How I Learned to Sleep Only Three Hours Per Night (and Why You Should Too)

I am here to challenge everything you thought you knew about sleep.

I’ve always needed a lot of sleep. A week before doing this experiment I tried buying myself more time by sleeping just six hours per night.

It wasn’t sustainable. In fact, I was so groggy and sleep deprived it had the unintended result of lower overall productivity.

So, naturally I was skeptical when I heard you could sleep just three hours per night with no adverse effects.

But I had nothing to lose. In fact, IF THIS WORKED, I could gain the extra time I’ve been seeking for years. So I HAD to try it out.

Here are my experiences and lessons from the most incredible sleep experiment I’ve ever tried.

A Quick Lesson on Sleep

If you’ve ever used a sleep tracker you’ll notice sleep is split into two categories — light sleep and deep sleep.

During light sleep you are settling in, moving fairly frequently, muscles relaxing, body cooling, and lightly dreaming. This represents 60% of sleep.

Deep sleep contains two phases — deep and Rapid Eye Movement (REM).

During deep sleep you are hardly moving, you aren’t dreaming, and your body is repairing cells, consolidating memories, and building up muscle tissue.

During REM sleep your brain is active again and you are dreaming intensely. The science isn’t clear on what exactly REM sleep does, but it’s suggested that it plays an important role in memory storage and mood balancing. Things you wouldn’t want to mess with.

Combined, deep and REM account for 40% of sleep.

Polyphasic Sleep — The Everyman Method

So how does one sleep only three hours at night and still get enough deep sleep?

Polyphasic Sleep (as opposed to Monophasic sleep, or sleeping once a day) is the idea of breaking your sleep into smaller chunks, or naps, to maximize your waking hours.

The hope is to drop light sleep and achieve deep sleep each time you close your eyes.

Polyphasic Sleep has many forms.

The most extreme one is the Uberman method. It consists of six 20-minute naps for two total hours of sleep a day.

A less extreme form and the one I’ve chosen for myself is dubbed the Everyman method. It consists of one “core” sleep lasting between 3–4 hours, and three 20-minute naps throughout the day for a total of four to five hours.

I have chosen the Everyman method as it provides more flexibility. Also, to be honest the idea of never sleeping for more than 20 minutes intimidates me. Perhaps that’ll be my next experiment.

So what are the benefits? Why should you deprive yourself of a glorious eight hours of sleep?

Uninterrupted Time

Think of the last time you had a five hour block of fully-focused, uninterrupted time. Can you imagine the possibilities if you had that every day?

No one else is waking up at 3am. Which means no one is emailing, Slacking, or texting at 3am.

I use my daily uninterrupted time to (finally) take coding seriously, start this blog, do more research, and enhance my writing abilities.

I discovered that doing everyday things like reading the news, watching Youtube, or playing games are not worth sleeping less over.

Thus, many temptations to let my mind wander are naturally eliminated, making these morning hours ultra-productive.

Better Sleep

Not more, but better.

My first few days were rough. I don’t often nap during the day, and it was difficult for me to learn to unwind.

But this issue didn’t persist for long because missing a single nap feels like missing a whole night of sleep. Enough missed and poor naps and I was shocked into a proper schedule.

It’s amazing how great I feel if I get a good core and three solid naps. I sleep from 10pm-2am, 540am-6am, 1140am-12pm, and 440pm-5pm. You can move those times to fit your work and social life.

I no longer get post-lunch, food-induced comas. Sleeping right before lunch eliminates this issue. Trading 20 minutes before lunch for 2 hours of lost productivity after lunch is a killer deal.

Although I get really tired four times a day (it sets in about 30 minutes before core and 5 minutes before naps), I am attentive and sharp for many more hours than before.

Topping up four times a day rather than one has a way of keeping you fresh.

More Time to Do What You Want

I have many interests. I enjoy reading, staying current on events in politics and tech, designing and building things, watching Netflix and VidAngel, executing on ideas, writing, outdoor recreation, listening to music, learning new skills, videography, and photography, to name but a few.

But as much as I enjoy these hobbies, I refuse to compromise family time or work performance for them.

Now I spend more time with family, get more work done, and explore more of my interests.

Some Tips

Don’t drive if you are tired! This may seem obvious, but when you are tired on the Everyman schedule, you are really tired. My wife has teased me for how I can be delirious right before bedtime. Don’t drink caffeine. It’ll throw everything off, and you won’t be able to calm your mind as easily. No sense in introducing another obstacle. Put your headphones in and listen to ambient sound. It can be difficult to unwind enough to nap in the middle of the day — especially when it’s bright outside. Ambient sound can help you block out noise and focus internally. I use the Noisli app. Rain and fire at 100%, leaves at 20%. Make sure you are passionate about something. It can be challenging to wake up after only three hours of sleep. If you don’t have something you are yearning to do, you won’t have the motivation to wake up. I switch things up regularly to make sure I stay motivated. A few things on my list include study how to write better, actually write, learn HTML/CSS/Javascript, read out loud in Japanese (helps with retention and pronunciation), build out my portfolio, create movies, and read books. Need an idea starter? Here’s a handy list Buzzfeed put together on things to learn and do. Find a schedule that works for you. I work from home so I have the luxury of dictating my hours. My friend who introduced me to Polyphasic sleep doesn’t. He takes one nap right before work and one right after. But he still needs to take one at work. He made it clear to his boss that this was an important thing to him. His boss accommodated and lets my friend take his pre-lunch nap in a break room. This request really shouldn’t be a big deal. Plenty of people take bathroom breaks longer than 20 minutes. Listen to your body. You’ll feel extra tired over the first week, but if you are sick or otherwise afflicted, return to a normal sleep pattern. There aren’t any long-term studies on the benefits and detriments of Polyphasic sleep. Therefore, proceed at your own risk. Everyone experiences discomfort for the first week as they acclimate. Don’t give up too early, but don’t push it too far.

Bottom Line

I like to experiment. I love discovering new tools and methodologies for improving my life. This blog is going to be about the lessons I learn through my research and experimentation.

I constantly seek to disrupt my habits and patterns in hopes of elevating or shifting my paradigms. It’s the best way to take personal growth into my own hands.

Polyphasic sleep is one of those game changers.

In this case, the big WHAT IF was so appealing that I started the night I heard about it. Sure the initial sleep depravation was rough, but the productivity gains were immediate.

Regardless of how long I continue the Everyman method of sleep, I know I am better off for having done it.

If you decide to try Polyphasic sleep in any of its forms, please, let me know. And if you have lessons of your own, please share those too!

Enjoy your extra time :)