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So, do you ever think about how cool it would be if there were more hours in a day?
You could easily have time for everything: work, hobbies, friends and family.. or just lazing around doing nothing at all.
But enough dreaming, let's get back to reality!
The only way to make it happen is by sleeping less, but would that actually work without turning you into a tired grouch?
Well, BRIGHTSIDE spoke to a man who one day decided that sleeping is for the weak and
Adjusted his daily routine to leave only two to four hours for sleep, and here's what he said
Where did the idea come from? Rumor has it that great minds like Leonardo Da Vinci, Nikola Tesla
Salvador Dali and a whole slew of other geniuses of the like practice so-called polyphasic sleep
Which mean they slept for only about one to four hours a day in a nutshell
polyphasic sleep is a sleep pattern where you drastically cut your bed time during the night, and
Add a couple of twenty to thirty minute naps throughout the day. It sounds a bit crazy,
But in the end you'll wind up with a few additional days every week
Plus the most crucial stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement sleep lasts exactly 20 to 30 minutes
And this is the peak time for your brain to recharge and de-stress
Just like many other people I'm pretty much always short of time every month
I decide that I want to start going to the pool regularly
But instead I go home lie down and binge on another YouTube marathon
I'm usually late for meetings
and I procrastinate all my important tasks until the next day, so at one point I
Decided that enough is enough and the time has come to try polyphasic sleep.
Before we go any further, you should know that polyphasic sleep has a couple of possible schedules to pick from
If you want to try it you can choose between five standard ones
or from those practiced by history's finest, like Winston Churchill, who slept for six and a half hours a day or
Nikola Tesla who preferred to leave two hours and 20 minutes for snoozing. You can also do what I did and
Make up your own schedule there are also different online time schedule calculators that they can help you with that
So my final sleep schedule consisted of four hours of sleep at night
And two twenty five minutes sleep breaks during the day. One after lunch and the other after my work shift
Here's how the next couple of days went
Day one the experiment started out fantastically to be honest I went to bed at 1:30 a.m.
And woke up at 5:30
I had plenty of extra time before work
So I finally did all the housework and made it to-do list for the entire week. To keep up with the schedule
I brought a sleep mask and earplugs to work.
After lunch, I just found a quiet place to really relax and try to fall asleep
I tried the same thing at home, but I couldn't fall asleep within 25 minutes. Well. I guess that'll change in the next few days
Day two
Before I started this experiment
I had talked to a couple of people that tried it and managed to master this type of sleeping pattern
They warned me that it takes several weeks to get used to it until then especially for the first two weeks
You basically feel like a zombie
And this is exactly what happened to me on day two I was incredibly tired and emotionally drained
Day 3 at this point there was no today or tomorrow all the days turned into one big blur
But I was finally able to fall asleep during like 25-minute breaks
However, I didn't feel any better after them every now
And then I thought to myself "why on earth am I doing this I should just go to bed."
It took a lot of effort and willpower to overcome this rough patch and continue the experiment
Day four the blurry state of mind became almost a norm for me if someone started to talk to me
I just stood there and stared blankly ahead of me it took too much energy for me to keep up a conversation or even
simply reply to questions
I spent most of my time
staring off into space
my appearance also changed in the first four days and definitely not for the better
I looked way paler, and my eyes were constantly bloodshot with dark circles under them
Maybe the worst is over and it's going to get better from here
Day five
I started getting a little accustomed to my new sleep schedule. As soon as they close my eyes for a
25-minute nap I could immediately enter deep sleep
I even woke up earlier than I needed to and still felt a bit rested
I also had a lot of free time at night, so I decided to read more books and watch more documentaries
That's how I found out about a tribe in Brazil called the piryohae
People in this tribe never fully sleep. They just take 20-minute naps leaning back against a tree from time to time
They believe that when you sleep for too long you become less and less yourself
That's some deep introspective stuff right? Plus, they don't like sleeping in general so that helps
Day six and seven
I finally got fully used to polyphasic sleep almost every time I woke up from my naps
I felt like I had been sleeping for a solid few hours instead of just 25 minutes
Mental blocks and cloudiness completely vanished and my work capacity went back to normal
I managed to do more than I had ever imagined I could
I was reading books and watching movies every evening, and I was able to stop drinking coffee entirely!
Not to mention. I started going to the pool with long-last, so I'm back on track
Days eight through ten
My creativity and stamina improves significantly due to the fact that I could properly recharge my brain in time and regain my strength
After the afternoon nap it felt like a whole day had gone by and I was able to find the best solution to a problem
I couldn't figure out earlier all of the obvious signs of my exhaustion had disappeared too
and my complexion went back to how it was before
My experiment continued to give some great results. I felt all right and was more productive than ever
Days 11 through 14
At this point I decided not to stick to any certain sleeping schedule and just let my body decide for itself
When the best time to rest was and I felt really comfortable this way
I also pushed myself a little to know more about my limits
So I kept sleeping less and less through the night it turned out that two and a half hours of nighttime sleep
is enough for me if I have my daytime naps. If I want to sleep even less at night
I should just add one more sleep break, and that's it. That's basically how I do it now
the pros and cons of polyphasic sleep
Pros
Number one productivity
I managed to knock out my entire days to-do list before lunchtime
If this isn't the goal then I don't know what is. It's become way easier to solve any problems and complete all my tasks
Number two no more alarm clocks. I've started to notice that I wake up before the alarm clock even rings
And I don't feel so grumpy about it either. I'm just ready to hop up and get things done
Number three healthy food. It was hard to fall asleep on a full stomach
So during my experiment
I ate mostly light meals and natural foods. The result was obvious the feeling of heaviness in my stomach disappeared
I became more active and I even saved some cash. It was definitely worth it
number four: more exercise and books
With less time spent sleeping. I had more time to develop myself both physically and mentally. I've read all the books I wanted to
and I started going to the gym in the swimming pool
All this has resulted in me getting sick less often and feeling much more robust!
Cons
number one days turn into one big blur
We're all used to thinking of days as a series of dusts and dawns
But with polyphasic sleep the days all become an endless time stream
Dusk and dawn are just signals for people to fall asleep or to wake up and nothing more
Number two no more partying, I think I entered a serious more mentally mature phase of my life during this experiment
from that time on there were no go hard or go home parties or nights out with friends
and don't even get me started on alcohol. It ruins the whole schedule. I guess productivity requires sacrifices
Number three health-wise it's not for everybody in the beginning of the experiment
The drastic changes in your sleep are very hard for your nervous and circulatory systems
So be careful do your research and learn more about this topic before you start?
My thoughts after the experiment if your life is like one big to-do list that you just can't seem to keep up with
Then polyphasic sleep is probably for you. All jokes aside,
I definitely became more productive, and I have a lot of spare time that allows me to do everything
I want and even more. On the other hand, it can be difficult since the whole world is on a completely different
regimen
your friends and family might think it's weird when you tell them you can't go out with them or
Ask them to pause a movie so you can take a nap. In any case, it's your choice to make
Just do your homework first and then go for it. If this sort of dramatic change isn't for you. Don't worry
There are still lots of things you can do to improve your productivity
First of all, when you're trying to get something done turn off your phone it might sound a bit silly
But your phone is a huge distraction
You'll reply to one message here, read some news there and within a few minutes
You're on Instagram
Checking out celebrity profiles or on Twitter debating some new topic. Just put it down or turn on airplane mode
Trust us, your level of productivity will definitely increase
secondly stop waiting for the perfect moment
If you want to do something just do it. All the obstacles and roadblocks are in your head
in real life, It doesn't matter whether you start something on Monday or Thursday. What really matters is how much you've worked on it
Another thing is a messy workplace
You won't ever be able to do something quickly if your workplace isn't tidy
It just takes more time to find things and stresses you out even more, so clean it all up
And learn to keep it that way
it's no surprise that people you surround yourself with make a huge difference too
Try to steer clear from negative nancies and Debbie downers
You won't get any good energy or inspiration from people who are always depressed for the sake of being depressed
They'll instead just criticize all your ideas and make you doubt yourself and finally learn to say "No"
It's a magical word that everyone should know
Don't overload yourself with too many tasks, some of which you don't even care about.
Value your time and spend it on stuff that makes you happy and excited.
Do you have any tips of your own on how to be more productive?
Tell us in the comment section below
Don't forget to hit the like button and share this video with all of your friends
Maybe you'll find someone that would like to try a polyphasic sleep schedule with you.
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