The everyman sleep cycle is a schedule of polyphasic sleep. The idea of polyphasic sleep is to break your usual 1 block of sleep into smaller bits, and decreasing your sleep need by doing so. The everyman cycle consists out of a block of core sleep (about 4.5 hours) and a number of naps (3 times 20 minutes usually).
The everyman sleep cycle
- Block of core sleep plus naps
- The shorter the core sleep, the more naps you need
- I did 4.5 hours of core sleep with 3 naps
- You effectively gain 3-4 hours each day (a couple of working days a week) It would be a great help if you leave a comment, and subscribe on youtube!
Other polyphasic sleep schedules
Other than the everyman sleep schedule, there are a bunch more. The image below comes from wikipedia and sums it up very nicely (click to enlarge).
As you can see the schedules range from adding a siesta to your day, to changing your whole life around. As I write this I'm considering segmented sleep with a siesta...
Why would you?
Very simply: time. My typical day on everyman would be something like:
- Get up at 7 AM, before any other student friends
- Read, prepare the day, email
- Go to classes (and nap in the boardroom of the study association)
- Do work (pet projects), classes and other day to day stuff (and nap again)
- Have dinner, watch series, play games (and another nap)
- Go to friends/party/read book
- Get home from friends or party (say around 1 or 2)
- Play some games, watch series, start pet projects
- Lather, rinse, repeat
It left plenty of time for the things that needed doing, the things I wanted to do and then some more. My productivity was high, and I never felt any time pressure. Where my friends would worry about finishing a paper after dinner, I knew I had half a day left, and then the early morning again. And fresh as a peach...
Disadvantages of the everman sleep cycle
It sounds awesome doesn't it? it's not all moonshine and roses though. I noticed some, eh, odd effects:
- Mood swings (happy peaks) in the first weeks
- Getting sleepy when having nothing to do, especially after dark
- Not waking up without an alarm Apart from that, some effects were mostly social:
- I had to have 'nap spots' everywhere I went
- It's socially odd to have naps 3 times a day
- At night it can get boring/lonely since the world sleeps I recommend it though. Regardless of the side effects, it was a great experience to have had.
Everyman sleep cycle guide
If you feel like trying the sleep cycle, go about it the following way:
- Choose a schedule (number of naps)
- Plan your naps and core sleep, your bed times should NOT be flexible
- Make sure you have napping spots at places you will be
- Set a duration you want to stick to this, stick to it
Some tips from my experience:
- Limit alcohol and coffee
- Get earplugs, the foamy ones
- Get an eye mask that blocks light well
- Inform those around you, nothing is worse than someone waking you from your nap (especially by frightening you, as a joke)
- Make sure you have stuff to do