hours of their lives. Some people visit doctors and remained in full health. The only thing they would caution is during the transition because it’ll be tough.
Honestly, this is enticing. Infants live in a polyphasic sleep cycle but lost it when they grew up as they learned monophasic. But the world adults live in is not ready for it. If you are maintaining a career, you cannot really sleep every 4 hours of work or else get thrown out of your building. I also take calculated risks, and I haven’t learned enough about this 2 hours sleep so I won’t jump to it just yet.
Just imagine the wonders you could do with additional 6 hours everyday! Do you think polyphasic will work for you?
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I dream on every nap. I often take a nap in late afternoon or early evening so that I sleep 2 times per day. Those who participate in societies where the siesta is prevalent do as well. It’s not such a big deal. I think you’ll find that your body soon adjusts and you begin to feel tired faster such that you do not gain any meaningful productive time in your day.
From the society where I came from, siesta is frowned upon because it was seen as laziness. I now see the importance of it, it actually is for productivity
Yes, it is… whenever a society has worked for thousands of years to find something that works, there is no particular reason to simply toss that idea away without study.
love this blog, i could not agree more
Thanks, so I assume you love the idea of 2 house sleep too? Haha
I have often wondered if this sort of routine could be tenable…good to know I’m not crazy. 🙂
Well crazy has different definitions. We are crazy not in a mad way but we think differently – that’s crazy!
Ah, If I could create an extra 6hours everyday… I can only imagine. I’ve tried that many times, but ended up using more hours on other days to sleep! If only I could train my brain to move directly into REM sleep… who knows.
That’s what I want too – direct to REM sleep. I should interview people who can do that, because I want to learn that too!
I lived on 2 hrs and catnaps for 18months when my infant would only sleep like that -yes you can survive on 2 hours but I lived in a state of semi exhaustion. When I finally got one solid night sleep it felt like the haze had lifted and I could live fully again!!!! I Wonder how long the transition stage is for adults then…?!
That’s what is keeping me from trying it – the length of transition. I hate the feeling of tiredness. So you haven’t trained yourself to adapt polyphasic cycle in 18 months? Maybe it’s not for you?
I think you are right!
Great blog by the way!
Thanks, my friend from New Zealand! I want to go there soon.
I’m sorry but try it on hard manual shift work when one week you get up at 4am to get to work the next week you finish at 10pm and its 11pm before you get home, you are tired, and as you get older you get even more tired. At my stage in life I don’t regard having 6hrs hrs sleep, I rarely get 8hrs, wasteful, it gives my body time to repair and rest.
You might as well say sat reading a book is wasteful time as you could be doing something else, or has been said to me, sat at a keyboard, its rest and after 50 years of manual labour I need the rest. It may work for you but I’m off to bed 🙂
By the way its 11:10pm here in England I’ve just seen the date stamp on my previous reply so don’t think I’ve going to bed half way through the afternoon 🙂
Oh thanks for clearing that haha! I don’t know, I’m in my 20’s and I have a lot of activities I’d want to spend my time with and sleep is not one of it. I want to stay awake all the time, if that’s possible. Hey, I’m excited for the Olympics opening there!
I love this, especially considering the only time I’ve ever had the ‘recommended minimum 8 hours sleep’ was when I was a child. For years I lived off of 4 hours sleep max, now I try and push it to 5 or 6 on a weekend. But I could no sooner sleep 8 hours than fly to the moon, my brain just isn’t wired that way…and yes, I’ve always had incredibly vivid 3-D cinemascope type dreams. I’m also most creatively charged at night too, so there’s no way of shutting my brain down. Who needs 8 hours! 😀
Who needs 8 hours! Seriously, I envy your sleeping activities. 4 hours and you feel okay? 3-D cinemascope dreams? Oh mine is still in flat dimensions.
Yes, but honey you probably look better and don’t have bags under your eyes the size of pillows! 😀
I think I will stick to, having at least 6 hours of sleep. I prefer living, rather than surviving. 🙂
I’m sticking to long hours of sleep to but just the idea is enticing.
I sleep between 7 to 9 hours a day depending on the time of year. I never felt as though it was wasteful.
I will be interested to see how this transition works for you. Everyone is different.
Oh it’s not wise for me to try it now. But I see it as waste of time, this is me looking for a cheat around it 😀 And yeah, everyone is different
I would be really interested to know how it goes if you do get a chance to try it.
I’m a 9-10 hours a day kinda guy.
Yeah? Do you get irritated when you didn’t sleep enough?
Sometimes.
I’m not able to cope with mornings (early). I usually have to go back to sleep, and reset my brain.
Gav.
Gee, I suppose if I had an extra 6 hours I could catch up on my sleep.
So you would sacrifice sleep to get more sleep? 🙂
That’s a hard question. I’ll have to sleep on it.
Very interesting. Does sound attractive, but as you say, not very compatible with most peoples enforced schedules.
That’s true. We are “civilized” now
Already sleep 10 hours per night … I have to be awake some hours during daylight.
Great photo .. and personal I have fallen asleep during boring meetings.
Yeah? Did you get caught? Haha I wonder how can you not get noticed sleeping in a meeting.
It’s an interesting theory but as you rightly said, and adult’s life is not built to facilitate such a thing. Pity though.
There are accounts though, but scarce. I’d be reading what happens to those who adapted to polyphasic
Hi,
funny blog-post, putting together a lot of “written ideas”. Are you yourself experimenting with it?
About your idea, first i’d say: If you have stress in your life, its a clear cut indication you are following a wrong approach. To do more and have more time, is not gonna release your stress nor is it bringing more happiness. Actually the whole idea of “more” happiness is an illusion, either you have happiness, joy and peace. You experience it or you do not.
Here is a little elaboration about the concept “more”. More is developed by identifying lacks in what is here and now. From de-preciation of what is. So the whole thought of more is rooted in an “attacking” thought system. Attack brings attack, so giving more is not gonna satisfy the initial need.
Hope to inspire and share my understanding
What do you think about this?
Good luck with the transitioning, will gladly hear your results and experiences!
/0 I AM
Oh man, I’m not experimenting with it. The premise is great, but is not wise to do it now. Well I must say it’s not a quest of happiness because I’m happy. I’m just thinking of maximizing the time I’ve got to do the most activities I can. Sleeping is just boring for me.
Thanks for sharing your profound thoughts!
I don’t usually end up getting the usual amount of sleep in one night that is considered to be the norm as it is, but make up for it on other days. I’ve spent several months sleeping only one or two hours a night, and have stayed up many times up to two and a half days. It’s not fun.
I’ve never been enlisted, but should you want more information about getting less sleep and doing more with your life, ask a military officer what they think about the whole idea.
I know, I’ve been awake for 4 straight days and it’s not fun. But most of the time when we camp out, we stay awake overnight and it has all the elements of fun. Yeah, that’s a great idea, military officers should know. I’ve read an article where they use lighted glasses (something like that) for British soldiers so they trick their eyes with light even if it’s at night, and they stay awake.
Seriously I should learn this lol , I assume it would make a great difference in my life 🙂
We love the great difference part, it’s the learning of it is quite undesirable. Based on people’s accounts, it’ll be messy. Hey I love seeing you here!
I love my sleep!! All 6-8 hours of it!!!
Alright, that’s good! I’m just giving you information Eliza, such cycles exist 😀
I would totally try this.. if I didn’t work the standard 8-5 that sometimes turns into a 7-7
Life style changes, this country needs an overhaul! Thanks for sharing this, it’s very interesting information and is going on my bucket list to try someday when my schedule is more flexible 🙂
Up until about a century ago, most people slept in dual cycles. They would go to sleep at sun down, then awaken around 11 or midnight. After staying awake for an hour or two, they would go to sleep again until sunrise. The electric light seems to have changed our society’s sleep patterns. I can see the advantage of shorter but more frequent sleep cycles, but I don’t think modern life would accommodate it, unfortunately.
Reblogged this on Kaleidoscope.
Thanks. I have been a napper for my whole life. I am 40 now. It has been so frustrating. I usually sleep about 6 hours at night and wake up no alarm needed. Then I end up needing a nap sometime about 6 or 7 hours after I wake up. This makes sense. I tend toward a more polyphasic sleep cycle. Only a little less extreme. Thanks for giving me a name for it and making me feel a little more validated and a little less frustrated. I still don’t fit in with everyone else’s sleep cycle, but at least I am not the only one.
Someone actually documented his experiment on polyphasic sleep.
It sure sounds appealing but not practicable when you have a full time job.
Buckminister Fuller slept on something like the Uberman sleep cycle you describe. I believe he slept on 3-hour cycles.