Sleep and Productivity

How well and how long do you sleep on average? Are you satisfied with the quality and quantity of it? When you wake up, do you feel well rested, cheerful and ready to seize the day? Are you ready to “crush it” or are you capable only to get by? Can you have a successful day at work (or in the last few weeks, at home), do the work and then spend the evening with your family or friends? Even better, are you capable of repeating this the next day and be as energized as yesterday? Is it possible to make this happen all year long?

The search

These are the questions a lot of people are struggling to answer, because it is a demanding task. I know I have been trying for a long time to juggle between work, family, friends and exercise. The problem, of course, is the energy needed to accomplish everything you want.

The center of the problem is sleep. Can we modify our sleeping patterns so we can have the optimal balance? Most of the adults sleep once per day, on average for 6–9 hours, depending on their needs. That is the norm, recommended to us by doctors. That is called monophasic sleeping.

We were told in the past that daily naps can be disruptive to night sleep, because it counts approximately as double: 30 minutes during the day = 1 hour of night sleep. This is at least what I remember to be a “common knowledge ”, when I was a kid. Whether this is exactly true or not, daily naps have a definite effect on the quality and quantity of our night sleep. If we sleep during the day, we will need less sleep during the night.

On the other hand, we also have polyphasic sleeping. In nature for example, this is a normal occurrence. Children are polyphasic too: babies sleep several times during the day; usually after the first year, they become biphasic. Only when we grow up, we tend to become monophasic sleepers: 6–9 hours per night and that is it. This is typical for the majority of people, although there are people who do not miss their daily nap. So which one is better?

The origin of polyphasic sleep

There is a story that many famous people in history were polyphasic sleepers: Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Buckminster Fuller. It is reasonable to assume that because of their lifestyle, they needed more time to work on their projects. It is claimed that they only slept a couple of hours per night, with more daily naps. If that was really the case, their efficiency and their legacy speak for themselves.

But is there some reason for the wake/sleep routine that most of us have?

Circadian rhythm

The one to blame for this may be the Circadian rhythm. According to the National Sleep Association, Circadian rhythm is:

“basically a 24-hour internal clock that is running in the background of your brain and cycles between sleepiness and alertness at regular intervals. It’s also known as your sleep/wake cycle.’’

This means that we all have our own rhythm when it is time for sleep and when to be awake. It can vary a lot among people. That includes the time we go to sleep and get up, as well as the total time of sleep needed by an individual.

Our energetic low points are in the middle of the night (between 2 AM and 4 AM) and in the afternoon, usually after lunch. For most of us, the 1st one is not a problem, but the one after lunch can be a real pain in the lower back. This is the time when you need to be alert and concentrated, especially if you are working a regular 9–5 job. The good thing is that if your sleep was good, you will not feel this low point so much. But this inner rhythm of ours is something to be reckoned with.

An interesting thing about it is that it changes during our life. When we are teenagers, we often want to go to sleep after midnight and wake up after 10 AM. As adults, we start to get up earlier and also go to bed earlier. Older, retired people tend to get up even earlier (5 AM) and go to bed by 9 PM.

Can we change it?

It is possible to change our Circadian rhythm, i.e our awake/asleep schedule. The scientist will not recommend it, but it can be done. The basic premise is that during night sleep, we only have 1- 2 hours of REM sleep (2–3 phases of deep sleep, dreaming etc.). Other parts are light sleep phases, that are not considered to be essential for our rest and restoration. So, we can cut down the amount of night sleep and take daily naps. Allegedly, in these naps we could get some more REM sleep and feel rested afterward. Therefore, with these modifications of our sleep pattern we can sleep less, but sleep more efficiently.

These types of polyphasic sleep are known as Everyman. There are 5 types of Everyman sleep patterns (designated 1–5), depending on the number of naps taken during the day. For example, Everyman 1 consists of a core night sleep of 6 hours and one daily nap 20 minutes long: 6 hours and 20 minutes in total. On the other end is Everyman 5: one core sleep in duration of 90 minutes, with five naps of 20 minutes each, with a total sleep of 3 hours and 10 minutes.

The most radical sleep pattern there is called Übermann. This pattern consists of only six 20 minutes naps every 4 hours with a total sleep of two hours. There are people who claim to have mastered this rhythm and feel really good, in spite of sleeping only 2 hours. I guess if you need to work 20 hours per day on a short term project and you feel it is worth it, you can give it a try and (dis)prove the Übermann myth.

The studies

Scientists have performed different studies on polyphasic sleeping. Dr. Claudio Stampi investigated this topic in detail and was very interested in naps . He claims that the biphasic sleeping is in fact, quite natural to us (night core sleep + daily nap) and can make us more rested and productive. He went even further and conducted a study of the Übermann method to examine the effects of it. It seems that such a radical method may have its benefits, but it is highly doubtful if it can be sustained in a longer period of time. Also, there is still a big question about how healthy it is in the long run.

We can also find some studies about Everyman method. This researcher investigated the effects of Everyman 3 (3 hours of night sleep and three daily 20 minute naps). It seems that it is possible not only to get used to this method, but there are also some very positive consequences. The subject’s performances such as short term and long term memory, showed a significant increase compared to monophasic sleeping.

My experience with polyphasic sleeping

Personally, I have not tried any of the extreme versions of polyphasic sleep. The one that I tried is rather mild and works fine for me, at least so far (I am not working 9–5 for the last couple of months so I could experiment with this). It includes sleeping up to 6 hours per night and having a 30–60 minutes nap during the day. This way, instead of 8 hours, you will sleep 6.5–7 hours in total. You gain 1–1.5 extra hours during the day at your disposal. That is 365–547.5 hours per year you can use to improve the quality of your life. Sounds good, right?

As you can see, the idea is not to feel exhausted and underslept. The point is to rearrange your sleeping pattern so you can have more time in the day, while still getting enough rest.

We are all different, of course and have different sleeping habits. You may need less sleep and can try some other Everyman type, if you think you can handle it. The adaptation period also varies among people and depends on how radical the new sleep pattern is.

This new pattern should be a more-less permanent thing. But let’s face it: you are only human. There will be days when you feel really beat and you need to sleep longer. Whether it is a 9 hours per night or a 2 hour daily nap- it does not matter. For example, I slept more than 10 hours last night! I felt exhausted and my body signaled to me: “it is time for a deep sleep”. But this is an exception. Tonight, I am going back to the routine: 6 hours per night, 45 minutes nap during the day. This rhythm enables me to function normally and I believe it can work for you too.

Final word

Polyphasic sleep may not be for every man, in spite of the name of the program :). But I think there is a lot of potential here that science is yet to investigate. If you can get more time in a day by sleeping less and feeling normal, that is great. If you can be even more productive and energized by going polyphasic, that is awesome. But it is your decision and yours alone.

Only one question remains: will you try it?