Did the Pandemic Change How We Sleep
The concept of napping has actually began to gain momentum as a legitimate practice for highly effective and productive people. It wasn’t long ago that it was considered a practice for elderly retired people and some highly progressive tech companies like Google. However, with the pandemic changing the way we think of our work day the practice of napping, either power napping or even what is referred to as poly-phasic sleeping has garnered more attention.
There are numerous studies that reinforce the importance of good healthy sleep. I was surprised to see however, the number of studies that support some form of regenerative napping during the day. The famous “power nap” is one practice wherein someone rests just long enough NOT to enter REM sleep—usually 20 minutes or so. I have heard of the “key method” of power napping where executives would lay on their office couch with their arm extended off the side with their keys in their hand. When they got to the point of entering REM sleep and the body begins to twitch slightly they drop the keys on the ground and the noise wakes them from sleep. However you manage to wake up, this type of short nap has been shown to increase awareness and reduce signs of fatigue.
A different concept I have recently been exposed to is the concept of phasic sleeping. A normal 8 hours of sleep in one session is called monophasic—a single sleep phase that encompasses all the sleep you will get for a 24 hour period. Bi-phasic sleep sessions are split into two periods. One type of bi-phasic sleep essentially models the siesta concept in many latin countries—the idea that you get a large block of sleep at night for about 4 to 6 hours and then an additional 90 minutes during the afternoon when chemicals in the brain tend to trigger more fatigue. Another form of bi-phasic sleeping is going to bed earlier at around 10pm and sleeping until about 2am. You would then wake up for about 2 to 3 hours and then return to sleep for another 2 to 3 hours. The latter is geared towards those people who tend to wake at around 1am to 2am and are always restless for a time but then fall into deep sleep again around 5am.
A more unique practice is the poly-phasic sleep schedules. These usually include a larger block of sleep at night for around 4 hours and then numerous 20 to 30 minute naps throughout the day and possibly one more larger block for 1 to 2 hours. There are multiple ways to schedule poly-phasic sleeping depending on your work and home schedule and many other personal factors.
Researchers point out in many of these studies that the bi-phasic and poly-phasic sleep models more naturally coincide with physiological patterns that have been in our DNA since we were hunter/gatherers. The introduction of artificial light began to move people towards the monophasic style of sleep. For those who actually have sleep disorders these types of phasic alternatives could help with treatment.
Why am I so fascinated with sleep? When any executive has productivity or efficiency issues one of the things I would discuss with them is how they are sleeping. A lack of good quality sleep is an absolute productivity killer and the majority of the population cannot function on 4 hours of sleep every night. But for those who can factor in one of these alternative phasic sleep schedules they may be able to counteract some of the damage they are doing by only getting 4 hours of sleep every night.
What is your sleeping schedule like? Have you ever tried one of these alternative poly-phasic sleep patterns? Leave a reply in the comments and let us know how your sleep schedule works for you and if you would be willing to try one of these alternatives.
Jason Kistler