Polyphasic sleep is a unique way of sleep that allows the user to sleep for less than 2 hours per day while still maintaining a healthy balance of sleep. How is this possible?
Essentially, how it works is the user takes 10-30 minute naps (or sleep increments) 4 times a day. It means you are awake for much of the day, and awake for much of the night as well. This method of sleep can often disrupt activities and jobs like work and school, and requires a precise schedule plan to function correctly.
A classic Dymaxion schedule can be seen here:
For more information on schedules and how to do it yourself, here’s a short video:
http://www.howcast.com/videos/183838-how-to-do-polyphasic-sleeping/
There are lots of different methods, such as Dymaxion (4 naps), Uberman (6 naps), or even Everyman Transitional (5 naps with one long sleep period).
Pros and cons of polyphasic sleep:
Pros:
- Less sleep, more awake time
- Allows you to be more productive, more time for work / school
- I would say that’s a pretty big one
Cons:
- Odd schedule may conflict with school or work
- Short term sleep deprivation
Attention! Listen up, this is important!
If you are a person under 22 years of age and are interested and would like to attempt polyphasic sleep, it is highly discouraged. Possible long term and permanent side effects can occur. Very little is known about polyphasic sleep, but we would not like you to be a guinea pig.
If you are under 22 years old, chances are that your brain is underdeveloped. Your body is still growing and so is your brain. Sleep in teens and children is much more productive than it is in adults, producing the growth hormone that allows your body to grow taller and your muscles to thicken. The reason it’s okay for adults to polyphasic sleep (within reason) is because the body is fully developed. But if you miss out on sleep as a young adult as much as polyphasic sleep does, you can suffer from permanent brain damage, as well as be potentially weaker and shorter.
Polyphasic sleep is a very delicate performance. If abused or used incorrectly, the body can be seriously damaged. You are sleeping very little. In an experiment involving lab rats, the rats could only go 11-32 days without sleeping until they were near death. It is encouraged to be careful with polyphasic sleep, and heavily, heavily advised that you do not attempt this form of sleep if you are under 22 years old.