The short answer is: probably not.
If you are thinking about trying a polyphasic schedule, the first question you should be asking yourself is what are you going to do with all the extra time? Even under a relatively non-extreme schedule, like mine, you are gaining the equivalent of two extra days a week.
Except, it is not really equivalent. By definition, any time that you "gain" must be happening when everyone else is asleep. Which means that it is happening at night. In the dark. When others are trying to sleep. This significantly limits the sort of activities that can fill the "gained" time. Unless you live in a true 24-hr city, you can not run errands. You can not make business calls or have meetings. You also can not do anything social. Your monophasic friends are not going to appreciate a 3am phone call to get together and hang. If you live with someone else, you will need to choose activities that are quiet. Additionally you can not do anything that requires daylight, like weeding the garden or white-water kayaking. Surprisingly, even web-surfing is oddly limited. There are no updates during the night on my favorite websites. There are no facebook posts or emails.
So what CAN you do with the extra time? There seem to be two options. Either you are playing World of Warcraft (in which case your rigid sleep schedule is going to irritate your group), or you are doing something creative. Not surprisingly, fighting boredom is one of the most common complaints that come up on polyphasic blogs. Everyone can use a little extra time, but most people are not going to be able to fill an extra 1500 hours a year.
If you are primarily a social person, then you will not experience any real gains by having extra waking time. If you are a creative person, are your (quiet) creative projects really going to fill 1500 hrs a year, or do you have a couple of 40-hr type projects? I find that it is easier to wake up and get going if I am excited about a current project. If you try polyphasic sleeping and find that you are fighting boredom, then go to sleep! What is the point of having a rigid schedule to give yourself something that you don't use?
If you are thinking about trying a polyphasic schedule, the first question you should be asking yourself is what are you going to do with all the extra time? Even under a relatively non-extreme schedule, like mine, you are gaining the equivalent of two extra days a week.
Except, it is not really equivalent. By definition, any time that you "gain" must be happening when everyone else is asleep. Which means that it is happening at night. In the dark. When others are trying to sleep. This significantly limits the sort of activities that can fill the "gained" time. Unless you live in a true 24-hr city, you can not run errands. You can not make business calls or have meetings. You also can not do anything social. Your monophasic friends are not going to appreciate a 3am phone call to get together and hang. If you live with someone else, you will need to choose activities that are quiet. Additionally you can not do anything that requires daylight, like weeding the garden or white-water kayaking. Surprisingly, even web-surfing is oddly limited. There are no updates during the night on my favorite websites. There are no facebook posts or emails.
White-water kayaking.
Daylight recommended.
For most people, stargazing
can only take up so much time.
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