Do we need to sleep at night?
Fresh out of University as a Psychology grad, I managed to convince some friends to trial the Uberman sleep-cycle for a fortnight. For those unfamiliar, that’s 1 x 20 minute nap every 4 hours. Two weeks later, the last remaining participant limped over the finish line and vowed, ‘never again’.
But Polyphasic sleep cycles such as Uberman have been gaining support over the last few years. When flexible schedules meet busier lifestyles, some of us are taking an experimental approach. After all, the Uberman cycle claims to save a person 6 hours every day, and who could say no to that?
If you work a regular 9–5, it’s likely you get the recommended 8-hours a night. Possibly, you take a nap on the weekend. One look at a Polyphasic cycle and you’ll realize that it simply wouldn’t fit, but that doesn’t leave you stranded. Turns out the possibilities are, whilst not endless, more accommodating than you might imagine.
So a full sleep-cycle lasts an average of 90 minutes. We venture from light-sleep, to deep sleep (NREM) and into REM sleep (dream-time!) returning to light sleep and lather, rinse, repeat. But each full sleep-cycle is extended by increasingly long REM at the end, up to an average of an hour of dreams. So it’s not entirely systematic.(If you’re a late-night cheese-eater like me, your average likely feels significantly longer.)
However, achieving several full-sleep cycles per night is still the recommended way for the body to repair physically and mentally. The alternative cycles don’t always allow for this.
Monophasic
The recommended 8-hour block from your Doctor, Monophasic is the missionary position of sleep. It’s effective, gets the job done and allows you 5–6 full-sleep cycles. Monophasic matches office hours and, as long as you don’t suffer from any sleep disorders, probably suits you.
Segmented and Biphasic
As you might have guessed, this means sleeping twice. Either 2 x 3.5 hours (segmented) or a 5–6 hour sleep and a 20–90 minute nap (Biphasic). Recent research suggests that humans would likely follow one of these patterns if it wasn’t for artificial light in the evening. We used to hit the sack when the sun went down, rise in the very early hours of the morning to socialize with our family, then head back to bed until the sun rose. These patterns claim to save you up to 2 hours a day and are my personal favorite, as I’m a fan of naps and socializing.
Dual-Core and Everyman
Reading like a computer-processor and a forward-thinking social group, these shorter sleeping times with multi-naps littered between them can get quite complex:
- Ex. 1 Everyman V1 suggests a 4.5 hour major sleep episode with 2 x 20 minute power naps.
- Ex. 2 Everyman V4 recommends a 1.5 hour major sleep episode with 4–5 x 20-minute power naps.
Triphasic
Don’t you wish someone would allow you to have 3 sleeps a day? That being said, sleeping 1.5 hours every 8 hours is only enough time for one, 90-minute full sleep cycle; REM sleep not guaranteed. If this style works for you, however, you’re looking to gain an extra 3.5 hours a day.
Dymaxion and Uberman
The least similar to popular sleeping patterns, these are all about naps, more naps and… actually, only naps. Dymaxion requires you to nap for 30 minutes every 6 hours. Uberman followers nap 20 minutes every 4 hours. Note: Many researchers have expressed that these sleeping patterns can be dangerous for your health. Those who succeed in this cycle save 6 whole hours of their day.
Watching my friends switch from Monophasic to Uberman really knocked home the power that our sleeping patterns hold over us. Such heavy-handed alteration to the regular pattern produced a whole range of effects- from anxiety and loss of appetite, to hallucinations.
Socially programmed into a monophasic pattern from a time when the majority of us worked the same hours, old sleeping habits definitely die hard. There’s little doubt remaining that sleep is important for us, but how and when we get what we need is becoming subject to change.
