You have become known as one of the pioneers of polyphasic sleeping after coining the term 鈥淯berman鈥� sleep schedule. What does this schedule involve?
It involves sleeping for 20 minutes every four hours rather than in one solid block at night. So you take six regular naps per day, and get two hours鈥� sleep in total. I originally got the idea when I heard about the architect Buckminster Fuller, who slept polyphasically for at least two years. I decided to try this schedule with a friend. We called it the Ubermensch schedule initially, but it got changed to Uberman.
Why would someone want to sleep this way?
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Some people do it because they would like more time in the day, or because there鈥檚 too much to do to stop and sleep for very long. I did it because I never slept well on an 8 hour a night schedule. When I hit my college years, which were very demanding, I just needed to be rested. I needed to figure out a way to sleep, and not be zonked-out tired all the time.
What happened to you when you started?
It is one of the hardest things I鈥檝e ever done. You get a physical onslaught of sleep deprivation symptoms: headaches, chills, hot flashes, body aches, tremors. Basically, a lot of flu-like symptoms. Dry eyes, itchy skin, bouts of anxiety and depression. Anything that you can think of that feels like being crappy and screwed up. It鈥檚 so unpleasant. During the adjustment, I also started to lucid dream like crazy.
It started to get easier around day 7 for me, and my symptoms were completely gone by day 10. After a month I felt completely normal. I would wake up, once I adapted to it, one minute ahead of my alarm going off. I would just know. People set timers by me because I went to sleep and woke up in 19 minutes, which is pretty cool.
Did sleeping in this pattern affect your sense of time?
The days became extremely long, and while I was adjusting it was really common for me to lose track of what day it was. That wasn鈥檛 just because I was awake for longer. I would close my eyes to nap and be asleep in well under a minute, probably close to 30 seconds. And then I would open my eyes feeling like I had slept an entire 8 hour night. After that I would almost always experience a moment of panic, because I would think: what time is it? how long have I been leaning up against this wall?
So you would literally sleep standing up?
During Uberman adaptation, there are points where you are basically narcoleptic and can sleep standing up. I had to walk around my dorm carrying a stack of dishes at one point, because it was the only way that I could make sure I didn鈥檛 fall asleep.
Once I was adapted I wasn鈥檛 tired between my naps at all. But when it was time for a nap, the tiredness was pretty powerful. I could lean up against a tree in the middle of a busy quad, or if I had even a slightly comfortable place to sit or lie down, I could just flop down and boom, I would be out for my nap. I can still curl up in the corner and just sleep. Sleeping around people and sleeping in weird positions is definitely something you can learn. I鈥檝e got pretty good at it.
How long did you stick with Uberman for?
I did it for six months, and I would love to try it again for longer but at the moment I鈥檓 too busy professionally. I have now switched to 鈥淓veryman three鈥�, which is 3 hours鈥� solid sleep at night and three 20-minute naps, spaced evenly, during the day. So I have an extra 4 hours awake each day. It鈥檚 been my usual schedule for 8 years now.
What do you do with the extra time?
It鈥檚 funny, in the beginning it felt like so much extra. I thought that I was never going to be able to fill it up. I started off with a huge to-do list, and it just went away in days. Then you get to the point where you鈥檙e saying, I have scrubbed the baseboards with a toothbrush. I have reorganised and darned all my socks. I have called or written to everyone in my contacts book. What am I going to do? Eventually though you get accustomed to it, just how you get accustomed to a bigger pay cheque. Before you know it, it鈥檚 easy to use all that time.
How does it affect your social life?
I usually wake up at 4 am, at which point I鈥檒l often send texts to people. I can鈥檛 help it. If I think of a thing that early, it drives me crazy to have to put it aside for four hours. So if I think of a thing and I need to tell it to you, I鈥檓 sending it to you, even though it鈥檚 5 o鈥檆lock in the morning. Sorry.
We know sleep is vital for good health. Have you come across any research on the health effects of polyphasic sleep?
I鈥檝e done quite a lot of reading. And I鈥檝e been really surprised at the newness of sleep science overall. There are studies relating to polyphasic sleep, but almost all of them seem to be confined to the very short term. I鈥檓 really excited about the prospect of getting brain readings cheaply, remotely, and reliably enough, so that we have聽enough people to show us the answers.
Marie Staver is a project manager based in Boston. She is author of
