I have decided to try a Polyphasic Sleep Project. For those who do not know what this is, it means sleeping multiple times throughout a 24 hour period. Most people have monophasic sleep patterns where they sleep once a day. I grew up, like most, being told we need 8 hours of sleep a day and the human body can not function with only sleeping a couple of hours a day. Also, that we need to have REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and that it only occurs during a 90 minute sleep cycle. Well, now-a-days we know this all to be false, however, sleeping only a couple of hours a day, is it really possible. There have been others that have tried, few have succeeded and most have failed. Of the two major Polyphasic Sleep Schedules, Uberman and Everyman, Uberman is by far, much more difficult and the chances of success are slim to none. Of course, this is what I am starting with 
If someone can manage under 3 and half hours of sleep a day for months on end, I would count them an Uberman, although there is supposedly an Everyman schedule that is only 3 hours, but com’on who is really doing all these schedules. The thing is, do what you feel is right for you and let’s be clear, if so many people fail at this, then is what we are told around the web true or is in just information someone else said and we all regurgitate the same info and it is propagated throughout the web, let’s find out…
What I want to know is:
- Can I maintain good health?
- I have not had so much as a cold in over 5 years, since before 2005, that is when I started saying I don’t get sick
- Will I be able to maintain concentration and good mental faculties?
- Will I be able to work-out, build muscle?
- My work outs consists of heavy weights to failure, so it will be easy to determine if Polyphasic is detrimental to strength training.
- Will I not go crazy, of course that is if I am not already.
I will start the 1st few days sleeping 8 times during a 24hr period; getting about 25 minutes each session and my times for sleep will be 2, 5, 8, 11, both am and pm. Wish me luck 
Update
Beginning Day 5, I have switched the sleep sessions to the Uberman Polyphasic Sleep schedule and now am “sleeping” 6 times a day for about 18 minutes each time. The times are 3-7-11. I might add that this would be 1hr 48 min sleep a day. Idk, seems a little extreme.
Update for March 2011 – Goal Average Under 3 hrs a Day:
Beginning day 36 I am starting new JDMan Polyphasic Sleep Schedule. It is a hybrid of the Uberman and many of the Everyman variations. I call it the JDMan Polyphasic Sleep Schedule It has 5 sessions. Four sessions are 20 minutes or less and 1 session is 1 hour 40 minutes. This will give you a total of just under 3 hours a day of sleep.
- The 1st session is for 1 hour 40 minutes
- 9 hours later after the start of your 1st session you take a 20 minute or less nap.
- 4 hours later you take a 20 minute or less nap
- 4 hours later you take a 20 minute or less nap
- 4 hours later you take a 20 minute or less nap
- 4 hours later you take a 20 minute or less nap
- 3 hours later you start the cycle over
For example, my sessions are: 6am start, 3pm next, 7pm next, 11pm next, 3am next.
A couple of things to note. I start my timer at 20 minutes and since it takes time to fall asleep, your sleep time will be under 20 minutes. I also do not adhere 100% to the schedule it can be flexible. I try to sleep when I am tired and not waste time of laying down if I am wide awake.
Latest Update:
After achieving great success with Polyphasic Sleep, I have developed what will be my optimum and final schedule I believe. It my seem extreme, but I have found it to be much easier then other schedules. I do not suffer any “brain fog” or all the weird effects I have experienced with Polyphasic. I actually feel quite normal, well, with the exception of more energy and oddly an increased libido. Anyway if you have found your way to this page then I would suggest you try either my schedule directly or a variation, it makes Polyphasic so much easier, although it looks harder, it is not.
JD’s 10 Minute Nap Schedule
3 hour core with four 10 minute naps = 3 hours & 40 minutes a day. The following is my exact schedule:
- 4am – Core Sleep – 3 hours
- 11am – Nap 10 minutes, however I do skip this one from time-to-time
- 3pm – Nap 10 minutes
- 7pm – Nap 10 minutes
- 11pm – Nap 10 minutes
Notice the time jump from the end of the day to the beginning. Instead of being 4 hours, like the rest, it is 5 hours. A couple of items to note, I drink coffee whenever I want. I even drink alcohol nightly. I work out, not as much as I like and that is not from lack of energy, just my procrastination. This schedule is flexible as I tend to skip the 11am nap and I will push other times back by 2 hours sometimes. Also, if you follow my daily blogs about it you might notice sometimes my naps are only 2 – 5 minutes long. It happens and when I awake I feel perfectly fine. So, if you only sleep a portion of the 10 minutes, that is fine. However, please, always set your timer for 12 minutes. That way you should be asleep in 2 minutes, if not, don’t worry about it. Also, don’t beat yourself up if you have a 12 hour sleep day. It hasn’t happen to me yet, but if it does, just go right back to the schedule.
People ask me why I do it, why not just sleep like everyone else, and you know, I don’t really have an answer for them. However, I have come to realize, perhaps it is not the answer that matters, but the question. As I then usually ask, why do you sleep monophasic? Why sleep all that extra time away? Sure sometimes it is nice to just lay in bed all day if that is your wish, but even monophasic hibernators don’t do that too often. Just do what you feel is enjoyable. The JD’s 10 Minute Nap Schedule should be easy and not a hassle or a chore, but something that is just natural.
You guys take care and sleep well,
JD
The following are the daily blogs of my Polyphasic Sleep Project:
- Day 113 – 5 hrs 15 min – May 18, 2011
- Day 112 – 7 hrs 10 min – May 17, 2011
- Day 111 – 4 hrs 40 min – May 16, 2011
- Day 110 – 3 hrs 48 min – May 15, 2011
- Day 109 – 10 hrs 47 min – May 14, 2011
- Day 108 – 7 hrs 22 min – May 13, 2011
- Day 107 – 9 hrs 10 min – May 12, 2011
- Day 106 – 2 hrs 2 min – May 11, 2011
- Day 105 – 5 hrs 20 min – May 10, 2011
- Day 104 – 4 hrs 15 min – May 09, 2011
- Day 103 – 5 hrs 10 min – May 08, 2011
- Day 102 – 8 hrs 10 min – My 07, 2011
- Day 101 – 2 hrs 20 min – May 06, 2011
- Day 100 – 3 hrs 56 min – May 05, 2011
- Day 99 – 4 hrs 35 min – May 04, 2011
- Day 98 – 5 hrs 55 min – May 03, 2011
- Day 97 – 6 hrs 13 min – May 02, 2011
- Day 96 – 4 hrs 35 min – May 01, 2011
- Day 95 – 2 hrs 10 min - Month of April 2011 – Average Daily Sleep: 4 hrs 32 min
- Day 94 – 4 hrs 47 min – April 29, 2011
- Day 93 – 3 hrs 55 min – April 28, 2011
- Day 92 – 5 hrs 08 min – April 27, 2011
- Day 91 – 6 hrs 25 min – April 26, 2011
- Day 90 – 4 hrs 12 min – April 25, 2011
- Day 89 – 2 hrs 25 min
- Day 88 – 4 hrs 30 min
- Day 87 – 3 hrs 38 min
- Day 86 – 3 hrs 31 min
- Day 85 – 5 hrs 39 min
- Day 84 – 5 hrs 09 min
- Day 83 – 3 hrs 28 min
- Day 82 – 5 hrs 19 min
- Day 81 – 6 hrs 14 min
- Day 80 – 5 hrs 16 min
- Day 79 – 5 hrs 00 min
- Day 78 – 4 hrs 28 min
- Day 77 – 5 hrs 57 min
- Day 76 – 4 hrs 37 min
- Day 75 – 3 hrs 38 min
- Day 74 – 6 hrs 18 min
- Day 73 – 5 hrs 18 min
- Day 72 – 3 hrs 32 min
- Day 71 – 3 hrs 47 min
- Day 70 – 3 hrs 45 min
- Day 69 – 4 hrs 57 min
- Day 68 – 5 hrs 42 min
- Day 67 – 2 hrs 26 min
- Day 66 – 4 hrs 58 min – April 1, 2011
- Day 65 – 3 hrs 57 min- Month of March 2011 – Average Daily Sleep: 3 hrs 15 min
- Day 64 – 3 hrs 58 min
- Day 63 – 3 hrs 44 min
- Day 62 – 2 hrs 33 min
- Day 61 – 1 hr 33 min
- Day 60 – 2 hrs 15 min
- Day 59 – 1 hr 55 min
- Day 58 – 2 hrs 42 min
- Day 57 – 2 hrs 58 min
- Day 56 – 1 hr 32 min
- Day 55 – 3 hrs 6 min
- Day 54 – 4 hrs 20 min
- Day 53 – 4 hrs 51 min
- Day 52 – 2 hrs 10 min
- Day 51 – 3 hrs 19 min
- Day 50 – 2 hrs 45 min
- Day 49 – 5 hrs 50 min
- Day 48 – 3 hrs 01 min
- Day 47 – 3 hrs 21 min
- Day 46 – 2 hrs 00 min
- Day 45 – 0 hrs 38 min
- Day 44 – 10 hrs 44 min
- Day 43 – 1 hr 23 min
- Day 42 – 3 hrs 43 min
- Day 41 – 3 hrs 47 min
- Day 40 – 3 hrs 38 min
- Day 39 – 2 hrs 46 min
- Day 38 – 3 hrs 03 min
- Day 37 – 2 hrs 47 min
- Day 36 – 3 hrs 04 min – Started new JDMan schedule
- Day 35 – 3 hrs 36 min – March 1, 2011
- Day 34 – 3 hrs 36 min – Month of February 2011 – Average Daily Sleep: 3 hrs 24 min
- Day 33 – 3 hrs 23 min
- Day 32 – 5 hrs 06 min
- Day 31 – 3 hrs 32 min
- Day 30 – 3 hrs 26 min
- Day 29 – 1 hr 46 min
- Day 28 – 6 hrs 54 min
- Day 27 – 4 hrs 00 min
- Day 26 – 3 hrs 02 min
- Day 25 – 3 hrs 06 min
- Day 24 – 2 hrs 11 min
- Day 23 – 3 hrs 03 min
- Day 22 – 2 hrs 52 min
- Day 21 – 1 hr 42 min
- Day 20 – 3 hrs 39 min
- Day 19 – 3 hrs 23 min
- Day 18 – 1 hr 56 min
- Day 17 - 4 hrs 01 min
- Day 16 – 1 hr 28 min
- Day 15 – 5 hrs 00 min
- Day 14 – 1 hr 44 min
- Day 13 – 3 hrs 32 min
- Day 12 – 1 hr 48 min
- Day 11 – 2 hrs 09 min
- Day 10 – 3 hrs 47 min
- Day 9 - 1 hr 23 min
- Day 8 – 5 hrs 51 min
- Day 7 – 4 hrs 48 min – February 1, 2011
- Day 6 - 4 hrs 00 min – Month of January 2011 – Average Daily Sleep: 3 hrs 15 min
- Day 5 - 3 hrs 46 min
- Day 4 – 2 hrs 27 min
- Day 3 - 3 hrs 24 min
- Day 2 – 2 hrs 40 min
- Day 1 – Let the sleep deprivation begin
JD,
From what you have recorded, it seems you have slept 3646 minutes total in 20 days or an average of 182.3min/ day? Is that correct? And given on average a person must sleep roughly 360 min/ day or 7200 minutes in the same time period, you are roughly sleeping half the time most people sleep. Is that a good assumption?
I liked your earlier log of what you have been eating and when. Nutrition plays a big role in energy, fatigue, fitness. If you have the energy, I would like to ask you to keep us accurately updated on what you eat and when too, to make it more scientific.
Have you done a BMI measurement? Keep us informed of your fitness regimen too as accurately as possible. Your endeavors could have greater scientific appreciation from the more data gleaned in research on obesity, insomnia, etc.
Have you had a full lab and physical workup? That would be interesting to see, before, during after this experiment.
Maria, thank you for all the suggestions. Starting with the total minutes, I didn’t foresee anyone adding up the minutes, although I probably would have myself eventually. So, to make this extremely easy, I added a space in-between the numbers and words.
Yes, I would say around 3 hours a day is probably a little less than half of what people tend to sleep. I went ahead and started adding what I am eating in-between the nap times. Since I never really thought about it too much from a more scientific point of view, as I was more focused on a social medium experiment, I didn’t really take into consideration those who might want to gather data for something such as a dissertation on sleep or institutions who are peering into the underground world of Polyphasic Sleep.
I have not had any lab work done and have no plans to, although, I wouldn’t be against doing it per se, but I sure am not going to pay for it, lol
Keep up the great work JD.
I didn’t understand that it was a social medium experiment and given that, you ought to have fun with it, if that is your intention. Don’t be encumbered with my suggestions re. keeping track of food intake, lab work, etc. if that is not your desire.
This is your baby, your blog and you steer it your way.
It’s just that polyphasic sleep is a curiosity, considering it’s an insufficiently explored realm.
JD,
continuing the conversation from my blog, what you are doing is quite amazing. I am interested to hear more your motivation and how this has changed or improved your life. Also what you are doing with your additional free time. Seems you are about two months into this experiment, maybe a summary article?
Keep up the good work!
Marc
Marc Beneteau recently posted..New to Polyphasic and Everyman sleep
Hey Marc,
Thank you very much.
My motivation now is basically these goals I have. To push myself and see if I can do this. However, I am not too terribly motivated actually. Without the goals though, I would be doing a standard Everyman schedule. I really enjoy the extra hours of sleep that Everyman gives you. Hopefully this experience will be something I will continue for the rest of my life, however I will be sleeping around 3 – 5 hours a day, with a non-alarm day once a week. For now though, I am continuing the course of trying to average under 3 hours of sleep a day for the month of March.
I don’t really have “free time” per se because I am still in the workaholic stage. Where you feel, more time, means more productivity, so I end up doing the same things as I did before. However, I must add, that now I am blogging, doing my Sports Betting, working out, and still having time for entertainment. Now that make for a very nice balance. Without Polyphasic, I would probably give up my leisure time and that is just not happy.
Interesting that you mentioned a summary article because after posting those long comments at your site, I thought, I should make a page that answers common questions and has the comment dialogue I engage in from other sites, such as yours, with links to the sites. So, people can read the articles and really get an in-dept look into Polyphasic Sleep. I actually post at a few blogs, some of the questions I answer are the same and many are unique and I believe it will enrich a viewers experience on this site if I brought them all into the same page. I have added this idea to my suggested post’s list and eventually I will get to it. As for a direct summary, I think that is a great idea especially after I finish March; since March is it’s own little project.
Thanks for leaving a comment,
JD
I was wondering why I wasn’t seeing any updates on your polyphasic sleep in my RSS and decided to come over and check for any subscription issues. But apparently that wasn’t the problem
Glad to see you are still managing well the polyphasic sleep though!
Take care!
Claudie recently posted..Going barefoot
I was wondering whether you are still practicing the polyphasic sleep. The last update was quite a while ago. Hope everything is OK.
I stopped Polyphasic Sleep in 2011, but I still only sleep about 4 – 6 hours a day via Monophasic Sleep. I can still fall asleep in less than 30 seconds if needed. Sometimes I will use Polyphasic Sleep for a couple of days if I need to complete a project of some sort. However, last I heard Claudie up there is still going strong.
these daily blogs Day 1-113, are these times of how much you slept that day? Seems to be very large fluctuations.
Yes, they are the amount of time I slept that day and if you click on the links they will give you a total break down for that day. It just depends on what you mean by large fluctuations and what time frame you are referring to. I did seem to average about 3 hours and 15 min to 30 min for a few months, so it would just depend on the number of naps I had that day.
Hello JD
Just finnished reading about all 89 days of polyphasic sleep.
I am so into trying this but I don’t know how to start. In one of your first days you mention that you had a dream which means that you are sleeping REM in your 20 min. nap. But i haven’t ever slept those power-naps since i thought it was a sign of weakness
So i have been trying to sleep 6 hours of core sleep and 2×20 min. power-naps. But it takes like 45-65 min. so fall asleep everytime…
1.
I am just a bit concerned that if i do your JD-schedule i am gonna walk around like a zombie for weeks and weeks.. do you think I will adapt quicker if i really need the sleep than if I am just sleeping 20 min, to get my brain used to it?
2.
And do you think i should do 10 or 20 min naps to start out with?
thanks in advance
Lasse (by the way i am just 18 years of age, do you think that will affect me? i ussually sleep 6 hours a day)
what i wanted to say was that i do not dream when i sleep my 20 min. naps (i have only done 4 so far, but i haven’t ever had a dream during a 10-30 min nap) on the other hand i don’t ever do those normally
The first week is the hardest and it does take a while for your brain to realize you are really going to do this and it is not temporary. Once you get past that first week, you will start to adapt; meaning you will fall asleep really quickly. You will dream and many times the last thing you were thinking will become a live action dream playing out in your mind, which is really cool. Polyphasic sleep really proves a lot of what we were told about sleep is incorrect. The mind is quit incredible and will adapt quickly, but you must give it at least a week.
I would start with at least 20 minute naps. Later, I discovered them to be too long, but in the beginning, I doubt you would be able to make it through the first week on 10 minute naps, but maybe.
As for 18, I don’t really have a recommendation. I believe your brain is still developing on some level at this age, which probably would mean if you do Polyphasic sleep you will most likely train your brain for life. Like I have mentioned before, I still fall asleep super fast. However, you also should know your body will be in a state of wakefulness nearly all the time. Thus chemicals build up in your system. I notice an increase in testosterone and muscle development seemed to increase during this time. As for what the effects these would have on someone doing this for years. idk. Although there have been some very notable historical people reportedly following a Polyphasic Sleep cycle, there just isn’t that much data out there.
Wicked blog, I’ve read through most of your posts and I love your writing style
Are you still doing polyphasic sleep?
I’m impressed you were able to only do 10 minute naps instead of the regular 20 min ones. I’m almost a month into polyphasic sleep (still not adjusted – have had some setbacks) and I’ve experimented with all different lengths of naps. 20 minute naps seem to be perfect for me: any longer and I’m groggy, and any less and I feel like I’ve been rudely interrupted.
I’ve been keeping a log of my sleep (though not as detailed as yours) at: handyandypandy.com/polyphasic
I am currently not on a Polyphasic sleep schedule as I just don’t have a need for it, however, sometimes I have a project I am working on and I will just go right back into it for a few days.