Polyphasic sleep is a term used to describe several alternative sleep patterns intended to reduce sleep time to 2–5 hours daily. This is achieved by spreading out sleep into short naps of around 15–30 minutes throughout the day, and in some variants, a core sleep period of a few hours at night. The idea is that with more waking time, the person will be able to accomplish more productive work.
The process of adapting to a polyphasic schedule can involve a mentally and physically very difficult one- to two-week transition period, especially for the variant known as Uberman sleep (Uberman being the German word for Over-Man or Super-Man). Thereafter, independent testers claim to experience no apparent drop of cognition or alertness, despite the few hours of sleep attained each day. On the other hand, polyphasic sleep typically requires adhering to a rigid schedule, which makes it unfeasible for many people.
Relatively little scientific research has been performed on polyphasic sleep. Much, if not most, of the information about it comes from the claims of independent testers, many of whom are bloggers.

Polyphasic theory

Some people believe that while ordinary sleep consists of many cycles, much of the sleep period is wasted time, and REM sleep is the most important. It is believed that after being deprived of sleep during an adjustment period, the brain will start to enter the Stage 4 (deep sleep) and REM sleep much quicker - with the result that each short nap contains almost solely of such sleep.
There are at least two schools of thought as to how polyphasic adaptation affects sleep patterns. One school claims that REM sleep is the most necessary stage, and that the body needs multiple hours of this stage each day, so therefore every nap taken by a polyphasic sleeper consists entirely of REM sleep. Another school acknowledges research done on users of this schedule (Scientific American Frontiers 1991), which suggests that the body will enter different stages of sleep during the different naps—REM during some, deeper sleep during others—in order to get some of each essential stage, with the overall proportion of time spent in the various stages eventually converging on the proportions observed in monophasic sleep.

Types of Polyphasic Sleep

The term “polyphasic sleep” itself refers only to the practice of sleeping multiple times in a 24-hour period (usually, more than two, in contrast to “biphasic sleep”) and does not imply any particular schedule.
In application, “Uberman’s sleep schedule” is likely to be the most widely known type of polyphasic sleep, and also the most strict. It consists of six naps of 20–25 minutes each, occurring four hours apart throughout the day. This is also the closest schedule to the type that has been studied by Claudio Stampi in connection with long-distance solo boat races.
“Core sleep” is a variant of Uberman that adds a block of sleep, usually several hours, to the Uberman schedule, replacing one or two naps. (This term is also sometimes used to describe accidental oversleep by someone following Uberman, though one will more likely see the term “crash”, and occasionally “reboot”.)
Buckminster Fuller advocated “Dymaxion Sleep,” a regimen consisting of 30 minute naps every six hours. A short article was published about this schedule in Time Magazine’s October 11, 1943 issue. According to this article, he followed this schedule for two years, but after that had to quit because “his schedule conflicted with that of his business associates, who insisted on sleeping like other men.”

11 steps to adopt a Polyphasic sleep schedule

This schedule is intended for a total sleepin time of around 4 hours and 40 minutes a day.

  1. Around 3 AM, sleep for 4 hours until 7 AM. This is your core sleep.
  2. If you feel tired at 9 AM, take a 20 minute nap, if not, leave it.
  3. Take a nap at 1 PM for 20 minutes.
  4. Take a nap at 6 PM for 20 minutes.
  5. Repeat every day.
  6. The Full Blown polyphasic sleep schedule, which gives you about 6 hours extra time in a day.
  7. Take a nap at 8 AM.
  8. Take a nap at 4 PM.
  9. Take a nap at midnight.
  10. Take a nap at 4 AM.
  11. Repeat every day.

Remember that the first few days to weeks your brain will struggle to fit in, but when it does, you will theoretically get the necessary aspects of sleep in the naps, leaving you feeling refreshed.
Only take step number 2 of the mini schedule if you feel tired.

Warnings

  1. DO NOT OVERSLEEP, as it will fatigue you for at least the duration of 2 naps.
  2. Do not skip naps, as it will also tire you.
  3. Do not ingest caffeine.
  4. DO NOT attempt this method if you have any type of a diagnosed epileptic disorder. Insufficient rest may cause discomfort/attacks.
  5. It is not fully known if there are physical or psychological risks involved with this procedure. However, there are books written on the subject that state that it is not unhealthy, if it is done for 6 months, which is as far as the experiments go. If you perform this procedure for more than 6 months, you are moving into uncharted waters.

Polyphasic legends

Popular myth has labeled some icons as polyphasic sleepers: Leonardo Da Vinci, Napoleon, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Thomas Jefferson and Kramer (from Seinfeld).

Sources: Wikipedia, wikihow, www.sleepdex.org

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