Think the "New Year" can fix everything that went wrong last year?
Yes and no. Tomorrow, or five minutes from now, could fix everything, done correctly…but done wrong, a whole new year, or new decade, will only bring more of the same.
It's important to turn over a new leaf, but easy to be impatient, and to forget where real change comes from.
I loved this infographic, depressing and glazed with snark as it is, because it reminds very well how changing the surface of our actions, when the underlying mindset remains the same, has very little effect. "The How," as Tolle put it (paraphrasing the Vedas), "matters more than the What."
Thanks PD!
I'll get your book and do my best to tweak my sleep.
Best,
CJ
Puredoxyk,
I'd have another quick question for you.
In "Fantastic Advice for Troubled Polyphasers", you wrote that we should "Sleep on time & sleep when tired."
I've been on Uberman for 2 months now and I still oversleep on average three times a week for about three hours each time.
When I oversleep, I start to feel really tried in the few 4-hour cycles before. Then at one point I nap and BAM I wake up three hours later, usually feeling like crap.
What would you recommend? Should I do extra 20-minute naps when I feel tired?
If I do, should I also stick to the 6 scheduled naps and do them strictly on schedule? Is moving these scheduled naps around 15 minutes (ie., wait until I'm tired) a problem, or should I really stick to the schedule (even if I'm not especially tired when time's up)?
Thanks again very much for your help,
Carl
Hi Carl,
I’m guessing these tirednesses & oversleeps probably happen at the same time during the day/night, yes? It sounds like you probably need to tweak a nap — that one or more of your naps isn’t resting you enough, so you run out of energy and then oversleep. That you oversleep 3 hours is actually a pretty good sign that you’re otherwise adapted — weird, I know, but that’s how it works for me, too; if I’m polyphasic and I oversleep, it’s going to be by 3 hours, usually.
The tweaking may be necessary because of something strenuous you do during a typical day, or how your food-energy-intake is spaced out, or who knows what; but it’s true that a lot of people need to scoot one nap a tiny bit in order to make the schedule really click. It’s a tricky process, but of course the good news is that while you do it, you still get to keep the mostly-perfect schedule you have now, so that’s not so bad. ;) My book has a whole section on how to tweak naps, if that’s helpful. The Google Polyphasic Group may know something about it as well.
Good luck, and congratulations on getting so far already!
PD
Cool, thanks. Might look into that. For now, I just want it to work =) CJ
Hey Carl,
I'm not sure where the myth about there being no deep sleep while on Uberman.
I've heard people say that the reason Uberman works is that you get only REM… except that people who actually have been on Uberman do mention having deep sleep (i.e. not all naps are REM only, not all naps contain REM at all, and if they've overdone some physical training, often they need to wait for a 'deep' nap to feel completely restored).
I'd suggest getting a Zeo so you can track your naps yourself (I have a zeo, and it's been incredibly enlightening so far! I haven't had trouble with the headband falling off, YMMV.)
Hey!
Thanks for your answer.
I'm a PhD student in public health and my best buddy is about to be an MD. So I've read everything about sleep in three of his medical physiology textbooks and…
1. REM sleep seems vital; the other phases (deep sleep) may not be.
2. Experts agree we don't know much about sleep.
Glad to hear you feel great after four years of polyphasic sleep. I get you're on Everyman now. I'm a little more worried about Uberman, since there's no deep sleep. Still, my (brief) research suggests it seems safe.
Another point about everyman: the Spanish and their colonies have been doing Everyman 1-nap forever and are just as healthy as other people.
Thanks again for your wisdom.
Carl
Hi Puredoxyk,
Was't sure where to post this, but here goes:
Just wanted to thank you big time for the information you put up about the Uberman schedule.
I've just switched in 6 days to full Uberman and I'm loving it! Did get sleep deprivation, but almost none of the zombie state you write about. At first I couldn't sleep during naps, but now I fall asleep immediately and wake up reasonably refreshed when the alarm goes off 20 minutes later.
This is going to give me so much more time to enjoy life and work on my PhD, I still can't believe it.
I'd end with a quick question: the long-terms effects on health of polyphasic sleep are not known, right? That's my only concern.
Thanks again!
CJ
Hi Carl — Wow, and congratulations! It’s nice to have someone else boggling over how cool Uberman is, and how profound the impact is once you switch. Nice work!!
Due to the lack of formal studies, long-term health effects are indeed unknown. At least in me, though, there have been no negative effects over more than four years of polyphasic sleep, and I’ve yet to hear of anything that indicates a likely problem. To be responsible though, we still have to call it an unknown.
Thanks!