# Sleep and Dreams > Sleep and Health >  >  Biphasic Sleep Log

## nautilus

I'm starting a biphasic sleep schedule today. I'm planning on a 4.5 hour core and a 90-minute nap (although technically the nap is a full sleep cycle, but I'll just refer to it as a nap). Ideally, the core will be from 1:30-6:00 and the nap will be from 18:00-19:30. If I adjust well to this, I might shorten the core to 3 hours later on. Probably quite a bit later, because I want to see how my body responds to this sleep schedule over the course of the next four or five months. I've read that in long term biphasic sleepers, the sleep cycles tend to get shorter.

I'll be monitoring my blood pressure, pulse, weight, body fat, and reaction time over the course of the experiment. These are things that are easy to measure and that would be affected by sleep deprivation. So for example, if my reaction time became really slow, that would be a sign that the long term effects were harmful. If, on the other hand, it got faster (the way it did my last time on Everyman), that would be a good sign. I suspect that the difference between biphasic and monophasic won't be as great as switching to Everyman or Uberman, but who knows. I'll probably take my stats around 23:30 each day.

I've been on monophasic for just a few days since I stopped Everyman (I've tried Dymaxion once and Everyman twice, this last time being the most successful). For reference, here are my previous polyphasic sleep logs:
Dymaxion; four 30-minute naps
Everyman; three 20-minute naps + 3 hour core
Everyman; three 20-minute naps + variable core

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## nautilus

I recently caught the flu, so I'm going to have to start biphasic in a few days when I'm healthier.

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## Bizarre Jester

> I'm starting a biphasic sleep schedule today.



I've experimented with biphasic sleep. I wasn't really able to grasp the positive effects of it so I stopped, but everyone is different. Good luck.

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## Nataj

I have been attempting to shorten my biphasic sleep schedule . I am greek and I have learned to sleep with a 5 hour core and 90 minute nap in the afternoon . I am working steadily towards 3 hour core and maintain the nap at 90 . SO far
feeling realy tired most of the time ( week or so has passed)

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## nautilus

> I have been attempting to shorten my biphasic sleep schedule . I am greek and I have learned to sleep with a 5 hour core and 90 minute nap in the afternoon . I am working steadily towards 3 hour core and maintain the nap at 90 . SO far
> feeling realy tired most of the time ( week or so has passed)



I can think of a couple possible solutions. One would be to start right in with a three hour core + 90 minute nap (your goal schedule). This would mean taking about a week to adjust, but after that, if all goes well, you should be alert during the day again. The average full sleep cycle is between 90-110 minutes long, from what I hear, so there _is_ a bit of flexibility in how long the core is, but whatever the length of sleep cycles your body's using right now, it must not be lining up with a five hour core so you're waking up out a a phase of sleep that makes you feel groggy while awake.

The other possible solution is the gradual shortening of the core (like you're trying). For this though, you may have to go a lot more slowly; if you're feeling really tired during the day, you might be shortening the core too soon. Keep your waking time as exact as possible, and try to base your bedtime off of how tired you are that day. Wait until you adjust to a certain length core, whatever that may be (where you feel refreshed during the day), before making the bedtime just a little bit later (enough that you're _slightly_ sleepy during the day, but not falling asleep or anything). Repeat the process of shortening the core a little bit at a time, waiting to adjust to each change.

Note that this second method will probably take quite a while, but you may be able to avoid being more than just a little sleepy during adjustment. Theoretically, this method would work because your body "knows" when you're wake-up time is due to habit and has a chance to make small adjustments to the length of the sleep cycles such that you wake up refreshed instead of groggy.


Good luck with the adjustment period!

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## Nataj

I have managed to shorten the core to 3 hours and 30 minutes (afternoon nap still at 90). I have been energetic for 3 day now . Realy positive . Though I find myself falling asleep at school , during the "boring lesson"  .

 Also I find myself dreaming durning the afternoon . They are very wierd though  :S .
Also another positive note is that today i woke up about 10 seconds before my alarms went off on both the core and afternoon nap .

 In addition to that , I feel like my afteernoon nap is longer than my core . Dont exactly know why :S . 

Btw ty for the tips

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## Nataj

I think I have reached my maximum Biphasic sleep potential . I sleep 3 hours at night and 90 minutes in the afternoon . I feel realy good (alert , active, happy etc) . I also dont use alarm clocks anymore . My sleeping just falls into place on its own

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## LSDreamer

How has this affected your LD's?

I was looking into polyphasic sleeping just because I have so much to do per day I almost need it.  Now I look into LD's and Im thinking about sleeping longer to get full nights rests etc.  But im thinking a Biphasic would probably be good.  Report back how your LD's have been.

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## nautilus

> How has this affected your LD's?
> 
> I was looking into polyphasic sleeping just because I have so much to do per day I almost need it.  Now I look into LD's and Im thinking about sleeping longer to get full nights rests etc.  But im thinking a Biphasic would probably be good.  Report back how your LD's have been.



I've actually been having unusually frequent LDs lately (starting maybe a couple weeks after starting biphasic). I just seem to be questioning things more during dreams, even though I haven't invested a ton of thought towards reality checks in waking life. Some of these happen during my nap, but the dreams during my core sleep still tend to be clearer.

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## LSDreamer

Keep checking in, highly interested.  If you have more with a biphasic sleep sched, then I would totally look into it.   Makes sense though, in any polyphasic sched you are trying to focus on REM naps as opposed to long deep sleep so.

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## TheGriffin182

Hey, Great info on all of the polyphasic cycles you have tried!! I will be reading all of it soon! I really want to try the "Everyman" but i cant afford to deprive myself of sleep in the beginning or I will get sick.   Being on a college campus sucks because it is so easy to get sick, I usually do come finals time when im not sleeping a lot. I will def try over the summer, and if it works I hope to go into next year an an everyman!

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## crocus06

The best way to adapt quickly is to jump right to the 3 hour core sleep and the 90 minute nap. It will take a week to "adapt" but after that it's smooth sailing. 
TIP- schedule your nap later in the evening and your core sleep 6 hours later to take advantage of precious social time.

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## nautilus

Okay, I think it's time (*cough*, past time) I posted an update. I unfortunately haven't been collecting data points (blood pressure, reaction time, etc.) like I originally planned, but otherwise I seem to be fairly well adjusted. I often wake up ten or fifteen minutes before my alarm goes off at 6:00.

The nap seems to work well with my schedule; the original plan was to have it start at 18:00. I found if I take it an hour or two earlier, it doesn't harm anything and may even make me feel more refreshed than usual. However, if I take it any later than 19:00, there's a strong possibility of oversleeping. My solution for those occasions when it's later than 19:00 and I haven't had my nap is simply to go to sleep earlier, usually around 0:00. I'll feel a bit more tired than when I actually get a nap in, but at least it doesn't mess with my sleep schedule. Or sometimes I'll just take a 20 minute nap.

A few times several weeks ago I tried sleeping in a few times on the weekend. Not because I had to, really, just because I was being kinda lazy. All that did was confirm that it makes me more lethargic feeling throughout the day and I wind up sleeping more while having less energy.

At some point I might try cutting down the core and/or switching to a 20 minute nap version, but for now I'll just stick with this schedule since my body seems to be doing well with it.

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