What Is Polyphasic Sleep?

Medically reviewed by Valerie Cacho, MD

Polyphasic sleep involves sleeping for three or more short periods throughout the day. If you follow a polyphasic sleep schedule, you'll take several naps that give you between 2-5 hours of total sleep—rather than aiming for eight consecutive hours at night.

The average person follows a monophasic sleep pattern where you sleep for one chunk of time. People have experimented with polyphasic sleep for hundreds of years as an alternative sleep method that increases awake time. Today, fans of sleep hacking claim polyphasic sleep helps improve productivity and energy. However, there's no scientific evidence that polyphasic sleep patterns improve performance or health.

Polyphasic Sleep Schedules

Polyphasic sleep schedules can vary in structure, but they all cut total sleep time well below the recommended 7-9 hours. Polyphasic sleep may include one 3-hour nap followed by two or three 30-minute naps. A more extreme version can consist of six 20- to 30-minute naps throughout the day.

There are four main popularized polyphasic sleep schedules:

Dymaxion Schedule

According to a 1943 Time magazine article, the Dymaxion schedule involves sleeping for 30 minutes every six hours—bringing total sleep time to just two hours per day. This form of polyphasic sleep was created by American architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the Dymaxion house, car, and globe.

Uberman Schedule

The Uberman schedule involves sleeping for 20 minutes every four hours—totaling two hours of sleep per day. This schedule was created in 1998 by a college student named Marie Straver to help her insomnia. She found the sleep schedule gave her more time to accomplish things in the day, and named it after the German term Übermensch, a philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche that describes the ultimate human who has conquered themself.

Everyman Schedule

The Everyman schedule is a modified version of the Dymaxion and Uberman schedules that offer about four hours of sleep. With the Everyman schedule, you have a core sleep period of three hours plus three 20-minute naps daily. Straver also created the Everyman schedule in an attempt to create a polyphasic schedule that works better with a nine-to-five job.

Triphasic Schedule

Out of all the polyphasic schedules, the Triphasic schedule offers the most sleep at 4-5 hours. This schedule involves three naps per day, suggesting people nap for 1.5-2 hours after dusk, before dawn, and in the afternoon. This is another polyphasic sleep schedule created to be more compatible with typical 9-to-5 work schedules.

Benefits of Polyphasic Sleep

Polyphasic sleep schedules may allow you more awake time to get things done. However, claims that polyphasic sleep improves productivity or increases energy come from theoretical science and anecdotal claims. There isn't evidence that polyphasic sleep enhances mental clarity and productivity.

The creator of the Dymaxion schedule claimed polyphasic sleep gave him energy throughout the day, and he still felt "vigorous and alert" two years after starting the schedule. While no concrete science supports this claim, some people can operate on less sleep. It is possible to be born with a short sleep gene, which allows some people to operate optimally on less than 7 hours of sleep. In theory, people with this gene could work more productively on less sleep by maximizing their awake time.

Proponents of polyphasic sleep also claim the schedule can help increase energy levels by allowing people to enter short-wave sleep (deep sleep). This restorative and restful portion of sleep happens during the first few hours of each sleep episode. So, in theory, breaking up sleep into multiple naps may allow deeper sleep—even if you aren't getting a lot of it.

However, there's no evidence that people who follow polyphasic sleep patterns enter deep sleep faster or more often. Studies show most people are tired after following a polyphasic sleep schedule.

Potential Downsides of Polyphasic Sleep

Polyphasic sleep patterns are associated with daytime sleepiness, which may indicate you're not getting enough sleep. Polyphasic sleep doesn't offer adults the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep needed for the body and mind to function optimally.

Without enough sleep, you risk developing sleep deprivation—meaning you haven't gotten enough sleep for your body to function. Once sleep deprived, your physical and mental reaction time slows. You may start to become confused, feel moody, and have trouble thinking straight. Research also shows both long- and short-term sleep deprivation can put you at risk of developing: 

• Depression and anxiety

• High blood pressure (hypertension)

• Type 2 diabetes

• Weakened immune system

• Heart attack

• Stroke

Lack of sleep also affects your brain processing and hormones. Studies have specifically shown polyphasic sleep can negatively impact mood and memory. One study also found that college students who followed a polyphasic sleep schedule underperformed academically compared to students who followed a monophasic cycle.

Another small study found polyphasic sleep nearly eliminated human growth hormone release in five weeks. This hormone helps children grow and is essential for managing how your body turns food into energy to function, or your metabolism. 

Polyphasic sleep schedules can also be unrealistic and difficult to follow. The creator of the Dymaxion schedule eventually had to quit his job because his polyphasic sleeping didn't work with business hours. The creator of the Uberman schedule also quit after six months because of its difficulty and scheduling issues.

In a recent study following the Everyman polyphasic schedule, nine of the ten participants dropped out in the first month. Only one 25-year-old male stuck to the schedule. He only made it to five of the eight planned weeks before dropping out.

Does Polyphasic Sleep Work?

Polyphasic sleep patterns are often normal in some mammals, birds, and human infants. However, these short sleep schedules happen naturally and don't involve purposeful schedules and alarms to start and stop sleep.  

There is no solid evidence that polyphasic sleep schedules improve productivity or mental clarity in adults. Most claims that polyphasic sleep works are entirely anecdotal or based on unproven theories. Studies have not proven polyphasic sleep can increase time in a deep sleep stage. Research also continuously shows that people who follow polyphasic sleep schedules have trouble thinking clearly and are more tired during the day.

Polyphasic Sleep vs. Biphasic Sleep

Biphasic sleep, or bimodal sleep, is a sleep pattern that involves two periods of sleep. For example, a biphasic sleep schedule may include sleeping for five hours nightly and then taking a one-hour nap daily. You could also sleep for six hours at night and take a 20-minute nap during the day. A biphasic nap is sometimes called an afternoon siesta. 

The main difference between polyphasic and biphasic sleep is the periods of sleep. A biphasic sleep schedule always has two periods of sleep, while polyphasic has three or more. Biphasic sleep schedules also typically offer more time sleeping and occur more naturally than polyphasic sleep. Many cultures take short naps during the day, and it's typical for young children to need a nap in the middle of the day. 

Research also shows biphasic sleep may be more beneficial and less damaging than polyphasic sleep. A cross-sectional study of 400 adults found that people who followed biphasic sleep schedules had the lowest daytime sleepiness and impaired performance. Polyphasic sleep had the highest levels.

Who Would Polyphasic Sleep Be Good for?

Polyphasic sleep schedules may benefit people with unusual schedules who already deplete nighttime sleep. In fact, studies show college students and shift workers often follow polyphasic sleep cycles to work more hours during the day and spend less time sleeping at night. 

Students are at a possible advantage of getting enough sleep in a polyphasic model because they could sleep more during the day than adults who work full-time. However, the popularized polyphasic models don't offer the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep. There is also no research proving polyphasic sleep models benefit shift workers and students. Research shows these groups still deal with some brain function declines and excessive daytime sleepiness.

Again, there is no evidence that polyphasic sleep offers benefits. Students and shift workers are both at risk of developing cognitive decline and health issues related to sleep deprivation. People with strict work hours or existing health conditions won't want to try polyphasic sleep.

How To Switch to Polyphasic Sleep

It can be challenging to transition to a polyphasic sleep cycle if you follow a typical monophasic sleep schedule. It may take several weeks to adapt—if you can adapt at all. If you still want to try a polyphasic sleep schedule, gradually drop your sleep time and work your way to several short naps:

• Start with a polyphasic schedule that gives you 7-9 hours of sleep. Break up your typical sleep time into three periods, like six hours at night and two 1-hour naps during the day.

• Schedule naps around work hours. If you work a 9-5 job, try to nap at lunch and immediately after work hours.

• Test your new schedule for a week or so. If you feel okay after a week, add another daytime nap and reduce your total sleep time. This may look like 5 hours of sleep and three 30-minute naps.

• Keep gradually decreasing your sleep time. Reduce sleep time by 20-30 minutes each week. Aim to get down to three hours at night and take three 20-minute naps daily.

• Move to shorter naps if your schedule allows, and you're up for a more extreme polyphasic schedule. You can aim for six 20-minute naps a day or three 1.5-2-hour naps after dusk, before dawn, and in the afternoon.

Stop changing your sleep pattern if polyphasic sleep makes you too tired, unproductive, or affects your mood. These are signs of sleep deprivation.

A Quick Review

Polyphasic sleep is often viewed as an extreme sleep pattern. It involves sleeping for three or more short periods throughout the day. People who follow polyphasic sleep schedules usually only get 2-5 hours of sleep. This may be broken up into several 20-minute naps or one core sleep time of three hours plus several 20-minute naps.

Fans of polyphasic sleep claim it increases productive awake time by maximizing deep sleep periods with less time sleeping. However, no scientific evidence proves polyphasic sleep can benefit productivity or improve deep sleep. For many people, a polyphasic sleep schedule increases daytime sleepiness and puts you at risk of developing sleep deprivation.

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