Sleep is one of our basic daily needs. We all spend a substantial amount of our lifetime sleeping. For a common person, one-third of our overall lifetime is spent sleeping. While it is a physical need and keeps us healthy, too much sleep can be a barrier in our productivity and what we can achieve in our life.
Most of us people follow the traditional eight hours of monophasic sleep cycle. They get all of their rest on one long chunk, typically at night. This sleep pattern is most common and probably rooted in our society. If you feel like challenging the status quo, there is always an alternative. If you have difficulties with the traditional monophasic sleep cycle, there are biphasic and polyphasic sleep cycles.
Polyphasic sleep is about segmenting the sleep cycle into multiple phases. Historian Roger Ekirch has argued that before the Industrial Revolution, adults typically slept in two distinct phases, a biphasic sleep cycle [1]. Approximately an hour of intervening period was used to pray, reflect and to interpret dreams. This was also the favourite time for scholars and poets to write uninterrupted.[2]
- Biphasic: Consists of a split sleep schedule with two sessions. Often a five to six hour “core sleep” and then a one and a half hour nap.
- Dymaxion: Commonly consists of four 30-minute naps during the day. Two hours of sleep total.
- Uberman: Usually consists of six to eight 20-minute naps during the day. Generally, two hours of sleep total.
- Everyman: Commonly consists of four sleep sessions. Often a three to four hour core sleep followed by three naps throughout the day.
Polyphasic sleep is rumored to have fueled some great minds human civilization has ever witnessed. Most notably, Leonardo da Vinci and Nikola Tesla are supposed to have adopted the polyphasic Ubermann sleep cycles, requiring only 2 hours of sleep a day.
References [1] A. Roger Ekirch, PhD, Segmented Sleep in Preindustrial Societies, Sleep, Volume 39, Issue 3, March 2016, Pages 715–716, https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.5558 [2] Ekirch, A. Roger (2005). At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past. W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-34458-5. [3] Home. (2013, October 17). Retrieved August 17, 2020, from https://chrisjeub.com/my-fascinating-4-hour-sleep-schedule/