Everyman 4.5 is a Nice Easy Fallback
So, for the sake of argument, say you suck at getting naps, for whatever reason. Maybe the best you can do is to snag one in the early morning, and another sometime in the afternoon or evening.
Well, that's good enough for rock & roll, as they say. With two naps a day, you can (if you're like me, I should say) sleep 4.5 hours at night and do just peachy.
It's not as time-saving as Everyman 3, with gives you several hours of extra morning- and evening-time; and of course it lacks all the mind-bending coolness of Uberman/Dymaxion. You end up sleeping almost 6 hours in total, which is enough for some people monophasically (but not me), so it might not even actually save you any sleep.
But you can go to sleep about midnight and get up before five. You trade a few tiny pieces of mid-morning or late-afternoon or whenever you nap, for being able to stay up later and get up earlier than most people — or rather, stay up as late as someone who stays up late, and get up as early as someone who gets up early. So if you're like me, and you like having a little extra time both at night and in the a.m., it's awesome.
More info on Everyman 4.5 below the cut!
Further, in my experience — which please remember is not the same as a newbie's; I've been polyphasic almost four years! — the nap-times on Everyman 4.5 are almost totally flexible. I need two of these three: A morning nap (7-ish), an afternoon nap (1ish), an evening nap (7-8ish). They can easily swing an hour in each direction–for me, it's predicated on "when I get tired"; if I nap too early or too late I can't sleep, and that window is something I've learned to feel. For others, having a set time will be more important for a while.
On Everyman3, I need all three of those naps, which, even though they're still flexible, can be tricky some days. (For instance when life happens to be EXPLODING WITH STUFF and running one like the proverbial dog.) On 4.5 though, I can just get two, and get some extra rest at night (though it isn't any more refreshing than the 3-hour core, done properly), and feel great.
So there's that. I prefer E3 to E4.5, just like I prefer Uberman to Everyman; but sleep is one of those things, it's all about what actually works. Which is, I think, a less-than-elegant way to say "for most people, rewriting their living-schedule around their sleeping-schedule is not ideal; we prefer to have the best sleep-schedule that fits with the kind of waking-schedule we already have, or want to have". That is not to say everybody; some people want to sleep a certain way enough to make it quite worth re-tooling the waking hours; and some people's waking schedules suck and they'd like to re-organize them anyway. I have been both of those people, actually. But right now I'm one of those excessively stressed-out people with a mile-long urgent to-do list and more than a little escapist desire for sleep.
I've never adapted straight to Everyman 4.5, so I can't speak to how easy or difficult that is; but if it follows the usual pattern, it should be a gentler dose of sleep-dep than Everyman 3, but persist a little longer (maybe — E3's can already go on for 3-4 weeks, and at that point one ought to be developing a habit no matter what, so maybe it's only just as long as Everyman 3's). Then again, with 4.5 hours of sleep a night, you're not going to suffer much for the first several days, or maybe even a week, so it might feel like the adaptation process doesn't even kick in until you've been at it a while. I'd be really interested in hearing from people who've adapted straight to E4.5, obviously.
But regardless…Everyman 4.5 has been my friend lately, and I thought it deserved credit for that. ;)
8 comments
I have been sleeping like this without planning to, but only take one nap, in the evening.
Okay, I'd love to try this out- I'll keep you posted as to how I get on. One question: how long should the naps be? Like half an hour?
Magpie- 20 minutes is good. When you're starting out, I would allow an extra 5 minutes to get to sleep.
I've gone over to 4.5 from 3 as well. I've been doing extra work over winter (to get 2 months off in summer :) ). By the time I finished, I was barely able to drive home without dropping off. The extra night time helps, but mostly it's about being able to extend the waking time and having more flexibility with when I take a nap.
I find that I don't get to sleep quite as quickly. On 3 + 3 I was dropping off within 30 seconds, but it can take longer, especially the evening nap.
I've adapted directly to the 4.5 twice.
The first week is rough, but manageable. The real work comes for the next 4 weeks or so, as the adaptation drags on and on. I was injured just after the 1-month mark on the first adaptation, so I reverted to give my body maximum recovery capability.
The second time, my body knew the way it worked, and after a (relatively, let's be real here) mild first week, it just sort of stabilized halfway for the rest of the month adaptation. After about 6-8 weeks, my body seemed to "settle in" on the new schedule.
Anecdotal verdict: Adaptation intensity isn't bad, but given that it's not too far off what people are doing already (for example, I'm forced to get about 5 hours of sleep at night already, with no naps… alas) the body does take longer to adjust.
Informative post + you seem to know what you're talking about.
<quote> Then again, with 4.5 hours of sleep a night, you're not going to suffer much for the first several days, or maybe even a week, so it might feel like the adaptation process doesn't even kick in until you've been at it a while </quote>
This is so true and what made me leave a comment. I used to sleep, believe it or not, at least 11-12 hours daily. Sometimes even 14 hours. After hearing about polyphasic sleep, which is one of the most useful things I've ever done in my life I tried it. I'm on Everyman 4.5 core + 2 naps for more than 2 weeks now.
Even for someone who used to sleep a lot of hours it wasn't that hard on me the first days. In the morning I used to get up pretty refreshed and only get sleepy the last 30 mins before my nap(s). Now after 2 weeks I feel sleepy when I wake up in the morning and 30 mins before my nap as well. I guess what you said was right and probably I need more time to adapt. Nevertheless I absolutely love polyphasic sleep. And you who reads my comment should too, or die in your monophasic sleep!
Just kidding.
Hi!!! very nice article. You`ll probably interested to know, I`M currently on day 1 of my 4.5 core Everyman schedule. Opened a blogspot, just to keep track for myself, and if other people are interested in learning, or leaving feedback ;)
This shall be good!
Awesome — and a small woohoo for Bill Hicks; I’m a fan too ;)
Best of luck!!
I’ve never tried polyphasic sleeping before and I plan to start the everyman 4.5 in about a week…I’ll let you know how it goes.