Edit: Wow; I’ve essentially changed my mind completely about this thanks to the comment by Nornagest and the link provided by icebrand. See my more recent comment for my current take.
.....
My understanding is that this is not a good idea. You may want to read some of Piotr Wozniak’s work. He’s the author of SuperMemo which had a long article in Wired HERE. This program’s algorithms are at the root of those used in Anki and Mnemosyne
In any case, while Wozniak isn’t a neurologist or sleep expert, per se, my reading of his site seems to present quite a compelling case for his wide familiarity with sleep models, it’s function, and practical applications at the very least.
Note the link at the above to myths and facts. Here is one of them verbatim (#13):
Myth: We can adapt to polyphasic sleep. Looking at the life of sailors, many people believe they can adopt polyphasic sleep and save many hours per day. In polyphasic sleep you take only 4-5 short naps during the day totaling less than 4 hours. There are many “systems” differing in the arrangement of naps. There are also many young people ready to suffer the pains to see it work. Although a vast majority will drop out, a small circle of the most stubborn ones who survive a few months and will perpetuate the myth with a detriment to public health. Fact: We are basically biphasic and all attempts to change the inbuilt rhythm will result in loss of health, time, and mental capacity. A simple rule is: when sleepy, go to sleep; while asleep, continue uninterrupted. See: The myth of polyphasic sleep.
At the link about the myth of polyphasic sleep, the Uberman sleep cycle is discussed at length. Wozniak does not seem to concede any validity to the various write ups about this method that have led to people wanting to try it.
Even glancing at the wiki article on this does not present convincing evidence that this is a desirable experiment. Stampi seems to have adopted a sleep pattern like you suggest, but he along with the other two military groups seem to prefer monophasic sleep to polyphasic and only advocate this pattern to relieve deprivation effects under extreme conditions.
Perhaps we should back up: what are you using to support this as a good idea? Are you just interested in the results (positive or negative) for experimentation’s sake, or are you trying to implement something you have been led to think is a method of self-improvement (efficiency, learning capacity/speed, etc.)?
Wozniak seems to suggest that there are at best misconceptions about this method’s supposed ability to give you more time (and therefore learning/productivity) and at worst serious detriments to sleep and life quality as well as health.
Then again, like I said, I’m not sure about Wozniak’s position as any kind of expert… I just know he’s written quite a bit on sleep. I could not tell you if any studies had been directly carried out about this, what they found, or what the collective body of those who have attempted it report.
I’d probably be more inclined to believe that Uberman and other polyphasic sleep patterns have serious drawbacks than that they don’t, but Wozniak’s page is distinctly long on rhetoric and anecdote and short on data.
The section about the biological basis of sleep timing is about the only thing that I’m not inclined to throw out as obviously biased, although even that isn’t good news for Uberman.
Point taken, though it seems like that’s a common issue for the whole subject. It’s been hard for me to find (in a short time) any studies about polyphasic sleep. The primary source of any information seems to be anecdotes. It seems that the entire concept arose from someone who appears to have invented this schedule here. “Uberman” was his naming convention since he was reading Nietzsche at the time.
I did find it quite interesting to read that post as well as this one which reports that he’s been on the “Everyman schedule” for 3 years as of 2009 and this one where he compares Everyman to Uberman.
While I’m still skeptical, such positive reviews from someone who’s tried it does entice me...
Here is PureDoxyK’s response to the Wozniak criticism. There’s a funny bit...
There are no women doing polyphasic sleep. Which makes myself, my friend who first did Uberman with me, and my hero Heidi who’s gone more than a year-and-a-half on Uberman by now the most attractive, clean guys in HISTORY! Mind you, he doesn’t just state this silliness, but uses it as EVIDENCE for the fact that polyphasic sleep can’t work (because women’s “hormones” don’t allow it somehow). Yeah, ROFLcopter.
I think PureDoxyk’s posts, blog, and book show that even if she is only one data point… at least it’s an empirical data point vs. Wozniak’s speculation.
Given this… I’m going to try this myself! How’s that for a rapid mind changing?
I believe I was wrong and that even if Wozniak has a reasonable understanding of one method of proper sleep habits… this does nothing to rule out the testimony given by those who have adapted to polyphasic and state that they are energetic, alert, etc. on less sleep.
I still have one lingering concern—long term effects. PureDoxyk states that she is not aware of any long term data on polyphasic sleep.
Lastly, PureDoxyk has a series of vlogs documenting her most recent adaptation to the Everyman schedule (3hr core + 3 naps of 20ish minutes). I watched the first and a couple others. The first has some great tips. There’s also a google group with some helpful tips on getting ready for something like this.
Edit: Wow; I’ve essentially changed my mind completely about this thanks to the comment by Nornagest and the link provided by icebrand. See my more recent comment for my current take.
.....
My understanding is that this is not a good idea. You may want to read some of Piotr Wozniak’s work. He’s the author of SuperMemo which had a long article in Wired HERE. This program’s algorithms are at the root of those used in Anki and Mnemosyne
In any case, while Wozniak isn’t a neurologist or sleep expert, per se, my reading of his site seems to present quite a compelling case for his wide familiarity with sleep models, it’s function, and practical applications at the very least.
Here is his main page for sleep.
Note the link at the above to myths and facts. Here is one of them verbatim (#13):
At the link about the myth of polyphasic sleep, the Uberman sleep cycle is discussed at length. Wozniak does not seem to concede any validity to the various write ups about this method that have led to people wanting to try it.
Even glancing at the wiki article on this does not present convincing evidence that this is a desirable experiment. Stampi seems to have adopted a sleep pattern like you suggest, but he along with the other two military groups seem to prefer monophasic sleep to polyphasic and only advocate this pattern to relieve deprivation effects under extreme conditions.
Perhaps we should back up: what are you using to support this as a good idea? Are you just interested in the results (positive or negative) for experimentation’s sake, or are you trying to implement something you have been led to think is a method of self-improvement (efficiency, learning capacity/speed, etc.)?
Wozniak seems to suggest that there are at best misconceptions about this method’s supposed ability to give you more time (and therefore learning/productivity) and at worst serious detriments to sleep and life quality as well as health.
Then again, like I said, I’m not sure about Wozniak’s position as any kind of expert… I just know he’s written quite a bit on sleep. I could not tell you if any studies had been directly carried out about this, what they found, or what the collective body of those who have attempted it report.
I’d probably be more inclined to believe that Uberman and other polyphasic sleep patterns have serious drawbacks than that they don’t, but Wozniak’s page is distinctly long on rhetoric and anecdote and short on data.
The section about the biological basis of sleep timing is about the only thing that I’m not inclined to throw out as obviously biased, although even that isn’t good news for Uberman.
Point taken, though it seems like that’s a common issue for the whole subject. It’s been hard for me to find (in a short time) any studies about polyphasic sleep. The primary source of any information seems to be anecdotes. It seems that the entire concept arose from someone who appears to have invented this schedule here. “Uberman” was his naming convention since he was reading Nietzsche at the time.
I did find it quite interesting to read that post as well as this one which reports that he’s been on the “Everyman schedule” for 3 years as of 2009 and this one where he compares Everyman to Uberman.
While I’m still skeptical, such positive reviews from someone who’s tried it does entice me...
Edit: He… is a she!
Here is PureDoxyK’s response to the Wozniak criticism. There’s a funny bit...
Wow—thanks for providing that link—it was great to read her whole response and the comments. This is a fun reply, as I can say that:
I’ve spent the evening reading tons of posts from PureDoxyk and Steve Pavlina
I essentially retract everything I wrote above; I agree that Wozniak is heavy on rhetoric and short on data
I think PureDoxyk’s posts, blog, and book show that even if she is only one data point… at least it’s an empirical data point vs. Wozniak’s speculation.
Given this… I’m going to try this myself! How’s that for a rapid mind changing?
I believe I was wrong and that even if Wozniak has a reasonable understanding of one method of proper sleep habits… this does nothing to rule out the testimony given by those who have adapted to polyphasic and state that they are energetic, alert, etc. on less sleep.
I still have one lingering concern—long term effects. PureDoxyk states that she is not aware of any long term data on polyphasic sleep.
Lastly, PureDoxyk has a series of vlogs documenting her most recent adaptation to the Everyman schedule (3hr core + 3 naps of 20ish minutes). I watched the first and a couple others. The first has some great tips. There’s also a google group with some helpful tips on getting ready for something like this.
Be sure to read the most recent Wozniak where he talks about PureDoxyk and provides more data:
http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic2010.htm