Polyphasic Sleep

Polyphasic Sleep is a sleep pattern specification intended to compress sleep time to 2-5 hours daily. This is achieved by spreading out sleep into short (around 20-45 minute) naps throughout the day. This allows for more waking hours with relatively high alertness.

The method uses natural human sleep mechanisms to maximize alertness when sleep time needs to be minimized. However, it requires a rigid schedule which makes it unfeasible for most people. It can work well for people who cannot afford sleep (e.g. sailors).

Basically you sleep 6 times, every 4 hours, for 20 minutes, during every 24 hour period. Only sleeping 2 hours a day instead of 7 or 8, gives you an 3 extra months of awake time each year.

A little worried about adding this sort of sleep shift to my life just before a big race, so after Ironman Florida I think I'll give it a shot. I expect to be a zombie for a couple weeks... so, basically, life as normal.

Self-testers often "crash" several times while testing and accidentally sleep through for several hours longer than intended. Current polyphasic users and scientific evidence (Claudio) both suggest that problems relating to tiredness dissipate around 10 days into the schedule, and disappear completely around 14 days into the schedule, but many self-testers do not effectively plan their two week transition period. Therefore, they remain tired long after the target 14-day end date and eventually terminate the experiment.

I'll need to be detailed for two weeks. No way to do that with the added strain of much training at the end of a season. But right afterwards it'll work.

Or it'll make for some hilarious blog entries.

Nick Busey's trying to get into the rhythm and blogging about it.