Dymaxion Sleep Schedule - Day 0

So I've researched it and have decided to start on a Dymaxion Sleep schedule. This should be interesting.

For those uninformed on the topic, a Dymaxion Sleep schedule is a type of polyphasic sleep. Polyphasic sleep basically means that instead of getting all your necessary sleep in one chunk(known as monophasic sleep) you get your sleep through several smaller chunks of sleep. Dymaxion in particular is sleep for 30 minutes at a time, with 6 hours of time between naps. There are some other types of polyphasic sleep, most notably the Uberman schedule and the Everyman schedule. The basis of the Dymaxion sleep schedule is that in a normal 8 hour night of sleep, the body only goes into REM(Rapid Eye Movement) sleep for about 1.5-2 hours. Since REM sleep is when your body really 'recharges' and makes you rested, it was theorized that if you force your brain to skip nREM(non-Rapid Eye Movement) phases of sleep and go straight into REM sleep, you can take a quick REM nap and recharge for another 6 hours worth of awake time.

So my schedule will be like this. Tonight I'm going to sleep regularly(crash sometime probably between 10 and 11pm and then wake up between 6am and 7am). Then at 11am I'll take a 30 minute nap and then nap again at 5pm and 11pm. The schedule I'm aiming for is naps from 5am-5:30am, 11am-11:30am, 5pm-5:30pm, and 11pm-11:30pm. The hardest naps to take are going to be the 11pm and 5am ones(at first at least, once adjusted I should be fine) since that is when I'd normally be asleep the entire time.

The hardest part of switching from a monophasic sleep schedule to a polyphasic one, is the first few days to weeks. In a 30 minute nap, the body goes into nREM sleep, but doesn't get to REM sleep. Since REM sleep is what really makes you rested, not getting any REM sleep for a few days will just make me sleep deprived. Eventually, your brain goes "hey wait a minute, we're doing a regular sleep schedule but not spending a lot of time asleep" and will figure out that when you go to sleep, to skip all the nREM sleep and go straight into REM.

So all that means that I'll be sleep deprived until my brain figures out what's going on. Here's to hoping that my brain catches on quick. In my research, I realized that sleep deprivation can be a little scary, so I'd like to spend as little time in that state as possible. Straight from Wikipedia, physiological effects can be as follows: "aching muscles, dizziness and nausea, dry mouth, hallucinations, hand tremors, headaches, increased blood pressure, increased risk of diabetes, increased risk of fibromyalgia, irritability, memory lapses or loss, nystagmus, obesity, slowed word recall, yawning."

Another major side effect is going to be my memory. According to some theories, REM sleep consolidates some memories and nREM consolidates others. REM sleep supposedly is responsible for procedural and spatial memory(Procedural memory is the memory of how to do things like fly a plane or drive a car. Spatial memory is the memory of ones environment and its spacial orientation). nREM sleep is supposedly responsible for Declarative memory(one of two types of long term memory, and referes specifically to memories which can be consciously recalled like facts and events). So in getting rid of all nREM sleep, it could effect some of my memory. There's been very little research into polyphasic vs monophasic sleep, so I can't quite know what might or might not happen. I figure at worst I might have a hard time recalling facts and events later on.

Since I am a college student, I of course have a roommate. I've already talked to him about and luckily, he's as excited about it as I am. He's down with it and will put up with me while I'm sleep deprived.

I don't have any particular reason why I'd want to do this, but I figure it'll be fun to try it. And having 22 hours a day to get things done? That's not too bad. I've found that people who tried this have said that it's important to never miss a nap or oversleep, to eat healthy, and have lots of things to do during the adjustment period. I've been making a list of things I want to at least start on, if not accomplish during this adjustment time.

So what I plan to do is try this for a while. If after too long I feel like I can't get adjusted I might give up and go back to the usual monophasic sleep. So tomorrow morning, Monday October 4th, 2010, I will take my first nap of the new schedule at 11am. I'm going to try to keep this blog updated daily with my progress(most likely updated at night).