There is a sleep method called biphasic sleep . Which basically consists of modifying our sleep habits, with the aim that we can sleep fewer hours during the day, without it affecting our health, or being tired during the day due to lack of sleep. On the contrary, it aims to leave us with more energy to carry out our daily activities than usual.
The biphasic sleep method
The sleep biphasic as its name suggests, consists of sleeping in four phases , but these two phases, not very intuitive at the start, required many scientific studies to arrive at what it is today.
First of all, it should be clarified that this is a simple vision of what biphasic sleep is, and that it should not be taken as a guide without investigating a little more and even consulting a doctor in case of doubt.
The two phases are:
- 4,5 hours of sleep - 00:30 a.m. - 5:00 a.m.
- 1h30 of sleep - 18:00 p.m. - 19:30 p.m.
Sleep is divided into cycles of an hour and a half , based on the duration of a 90-minute REM cycle, a cycle in which we go through all stages, including dreaming.
Le sleep biphasic specifies that one should have a long sleep ( Core Sleep ) in the morning, consisting of 3 REM cycles of 90 minutes, for a total of 4 hours.
And one more cycle in the afternoon to complete the lack of sleep that you feel when you sleep less than 5 hours.
Overall, sleep biphasic allows you to sleep 6 hours a day, but the benefits of this sleep biphasic go far beyond being able to sleep a little less.
Benefits of biphasic sleep
At first it may seem crazy to reduce the number of hours of daily sleep for no apparent reason, and many will go against all the scientific and medical studies that have been done on this subject by saying without argument that it affects the health. Nothing could be further from reality.
Among the advantages that we can find, it is much less difficult to get up early in the morning (5:00 a.m.) even when we go to bed after midnight. And that in principle it is difficult to fall asleep a few minutes after bedtime, but this also changes over time and the body becomes more disciplined.
Moreover, on the afternoon of the first day, you may not even be able to fall asleep for the stipulated hour and a half. But the next day, you will feel a little more need to sleep in the afternoon, and day by day it gets easier until reaching the point that if it is 6:5 p.m., our body is asking us to sleep, and we are almost like we would normally be awake at XNUMX:XNUMX a.m. without having slept. However, be sure to bring blackout curtains or a sleep mask so you can sleep during the day.
If you have a lot of free time, try to occupy it in something that allows you to stay focused at least during the adaptation phase, because otherwise it will become complicated not to be sleepy the first days, and more complicated not to not succumb to the temptation to go to sleep, especially if you work from home in your bedroom, with your bed 2 meters away.
Recommendations for biphasic patients
Here are some recommendations for those who dare to apply this particular way of sleeping to save time and increase body energy levels during the day.
Stage of adaptation of biphasic sleep
- be strict : Focus on hours of sleep for the first 10 days. Get the alarm as loud as possible to make sure you don't oversleep. Going to bed and waking up on time is one of the best ways to ease the initial adjustment.
- Follow your body's need : at first you will feel a little tired for at least the first 3-4 days, and have no doubt that if at any time you inevitably need to take an extra nap, you can do so without any problem and without greatly affecting your habits. The important thing is that you don't always do this.
- Health problems : If for any reason you start to get sick or suffer from extreme fatigue, insomnia or similar symptom, you should cancel and consult your doctor first before continuing with the biphasic sleep , although it is a proven method , our metabolisms may be different and you may not be able to adapt in the long term. It is therefore better to cancel in advance than to suffer later.
- Skip the extra 5 minutes : We are used to thinking with our monophasic sleep that sleeping a little more increases energy levels, when it is the exact opposite. You should avoid sleeping 5 minutes longer and postponing the alarm, as this is how most oversleeping occurs, which has the consequence of delaying the adaptation period and generally leaving us asleep for the rest of the day. daytime. The sleep biphasic is a very strict method initially, so you must do the same when applying it.
Post-adaptation stage of biphasic sleep
- Skip a nap : You may be a little worried that at some point you will have to skip a nap or postpone it for a few hours. Well, the truth is that one of the great advantages of this method is that after successful adaptation, it can be flexible enough for a day to party (frenzy, rumba) and sleep 4,5 hours later, or even sleep 10 hours as if you were single phase for a day. Many even do it once a month.
- Return to single phase : If at any time you wish to return to single phase, it is much simpler, although in the first days it is normal to feel the need to continue sleeping in the afternoon. The recommendation to avoid sleeping at all times is to be busy with something that involves thinking, so your brain forgets that you are sleepy.
Obviously, it goes without saying that this works great for people who have a flexible schedule and aren't dependent on a boss or a strict schedule.
Now, mathematically, and considering we sleep 8 hours a day, saving 2,5 hours a day gives us an extra 17,5 hours a week. If the week had 8 days, and we had continued to sleep 8 hours, we would only have 16 hours, so this method is practically the materialization of one more day in the week.
