Is polyphasic sleep something that's caught your attention? Many people are curious if this sliced-up approach to sleeping could help spark creativity after hearing that it was used by Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Margaret Thatcher, and Benjamin Franklin. Others wonder if this is just another "life hack" fad that will leave them feeling groggy. Of course, you can't talk about polyphasic sleeping without talking about naps. Here's everything you ever wanted to know about polyphasic sleep, the pros and cons of sleeping in short intervals, and the role of naps in the whole experience.
What Is Polyphasic Sleep?
Polyphasic sleep is a concept that tosses out the traditional eight-hour sleep schedule in favor of sleeping in multiple short intervals. People who promote polyphasic sleep argue that humans don't actually require a single sustained period of sleep in order to function optimally during waking hours. They also believe that the sleep-wake cycle that's dictated by the circadian rhythm is fluid.
While the baseline definition of polyphasic sleep is a style of sleep that sprinkles awake times and sleep times over each 24-hour period, there isn't necessarily a consensus when it comes to what a polyphasic schedule looks like. There are several schools of polyphasic sleep that people follow. Here's a look at the popular ones:
- Dymaxion Schedule - Consists of four 30-minute naps taking place every six hours.
- Uberman Schedule - Consists of six 30-minute naps taking place every four hours.
- Everyman Schedule - Consists of a primary sleep period of three hours paired with three 20-minute naps.
- Triphasic Schedule - Consists of three sleeping periods after dusk, before dawn, and in the afternoon to build four to five hours of sleep in total.
These schedules ultimately add more productive hours to the day by reducing the total amount of time spent sleeping. Is any of this healthy? The truth is that polyphasic sleeping has its pros and cons. However, many of the positive results of polyphasic sleep are anecdotal. Let's dive deeper into the effects of polyphasic sleep on sleep quality, productivity, and overall health.
The Pros and Cons of Polyphasic Sleep
The growing popularity of polyphasic sleep among influencers and life-hack peddlers has caused researchers and physicians to look closely into this trend to help people decide if it can be a healthy way to approach sleep. In general, results skew more heavily in one direction. Take a look at the pros and cons of polyphasic sleep to see how it all shakes out.
The Pros of Polyphasic Sleep
The one thing that's known for certain about polyphasic sleep is that it can increase the number of potential "productivity hours" for a person compared to a traditional day with a standard eight-hour block of sleep. However, there's a lack of confirmation regarding whether or not more time actually results in greater productivity. Here's a look at some potential benefits to polyphasic sleep that can be pinned down:
- Focused Time - For people who prefer to do "deep work" in a quiet setting, being up to get work or studying done in the middle of the night may be ideal.
- Increased Memory Retention - At least one study shows that polyphasic sleep can help improve academic performance by increasing memory retention. The benefit seems to come down to the power of napping. In the study referenced, word retention was greatest when a nap was taken immediately after a novel word was introduced to a child.
- Anxiety Reduction - For people suffering from insomnia, using polyphasic sleep could potentially reduce some of the anxiety that's experienced when being unable to fall asleep during the normal designated sleep period.
- Accommodates Irregular Schedules - People with irregular work schedules may find that polyphasic sleeping allows them to get rest without missing out on life during regular hours. When done carefully, polyphasic sleeping can even potentially give a person with an irregular schedule the right amount of sleep.
The Cons of Polyphasic Sleep
While polyphasic sleep can seem like a smart life hack for optimizing your time at first, this fad actually has some very serious drawbacks. In fact, people with existing underlying health conditions could be doing something risky by adopting a polyphasic sleep schedule. Here's a look at the downsides to practicing polyphasic sleep:
- Risk for Sleep Deprivation - The biggest risk of using polyphasic sleep is sleep deprivation. With most approaches to polyphasic sleep focused on reducing the cumulative hours of sleep a person experiences each day for the sake of greater productivity, there's a real risk for sleep deprivation. This is a serious issue because sleep deprivation is associated with a wide range of health conditions that includes heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. In addition, sleep deprivation is linked with a higher chance of injury in adults, teens, and children.
- Mismatched With the Human Circadian Rhythm - Polyphasic sleep is not in sync with the natural 24-hour cycle of the body called the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is an internal clock that regulates biological functions and hormonal release. It controls the body’s production and release of cortisol, melatonin, growth hormone, insulin, and leptin. Polyphasic sleep could cause a person to develop a circadian rhythm disorder.
- May Be Dangerous During Pregnancy - While there isn't any research available specifically on pregnancy and polyphasic sleep, research shows that sleep disorders may be linked with pregnancy complications.
- Naps Aren't Always Guaranteed - While polyphasic sleep relies on naps to prevent severe sleep deficits, a person can't always be certain that they'll be able to fall asleep at odd times of the day. Everything from schedule changes to noisy neighbors can make napping impossible.
The Role of Naps in Polyphasic Sleep
Naps help to fill in the gaps between longer sleep stretches in polyphasic schedules. From a research perspective, many of the benefits of polyphasic sleep may simply come down to the benefits of napping. Even people who sleep in solid eight-hour chunks each night can still benefit from naps. New research shows that short "power naps" can actually boost alertness. However, people who regularly take long naps can actually have adverse effects that include higher blood pressure, high blood sugar, and higher body weight. One study found that the sweet spot for napping was between 30 and 90 minutes. That's the nap window that left participants with improved memory and cognition.
What Should You Make of Polyphasic Sleep?
There's compelling evidence both for and against polyphasic sleep. Ultimately, good sleep quality and duration are the two most important factors to consider regardless of your personal sleep style. Pillow lets you track your sleep to gain personalized insights about how your sleep habits are affecting you.