# Sleep and Dreams > Sleep and Health >  >  Everyman sleeping schedule

## Sara

Thanks to this forum, I've become interested in polyphasic sleeping schedules. I've always been a fan of napping 1 or 2 times during the day (especially in the train) and I'm much more productive during the late evening/night. So, the idea of napping more, sleeping less during the night really appealed to me.

I've read as much about this as I could find in the last 2 days (same like with lucid dreaming, once I find something interesting, I can submerge into it completely). I liked the blogs from puredoxyk and steve pavlina. Decided Uberman was really too strict for me (I love my flexibility too much) but the Everyman sounded worthwhile to try.

So, here I am, ready for my 30-day-trial of Everyman sleeping schedule. I though my best chance to survive longer than 3 days would be to adjust gradually. Therefore I started with adding 2 naps a day (in the afternoon and late evening) before cutting on my core sleep. Yesterday I had a shorter core sleep (around 5hrs) due to external factors and I was not feeling tired until 15.00. Today I already decreased my core sleep to 4 hrs. I feel really great this morning (better than from waking after a failed WBTB and 7+ hours of sleep) but I'm afraid the hard days will follow soon  :wink2: 

I expect to become sleepy around noon, so if that's when my first nap is scheduled. "Long term" schedule would be: naps at 12.15, 17.30 and 23.00 and a core sleep around 03.30-06.30/07.30

Well, don't really know why I'm typing all this and whether or not there are people interested in it, but at least it helps to keep track on myself  :wink2: 
Maybe there are more people here who tried or are still living on Everyman?

PS: I'm in a different time zone than most of you (+2 GMT or about -6 to -8 difference with US-times) so it might sound odd to hear I just got up early in the morning while you still need to sleep  :wink2:

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## TravelerBetweenWorlds

Hi Sara!
I've been reading about sleeping schedules and stuff for a long time (i've been a LDer for 10+years), and i came to try a few dif schedules in me LD experiments... one thing i came to realize was that its not healthy to have such strange sleep schedules...

If you study hormonal cycles related to sleep and dream, and if you also consider 4,000 years practices of dream yoga (did you know Yogis practiced LD for thousands of years and there are many books about it?), you will find that the best and most healthy schedule is the recomended 8 hours of sleep with some wake up time in the final part of the night...

Anyway, i dont mean to be the owner of the truth, and whatever works for you is fine, but please consider your health, and dont extend weird schedules too much... i did once, and the result was less LDs and more fatigue... but i'd be happy to see someone prove me wrong on this!

If youre interested in some ancient knowledge from the yogis about LDs, i'd highly recomend the books "Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep", "Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light" and "Tibetan Yogas and Secret Doctrines"...i think all available at amazon... Even if you dont agree with the "religious" aproach of yoga (as i once did), you have to recognize the value of thousands of years of practical experience...and besides, yoga is not a religion, its a science "disguised" as philosophy  :smiley: 

cheers
 :smiley:

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## TempleGuard

I've been polyphasic (everyman) for 3-4 weeks, and i dont think it is unhealty. There are some documents which show that there are people which were living polyphasic their whole life. Also the austronauts and sailors, and that kind of people and it is not unhealty. I've even read about stories which tell how polyphasic improved things, but not even one how they ruined something.. I am so sorry i had to stop em, but I just dont have time for the naps.. But i loved it the last days in being polyphasic.. And i think you should start em directly.. Not little-by-little. You get used to it easier, but in everymen you will be perfect after at least month, and good after 1.5-2 weeks. This is if you dont oversleep much and do that kind of things. The other thing that I discovered was, how I feel better after a nap, than after the "core". Well good luck, and better do some journal.

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## Sara

@TravelerBetweenWorlds: that's interesting and what a coincidence, I just started reading on Dream Yoga several hours before you posted this message :-)
I'm really interested in getting to know this better too, but I don't really see the relationship with monophasic sleeping. Is it not possible to do dream yoga when sleeping polyphasic? 
I was not intending to become a polyphasic sleeper to induce LD's, but I did read it was a probable, positive side effect.
Sleeping 8 hours a day with waking in between made me really tired after 1 week (tried WBTB every day, since I was too focussed on getting an LD  :tongue2: )

@TempleGuard: thanks for your comments! 
I decided to start a strict schedule from this day (3hrs + 3x 20-30min at regular times) to see how fast I can adapt.
I've started a journal in a weblog (but in dutch, which is a little easier for me to write, especially when feeling tired).

What was your schedule? Was it puredoxyk's Everyman schedule, same as I'm going to try? Or did you have different sleeping lengths/number of naps?

As far as health concerns: I think when it comes to sleep, I can feel when my body/mind will be too exhausted to continue this schedule. When there would be a serious health problem, you would easily notice, I guess. I will have enough time now to also read some scientific articles about sleep and I'm really interested to see if there has been good research about polyphasic sleeping.

One last experience I wanted to share: after my noon-nap today, I felt as if I had slept for hours. I know I had a long dream, but couldn't recall well enough to write down and I had the feeling I had really overslept from the night. But then I realised I had already been awake for 5 hours and had done a lot (riding my horse, cleaning up in the house). A very weird experience! Now I'm starting to understand a bit what polyphasic sleepers mean with 'days that seem endless'.

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## TempleGuard

Here it is.
http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=44624

I didnt write about the last one-two weeks, which were a lot better, and i changed a little the times in which I napped the last week, but it was the same - 3 hour core + 3x20-30 min naps.

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## Sara

I thought it might be nice to post a short update here every now and then.

I'm on my 3rd day now (with 2 'transition days' before really starting) and so far I feel pretty good. I do feel that I'm in some sleep dep/sleep debt, but I'm still capable of doing normal activities, can work on my laptop till 4:00 without falling asleep and have a slightly higher physical energy than normal (feel some adrenaline rushes too, but they are only uncomfortable if the situation requires me to stay on my seat and cannot walk around)

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## Sara

Damn, I really overslept yesterday on my 2nd nap. 
I woke up after 30min, feeling not really tired, but though 'ah, I can take a 1 time snooze'.
But then I probably switched off my alarm in my sleep, or with the next snooze and woke up at 1.15 when my boyfriend called me to say he was going to sleep.

In total I slept around 6 hours. I was not feeling much better after this sleep than after my 30mins and also I didn't have some long, nice dreams to remember, so basically, it just sucked.

Problem was probably that my naps during the day were too short, due to external reasons. I need to plan them better and really schedule it so I can't be disturbed.
PLUS put my alarm on the floor, so I really get out of bed to switch it off.

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## TravelerBetweenWorlds

Hi Sara, 
dream yoga does not advice such weird dream schedules, but im no expert either... 

i've read a few books and tried somethings myself, but have a blast! Im sure you'll feel when its time to give it a brake... the main problem is that your body was not "wired" for these 'crazy' sleeping schedules, because the hormonal production related to sleep is slow and not fast-responding..also, it relates a lot to light, so sleeping during the day may cause some problems with REM cycles and depth of brainwaves (alpha, beta etc)...

From my experience, the best results i got was when following the sleep schedule outlined in "Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep", by Tenzin Wangyal Rimpoche. I'd advise you to get that book, its a must-have in any LDer library.

But i'll be glad to hear from your experience. Keep posting, and feel free to PM me if you need anything.

kind regards  :smiley: 
TBW

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## TempleGuard

Polyphasic > monophasic.

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## DreamChaser

Without being nasty, if anyone is going to take on a different sleep pattern,
please don't complain, oh I'm tired or I missed the alarm and I am so tired.
You chose to do it. Deal with it.
If you are doing a tutorial or something then that's a different story.

 ::D:

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## Sara

Sorry for my complaining, DreamChaser.
Are you on a different sleep pattern too?

Maybe it's better to write my 'highlights' so far  :wink2: 

My schedule was perfect for 2 days (all naps on time, max 5,5 hrs sleep on 1 day) and I was feeling very good.
I am amazed by the fact that I can feel so awake and rested with less sleep.

Also, I really like the amount of extra time that I have now. When it's 5 in the afternoon, normally I would think 'ah, noooo, my day is almost over, no more productive hours left and I've got so much to do...'. But now, my day is only halfway and I have some very awake hours the rest of the evening/night.
My room has never been so clean and tidy, I even started cleaning the kitchen in our student house, my flatmates think I'm ill  :tongue2: 

After 1 week of having naps at least every 6 hours, I feel bad if I don't have them. I felt not so confident in telling my friend that I'm trying this different sleeping schedule, so I didn't dare to ask her if I could lay down for half an hour. Not a very smart desicion, better tell people around me the next time that I'm expected to be somewhere for longer than 5 hours. At some point I was so in need of a nap, I started seeing reality as a dream... sounds not very healthy, haha. I went outside to the car, lay down for 30mins and was OK after that. (so no complain, just a 'highlight' that a nap fixes my tiredness instantly  :tongue2: )

I know I need several weeks more to really adjust, but I'm confident that I will manage to keep up my schedule.

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## Sara

Quick update:

Back on schedule, feeling good.
2 lucid dreams last night (both in 20min naps, 1 WILD and 1 DILD)
I think sleeping multiple times in a day increases the amount of practise for WILDs, so that's a good thing.
I'm also convinced that it's good for my brain to process 'daylife' several times a day, by having a dream.
These are both important reasons for me to keep going on the everyman schedule (more than the extra hours now).

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## Sara

2 lucid dreams again during my extra (non-scheduled) night naps.

Although it's sometimes hard to keep my schedule, I really enjoy both the sleeping and waking parts of my day, because I seem to be more aware during both (hence the lucids).
All extra time won by sleeping less, I spend on reading and writing about lucid dreaming.

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## blade5x

For people who do this... can you study well and actually remember what you studied? Because I notice when I do homework or study for an exam, about 2 hours in and I'll start to feel REALLY tired. That's when I get some coffee and I'm fine for another 3-4 hours of school work. However, on a day I do no school work, I don't go through this. I feel fine all day.

Just something about polyphasic sleep that worries me. How much mental stress can a brain take on this sleep cycle. And I'm talking college undergrad mechanical aero engineering brain stress where I'm constantly doing tons of math work.

I would love to get an extra 4 FULLY FUNCTIONING hours out my day right about now. Key words in caps.  :smiley: 

Edit: Also! What about someone who goes to the gym or works out on a regular basis? Is the "core" sleep enough to physically repair every night?

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## Sara

> For people who do this... can you study well and actually remember what you studied? Because I notice when I do homework or study for an exam, about 2 hours in and I'll start to feel REALLY tired. That's when I get some coffee and I'm fine for another 3-4 hours of school work. However, on a day I do no school work, I don't go through this. I feel fine all day.



I have not enough experience with polyphasic sleep yet to tell you how easy I'm able to study. I'm still in the adaptation phase and will pick up my studies next week. I do/did have the same problem as you: I also get really tired when I study, even sooner than after 2 hours. If I get tired, I sleep a bit before I continue. I think you shouldn't try to study that long, have breaks more often.

What I know, is that the brain needs some sleep to process the learned information. I hope I will learn more efficiently on the everyman schedule, because now I CAN sleep several times a day and learn smaller amounts in every wake-sleep cycle. Results of this hypotheses will follow the coming weeks...





> Just something about polyphasic sleep that worries me. How much mental stress can a brain take on this sleep cycle. And I'm talking college undergrad mechanical aero engineering brain stress where I'm constantly doing tons of math work.



I'll let you know... I'm going to study for my advanced bioreactor design exam, so also loads of math....





> I would love to get an extra 4 FULLY FUNCTIONING hours out my day right about now. Key words in caps.



You need extra hours RIGHT NOW?? That would be difficult, because it takes some time (a few weeks) to adjust to the Everyman schedule. As far as I've experienced till now (2 weeks trying to adapt) concentration levels are lower and sometimes I feel really tired or fuzzy in my head and don't think studying would be a good idea to try (I'll fall asleep very soon...)
So, if you have exams in a few weeks, don't try to switch, but wait for a period in which you can afford to take a few days off.

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## Caradon

Hey Sara.

 I think, this everyman sleep schedule has been my way of life for about six years now. But I wasn't aware it was anything but my own sleep schedule lol. The only thing I know about it though, is what I read in your post so maybe it's not quite the same thing. But it sounds like it.

I was kind of forced into it because of the fact that I started getting really tired by the time I got off from work. So the solution was to take an hour or two nap when I got home. Then I'm wide awake for the rest of the afternoon. It does not matter if I sleep longer at night. I will still be just as tired by 2:00 in the afternoon regardless.

My ideal schedule is to sleep from 2:00 to 4:00, then about five or six hours at night. But it doesn't always work out that way. sometimes on the weekends I only end up getting between two to four hours at night, because my work schedule changes and I have to get up earlier. and sometimes I work later so I can't get my nap in until four or five in the afternoon. But I pretty much always feel the same regardless.

On my days off I sleep in longer to get more dreams/Lucid Dreams. :wink2: 
But I still end up needing my nap most of the time anyway. And I'm often more tired because of sleeping in.

And also, I think it is actually more healthy to sleep no more than four to six hours in one shot. I can say that from personal experience, since I'm the healthiest person I know. I don't get sick to often anymore. And the people around me get sick all the time.

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## Sara

Hi Caradon,

So you sleep 2 times a day? A night sleep of 5-6 hours and a nap of 1-2 hours?
I think that wouldn't count as everyman schedule, but is more a 'siesta' biphasic sleep.

It's good to hear that you feel very healthy doing this  :smiley: 

I have a cold/sore throat now, but the flu is all around here...
I have a sore throat about 3 times a year and usually it feels much worse after a long night sleep, but now after 4 hours it didn't get worse compared to yesterday.

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## Sara

Dammit, just when I have the feeling that I'm getting quite used to napping, succeeded at having 3-4hrs core sleep for several days AND an amount of LD's I never expected, I feel I'm getting ill  :Sad:   I was afraid for it to happen, since one of my flatmates has just recovered from the flu. So, I'm off to bed for the longest sleep I've had in weeks and hope for some nice, long dreams...  ::dreaming::

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## Robot_Butler

I lived with a sleep cycle similar to this for around 2-3 years.  No problems, no health problems.  People need to get over the fear of sleep. 

I've tried: 

3 hour core, 20 minute naps.

4 hour core, two 2 hour naps

5 hour core, no naps

0 hour core, four 1 hour naps

No problems with any of it.  The main thing that I believe helped me, was I am a very busy person.  I am probably the most productive person on the planet, so I never get bored enough to accidentally fall asleep.  

My advice is this.  If you have free time, (watching TV, sitting around bored, re-reading your favorite romance novel, ect) you will never last.  If you are always working on something and keep a busy social scedule, you will love it.

I encourage you to keep at it.  Don't worry if you decide to sleep for a week.  You just need to get in the mindset that you are totally in charge of where and when you want to sleep.  Then nothing can mess up your sleep schedule, because you make your own.

It looks like you have already noticed all the fun dreams you can have.  Now go get some time consuming hobbies.  I suggest furniture making or stonecarving.

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## Sara

Thanks for the reply, Robot butler!

5 hour core sleep without naps? I wouldn't survive on that one!

I partly started this schedule so I would be able to combine my study, my 2 companies AND my hobbies (horseriding and now also lucid dreaming), because with a 9-5 obligation to be in university for my thesis, there wouldn't be enough time in a day to do everything I want. I have an exam in 2 weeks and another one 2 weeks after, so I'm into my books now. If I get some interesting results from 'learning on everyman' I'll publish them here.

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## Sara

Wow, I just discovered my 30-day trial is already over!
OK, I haven't been keeping myself to the schedule exactly. And I still can't tell whether I have adjusted or not, since there was not a realy distinct 'adaptation period' with lots of tiredness. Today is the first day I feel really tired, probably cause I've missed my noon-nap for 2 days in a row.

I was thinking about writing a summary of my Everyman experiences... but I'm not sure if I'm into this polyphasic schedule for long enough to produce some real conclusions...

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