I’ve decided to go cold turkey into the wonderful world of polyphasic sleep. It may seem a bit aggressive, but here I’ll be chronicling my experiences on the uberman sleep schedule and reviewing generally how my state of health and overall performance in school and elsewhere has been affected by the shift.
I’ve begun by making some necessary preparations. This includes a large selection of teas for regulating my mood at night as well as learning a large enough amount about meditation to allow myself to relax through periods of mental disruption. And last, but not least, a neck pillow for allowing me to sleep in my car outside of work when the nap roles around for every four-hour interval.
With regards to exactly what the uberman sleep schedule is, it is a series of 6, 20 minute naps interspersed throughout the day at equal intervals. This translates into a nap session every 4 hours for a grand total of two hours spent sleeping per day, though it is likely the inconvenience of locating somewhere to sleep throughout the day will cost an additional 45 minutes of productive time at least.
Another important feature specific to me is that I have OCD, while I have the illness nearly totally under control lately, I should mention that sleep deprivation has been known to exasperate symptoms. I’ll be keeping a particularly close eye on this moving forward.
Finally, the most common question people have asked me when I decided to go on this sleep diet, so to speak, is, “how are you going to work and attend classes with such a strict nap schedule?” The answer is fortunately for me that my work schedule and sleep schedule are flexible enough that I can make time for resting between classes, along with before and after work, with one nap sandwiched in during a break in the car outside. This is hardly ideal, but in my unique position it is possible to have a relatively uninterrupted day life while maintaining what the uberman prescribes.
Each day I’ll be assessing my overall mental state. I’ll do my very best to maintain the schedule for two weeks. If at that point the data I’ve collected shows a decline in happiness and performance, then I will stop immediately. If not I may have found a new productive alternative to losing a third of my life
Today:
Happiness (Emotional wellbeing): 8
Mental Aptitude (Memory, Speed, etc.): 8.5
Physical State (Ability to exercise, clarity of vision, etc.): 8
Okay, let’s see how this goes! 😊