Travelling

Travelling on a polyphasic schedule is tricky, though it's generally achievable with sufficient preparation. However, the level of difficulty is largely dependent on the specific schedule being followed and, crucially, how much the timezone changes.

Dealing with time zones

The main challenge of travelling is adjusting to a new time zone. The bigger the change, the more difficult it is to handle.

Stick to the original schedule

This is the most recommended option. If possible, you should sleep at the same times as you've slept originally, which means sticking to the time of the original timezone. This way, it's possible to avoid physically shifting the schedule, and the adaptation will not be affected too much. This is a good choice if the time zone change is minor (2-3 hours).

However, if it's a significant shift (e.g. 12 hours), this option is significantly less viable. It would require scheduling the cores when it's daytime locally and staying awake through the night. In that situation, it's necessary to maintain an artificial dark period to simulate nighttime, or choose one of the options below instead.

Shift the schedule to match the new timezone

Another option is shifting the sleep times to match the new local time. So, if your nap was at 11am back home, it is still at 11am in the new place. The main issue here is that the circadian rhythm has to adjust, and the more it adjusts, the more adaptation might take a hit. In the worst case scenarios, the schedule might be destabilized entirely, which would require going through the recovery and starting anew, so it's usually best to avoid this option unless you don't have other choices.

Return to monophasic sleep for the duration of the trip

If the time zone is rotated too far, this might be the best option. This would cause the adaptation to be set back in most cases, and it would be necessary to start over when you get back.

Sleep schedules and travel

How difficult it is to handle switching time zones depends largely on which schedule you follow.

Least suitable

The schedules that are least suitable for travelling are mainly the schedules with long core sleeps at night. Examples include regular Everyman schedules, Dual core schedules, TC1, TC2. The more sleep reduction, the more difficult it would be to handle travelling, especially if one isn't stably adapted yet.

However, if the time zone isn't changed too much, it's relatively easy to travel while following some of the milder schedules with the total sleep time of ~5 hours. In that case, it is recommended to stick to the original schedule without rotating it.

Somewhat suitable

These are schedules that don't reduce sleep significantly. Examples include Siesta, Segmented, E1, and also the extended versions of the regular schedules, typically around 6 hours of total sleep. When shifting the time zones, these schedules tend to be more forgiving comparing to the regular versions with less sleep. It is still recommended to stick to the original schedule, however some people might be able to rotate the schedule temporarily without destabilizing the adaptation too much.

Generally suitable

The flexible schedules together with the non-reducing schedules are generally suitable for travelling.

• A non-reducing schedule (e.g. BiphasicX) would be a good choice. Their flexibility is generally high, which makes it possible to rotate the schedule. However, that would cause jet lag similarly to the jet lag of monophasic sleepers, so it will be necessary to stick to your new sleep times and manage light/dark exposure.
• Flexible schedules like Sevamayl and Ducamayl are also worth considering. However, both of them have night cores, and they aren't equiphasic, so big time zone jumps would be challenging.

Most suitable

The best schedules for travel are often the equiphasic ones, with the blocks of sleep spread out evenly during the day.

• Triphasic and QC0 are equiphasic schedules, so they are suitable for time zone switch.
• Camayl is even more suitable than QC0, offering an additional advantage of high flexibility.
• Nap only schedules such as Uberman, Dymaxion, Spamayl would not be affected by time zone changes at all as long as you stick to the original schedule strictly.

Tips for travelling

• Plan the trip so that your cores or naps align with the flight.
• If you have plans to travel, make sure you fully adapt to your schedule in advance, and gradually introduce flexibility if possible.
• If you haven't started your schedule, it's best to wait until after you come back from your trip.

Flexing

It is highly recommended to adapt to the schedule in advance before travelling, which may take 1 to 2 months. After making sure that the adaptation is successful and stable, it is recommended to gradually adapt to flexing (this only applies to the milder schedules, e.g. E2. It is generally impossible to introduce flexibility while following the extreme schedules such as nap only). Adapting to flexing would require an additional period of 1 to 2 months, so it's recommended to plan for this in advance.