It’s no secret that the time spent in a dream takes about 1/3 of a person’s entire life. But what about if you feel that you may need far fewer hours to feel alert and energetic? Or vice versa. Many of us are familiar with the state when we need to do too many things (modern people are often not enough 24 in a day) and have to get up too early all week through force, and then, on weekends, sleep off until lunch. There is no question of any correct sleep mode in this case. And the body is such a thing, give it a regimen. It was here that they came up with a way out of the situation – a technique practiced by many brilliant people of their time. You have probably heard of her. Let’s take a closer look.
Polyphasic sleep is sleep when, instead of the prescribed one long period of time, a person sleeps in small, strictly controlled periods during the day.
There are several basic modes of polyphasic sleep:
1. “Biphasic”: 1 time at night for 5-7 hours and then 1 time for 20 minutes during the day (it is advised to start acquaintance with polyphasic sleep from him, since he is the most sparing);
2. “Everyman”: 1 time at night for 1,5-3 hours and then 3 times for 20 minutes during the day;
3. “Dymaxion”: 4 times for 30 minutes every 5,5 hours;
4. “Uberman”: 6 times for 20 minutes every 3 hours 40 minutes – 4 hours.
What is the meaning of these sleep modes? Supporters of polyphasic sleep argue that part of the time spent on monophasic sleep is wasted, since in this case a person first falls into slow sleep (not particularly important for the body), and only then goes into REM sleep, at which the body rests and gain strength. Thus, switching to the polyphasic sleep mode, you can avoid the slow sleep mode, thereby switching immediately to the fast sleep phase, which will allow you to get enough sleep in a short period of time and leave time for things that were put off due to a lack of hours in the day.
Pros
more free time.
a feeling of cheerfulness, clarity of mind, speed of thinking.
Cons
inconvenience in the implementation of the sleep regimen (you have to find time for sleep at work, at school, for a walk, at the cinema).
lethargy, feeling like a “vegetable” or “zombie”, bad mood, depression, headache, loss of space, deterioration in appearance.
Great people who practiced the polyphasic sleep technique (in descending order of sleep time):
1. Charles Darwin
2. Winston Churchill. He considered it a mandatory rule to sleep during the day: “Do not think that you will do less work if you sleep during the day … On the contrary, you can do more.”
3. Benjamin Franklin
4. Sigmund Freud
5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
6. Napoleon Bonaparte. During military operations, he could go without sleep for a long time, falling asleep several times a day for short periods of time.
7. Nikola Tesla. Slept 2 hours a day.
8. Leonardo da Vinci. Adhered to a strict sleep regimen, where he slept only 6 times for 20 minutes a day.
There is a lot of information on the net where people describe the progress of their experiment with the implementation of polyphasic sleep. Someone remains delighted with the use of this mode, while someone does not stand even 3 days. But everyone mentions that at the beginning (at least the first week), everyone went through the stage of a “zombie” or “vegetable” (and someone was a “zombie-vegetable”, that’s how hard it was), but later on the body began to rebuild to a new type of sleep/wakefulness and perceived the unusual daily routine quite adequately.
A few tips if you decide to try this sleep technique:
1. Enter polyphasic sleep gradually. You should not abruptly switch from 7-9 hour mode immediately to 4-hour mode. In this case, the transition to a polyphasic sleep mode will lead the body into a state of stress.
2. Choose your individual sleep and wake schedule, which would be ideally combined with your rhythm of life and the time allotted for work. There are sites where you can choose a sleep schedule according to your individual preferences.
3. Set only one alarm and set yourself up to wake up immediately after it rings. It is important to train yourself to get up immediately after the alarm goes off and not give yourself “another 5 minutes” to wake up (we know this awakening).
4. Put away all gadgets. Well, how not to check the mail before going to bed or not to see how our friends are spending their time now? This can be done after. Before going to bed, the head needs to relax, especially since with the advent of a new sleep mode, its work time has increased. Gadgets only distract from sleep, disrupting the schedule.
5. Create comfortable conditions for sleep. Beautiful bed, ventilated room, subdued light (in the case of daytime sleep), comfortable pillow, silence.
In any case, if you decide to conduct this experiment, then think a few more times and proceed to action only in full confidence that your body is ready for such serious loads (yes, yes, loads). And most importantly, remember that only great health will lead you to success, no matter how many hours you sleep.