Alternate Sleep Cycles?
Has anyone tried "sleep hacking", like polyphasic sleep patterns? I'm giving the "dymaxion" sleep schedule a try, sleeping for 30-minute intervals every 5.5 hours at 5:45 and 11:45, both AM and PM. It seems the most efficient sleep cycle from internet research, but as I've only just begun I have no idea how well it will actually work in practice for me.
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My advice: Get an interval timer and set it to give you an alarm 1/2 an hour before a sleep period. Make a small ritual to indicate to your body that your about to sleep. For me, I did a two minute series of stretches each time. Get high quality noise canceling head-phones and download some binaural beats. I used a binaural beat program and audacity to make my own 15 minute mp3s. They have an induction/relaxation period. A minute before wakeup this transitions to a wakeup/stimulation beat. Then at minute 15, some kind of stimulating sounds occur to wake you up. You'll need something to cover/obscure your eyes.
Those cheap sleep eye covers won't cut it either. They let light in around the sides. You'll figure something out.
Also, use your time wisely. No one will be around to keep you company at 1am so it's a great time to exercise and clean etc. You'll have to stay physically active at night, because it's the hardest time not to crash.
Also, in the day use small doses of melatonin. Sound antiintuitive, but the lack of melatonin being expressed is associated with higher levels of cancer. You can look up studies on people who work swing shifts and night shifts. It shortens your life, unless you take care to supplement.