Member-only story
I Tried Biphasic Sleeping for 23 Days. Here’s What Happened
My morning energy is through the roof and my afternoon crashes are gone
I was never able to go to sleep late and still manage a normal schedule. Most nights I could not sleep at all. After reading about successful biphasic sleepers, it seemed like something I should try.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to make of the idea of biphasic sleeping when I first heard of it. It sounded like a glorified nap schedule. Something that would leave you feeling groggy all day long.
After having struggling with my insomnia, and regular jet lag, I wanted to experiment with a new way of sleeping. I was desperate.
There’s nothing worse than feeling strung out the next day from a bad night’s sleep. It’s like having the hell of jet lag without the fun of a holiday.
So I tried biphasic sleeping for over three weeks. I slept from 2 am to 7 am and then again from 2 pm to 4.30 pm for 23 days. This way, I got all my necessary sleeping hours in without feeling groggy during the day or night.
And I was productive, happy and full of energy every day.
All I needed to do was work out a regular sleeping plan. But it wasn’t always easy. Here’s how I managed it, with some background to the theory and history behind this ancient way to sleep.
What is biphasic sleeping
Today, most people are monophasic sleepers. This involves sleeping in one segment of 6–8 hours.
Biphasic splits up sleep into two shorter periods. You can do biphasic sleep in a few different ways:
- Short nap. A 20-minute nap in the middle of the day, with 6 hours sleep at night.
- Longer nap. A 1 to 1.5-hour nap in the middle of the day, with 5 hours each night, like a traditional siesta.
- Evening nap. Sleep a couple of hours after the sun sets, wake a few hours later for 1 to 2 hours, and then a second sleep until sunrise.
The third option sounds a lot like waking up in the middle of the night and not getting back to sleep, doesn’t it? In fact, this was the norm for people in the 17th century.
