I Tried a Biphasic Sleep Cycle for a Week

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Abstract

laying Buzzfeed quizzes and watching random Youtube videos that I’ve probably already watched before.</p><p id="9442"><b>It was then that I stumbled across the Biphasic Sleep Cycle, which changed everything.</b></p><h1 id="cf17">What is a biphasic sleep cycle?</h1><p id="4152">A biphasic sleep cycle is a sleep pattern where you sleep twice a day. For example, this could mean taking an afternoon nap for a couple of hours and sleeping 4–5 hours at night. On the same tangent, monophasic sleeping is one period of sleeping, usually during nighttime, and polyphasic sleeping is having more than two segments of sleep.</p><p id="9ca1">Those who practice biphasic sleep usually sleep around 4–5 hours per night, with an afternoon nap of about 1–2 hours. Another option that people practice is two segments of sleep at night, or sleeping 6–8 hours at night, but in two chunks.</p><p id="e644"><b>I’ve found that practicing a biphasic sleep pattern of 4–5 hours at night, with an afternoon nap, increased my alertness, mood, and overall productivity.</b></p><h1 id="c38f">Why does biphasic sleeping work?</h1><p id="dd81">First, biphasic sleeping used to be the norm. In historian A. Roger Ekirch’s <i>At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past</i>, anthropolo

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gists have found that in preindustrial Europe, most people slept in a biphasic pattern, with a “first sleep” and “second sleep”. Instead of having a set bedtime, sleeping was determined by whether there was work to do.</p><p id="ec87">Moreover, remember when there was afternoon naptime in Kindergarten? Yeah, that was for a pretty good reason. Most research indicates that <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/12/12/nap-time-boosts-learning-studies-say.html">naps boost learning</a> in the long term for younger kids.</p><p id="0a83">This benefit also applies to adults. In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079209000963">study</a> on naps and cognitive performance, researchers found that daytime naps for adults are beneficial for improving memory and learning, all while increasing overall alertness. It also suggests that those who suffer from insomnia often sleep better in a biphasic pattern.</p><p id="d113">Overall, when I tried biphasic sleeping, I found that I was more awake overall. I stopped drinking coffee, and my unproductive afternoons were no longer putting a damper on my day. So, give biphasic sleeping a try! You might find that it will change your life too.</p></article></body>

And I’ve never felt more awake or been more productive.

Usually, my sleep routine looks like this: watch a lot of Youtube or a movie before bed, lay in bed staring at my phone for a while, and fall asleep at quite a late hour. Then, I sleep, sleep, and sleep until I need to wake up (or on the weekends, I stay in bed as long as I possibly can).

In the mornings, I’m pretty tired. I drink a cup of coffee, but it only really makes me feel awake for an hour or so before I start to feel drowsy again.

The most annoying part of my day used to be after lunch. After I finish my lunch, regardless of what I ate or how much I ate, I feel so drowsy I almost fall asleep. This is usually the most unproductive part of my day, the part when I’m on my computer mindlessly playing Buzzfeed quizzes and watching random Youtube videos that I’ve probably already watched before.

It was then that I stumbled across the Biphasic Sleep Cycle, which changed everything.

What is a biphasic sleep cycle?

A biphasic sleep cycle is a sleep pattern where you sleep twice a day. For example, this could mean taking an afternoon nap for a couple of hours and sleeping 4–5 hours at night. On the same tangent, monophasic sleeping is one period of sleeping, usually during nighttime, and polyphasic sleeping is having more than two segments of sleep.

Those who practice biphasic sleep usually sleep around 4–5 hours per night, with an afternoon nap of about 1–2 hours. Another option that people practice is two segments of sleep at night, or sleeping 6–8 hours at night, but in two chunks.

I’ve found that practicing a biphasic sleep pattern of 4–5 hours at night, with an afternoon nap, increased my alertness, mood, and overall productivity.

Why does biphasic sleeping work?

First, biphasic sleeping used to be the norm. In historian A. Roger Ekirch’s At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, anthropologists have found that in preindustrial Europe, most people slept in a biphasic pattern, with a “first sleep” and “second sleep”. Instead of having a set bedtime, sleeping was determined by whether there was work to do.

Moreover, remember when there was afternoon naptime in Kindergarten? Yeah, that was for a pretty good reason. Most research indicates that naps boost learning in the long term for younger kids.

This benefit also applies to adults. In a study on naps and cognitive performance, researchers found that daytime naps for adults are beneficial for improving memory and learning, all while increasing overall alertness. It also suggests that those who suffer from insomnia often sleep better in a biphasic pattern.

Overall, when I tried biphasic sleeping, I found that I was more awake overall. I stopped drinking coffee, and my unproductive afternoons were no longer putting a damper on my day. So, give biphasic sleeping a try! You might find that it will change your life too.