Sleep-related problems can severely impact a person’s quality of life, and I know a great many people struggle with insufficient sleep. I’m starting this thread both to share my experience in case it’s helpful to someone else, and to create a place for others to share their experiences, offer support, give and get advice, etc.
To the usual trolls, please note: This thread is about a real life medical condition. You can be kind and troll elsewhere.
My Story
For the last two years or so, I’ve been dealing with the problem of insomnia. I’ve always been a “night owl,” but around 2023, things started to progress beyond “I like to stay up late” to “I can’t fall asleep” to “I can’t stay asleep.” Over time, the occasional rough night became a perpetual problem. I began staying up later and later, trying to make sure I was tired enough to sleep through until morning. Eventually, even that didn’t work, and I would fall asleep at 03:30 only to wake at 05:00, unable to fall asleep again.
Of course, sleeping less at night ended up making me tired during the day, so I would sneak in a nap, which then affected my ability to fall asleep the following night. Soon, it became a vicious cycle. I was always tired but never able to sleep as much as (I thought) I should.
I tried forcing myself to stay awake for prolonged periods, attempting to “reset,” but that never seemed to work. I was also very hesitant to use powerful sleep agents, for fear of addiction and side effects. I would occasionally resort to taking a Benadryl, but even that I used sparingly.
Recent developments
I’ve had some recent success on this front, but I want to stress that it is still early days. Long term results haven’t yet been determined.
Not long ago, I started logging the times of day when I felt the most drowsy. After a week of tracking, a pattern emerged, showing some fairly regular clusters at around 01:00, 09:00, and 17:00. Plotting that out, it was pretty clearly an eight-hour interval. I then recalled an article I’d once read about polyphasic sleep in pre-Industrial times.
Short summary: Polyphasic sleep refers to sleeping in multiple periods throughout the day and/or night. This differs from monophasic sleep, which is what most of us are used to in the Industrial Age (sleeping in one continuous period, solely at night). It turns out most mammals are polyphasic sleepers, and humans were as well prior to the widespread use of gas and electric lighting. We rose and retired with the sun, but had extended periods of wakefulness during the night.
Further research on my part led to some NASA and military studies on the effects of polyphasic sleep. What was found was that humans required less sleep overall if shorter sleep periods were regularly spread out. The most extreme schedule was to sleep for 30 minutes every 5.5 hours. This resulted in 22 hours of waking and 2 hours of sleep per 24-hour cycle. Notably, the reduced sleep did not take a physical or cognitive toll on the subjects. This research was followed by some studies in academia, with some subjects reportedly following the regimen for several years without ill effects.
My approach
I wasn’t prepared to assume such an extreme schedule as the 22/2 Dymaxion sleep pattern, but an eight-hour interval seemed to be my natural circadian rhythm. Deciding to listen to my body, I’ve divided my day into thirds, sleeping during the following periods:
01:00 - 03:00
09:00 - 11:00
17:00 - 19:00
This provides 18 hours of waking and 6 hours of sleep in a 24-hour cycle.
Results
SO FAR, with less than two weeks of trial, the results seem very positive. Lying down at the designated times, I fall asleep quickly, go into REM, dream, and wake naturally. I experience brief sleep inertia on waking (~10 minutes), then full wakefulness for the following 5+ hours. Toward the end of the six-hour period (the last ~30 minutes or so), I start to get drowsy and I’m ready again for sleep at the designated time. Note, however, that this drowsiness is mild, not the head-nodding, eyelid-drooping fatigue I was experiencing before.
The first few days of the trial were definitely an adjustment. It sometimes took me 20 minutes or more to fall asleep, and I would at times sleep for up to +/- 30 minutes under or over the target sleep period. As I established a routine, the schedule tightened. I now lie down, fall asleep in two minutes or less, and wake at the appropriate time. Again, I don’t use any kind of alarm clock. I closely follow my schedule, but I let myself sleep and wake naturally. As the routine has locked in, it seems my body wants to sleep for almost exactly two hours per session. I also don’t struggle to fall asleep anymore. Working with my natural rhythm instead of against it, I now lie down and go right out.
Accommodations
I’m fortunate to have an occupation that affords me work flexibility, but I also share a home with someone else. We’ve had to adjust our schedules and designate quiet times for both of us, since she sleeps during parts of my wake periods and I sleep during parts of hers. Two of my sleep periods are in daylight hours, so I use a blackout mask and sometimes earplugs. Meals and daytime appointments have to be scheduled around my new sleep periods.
I haven’t yet been forced to miss a sleep period, so I can’t say what the effect of that would be, or how long it would take to get back on schedule.
On the plus side, I have roughly 18 hours of productive time each day, and I no longer suffer from waking fatigue or the brain fog that insomnia often caused me. My creativity and ability to focus have dramatically improved. I no longer feel like I’m fighting my internal clock, or stressing out about missing sleep. My early wake period also affords me some predawn hours for activities like taking a walk before the sun comes up. (I live in a climate with extreme summers, so this is a big deal).
In short, so far, so good.
I doubt I’m alone
Anyone else out there in New Eden also struggling with insomnia? Have you developed a successful management strategy or are you still trying to find one? Have you come up with an unusual routine to get sufficient sleep? Are you a “strange sleeper?” I’d love to hear your stories.