Nights Awake: A College Student's Take on the Value of Sleep: Polyphasic Sleep: A Realistic Alternative

As a Trinity Student, my homework load is never predictable. Often times I will find myself awake at night, finishing an assignment, muttering to myself, "I'm going to regret being up this late tomorrow." I usually feel as though I am unaffected by a mere 4 or 5 hours of sleep until lunchtime, then I crash. My new semester schedule allows me to take multiple naps throughout the day. It would seem that a couple of 30 minute naps between classes really wouldn't make a large difference in my bodily needs, but this commonly held belief may be wrong.

This blog provides information regarding Polyphasic Sleep Cycles: Alternate Sleep Cycles | High Existence. It basically argues that the commonly held belief, that 8 hours of sleep during the night is necessary, is not true. We can get enough sleep through naps throughout the day; thereby increasing time efficiency. I looked up the claims, and they are accurate.
This Men's Health Article , provides a lot of information and experimentation regarding polyphasic sleep.

So far, my hybrid polyphasic sleep schedule (5 hour sleep at night, two 45 minute naps in the afternoon) works quite well. However, when I looked further into ways to increase one's sleep efficiency, I found a nifty app for my iPhone. I have yet to use the app, but it has incredible reviews. In my next blog post I will upload a graph provided by the app that tracks my overnight sleep schedule. Basically, this app uses the iPhone's accelerometer to record your movement as you sleep. It will recognize when you enter your lightest stage of sleep the final time before your alarm clock goes off. This way you wake up extremely refreshed, and with extra time to spend. Here is a photo of the app from my iPhone that shows how it works: