E4

This is an unadvisable schedule, as its total sleep time is considered to be below the bare minimum required for most people.

E4

Everyman 4
chart link Legend   Sleep   Dark period   Flexible sleep window
Total sleep	2 hours 50 minutes
Proposed by	Puredoxyk
Difficulty	Extremely hard
Specification	1 single-cycle core sleep, 4 naps around the day
Former names	Everyman 1.5

E4, or Everyman 4, is the fourth schedule in the Everyman line. E4 consists of one short 1.5-hour core, and 4 naps to be scheduled each day. At 2 hours and 50 minutes of total sleep, it is an extremely difficult schedule and very few have been able to adapt to it.

Origin

According to the Formula of Puredoxyk in her book Ubersleep, E4 and the similar E5 represents the last step in the transition between monophasic and Uberman. From E3, the core is further shortened and one more nap is inserted in the day to compensate for the lost REM.

Mechanism

As with other Everyman schedules, the core sleep should provide most or all of the needed amount of SWS, whereas the naps provide REM sleep and traces of light sleep. However, unlike on E3, the core sleep is simply not long enough to cover an average 90-120 minute SWS requirement. For this reason, at least one nap is likely to contain SWS, especially the last one near the evening.

Similar to E3, the core should be placed relatively early in the SWS peak. In terms of sleep placements, E4 resembles DC3, but with the second core being replaced with a nap. The gaps follow circadian sleep pressures, which are higher in the night and the morning, and lower in the afternoon. The 4-hour wake gaps between naps may fit into the BRACs. Since it is usually easier to stay awake in the afternoon and evening hours, the last wake gap before core is somewhat longer.

The sleep cycle in the core may naturally compress to as little as 60 minutes, which is caused by the greatly reduced total sleep and a high frequency of sleeps. That means its core duration is actually more than one full cycle, risking mid-cycle wakes until the brain adapts by placing light sleep at the trained wake time.

Adaptation

Further information: Uberman § Adaptation

Adapting to E4 is very harsh and involves extreme levels of sleep deprivation, similar to a milder version of Uberman. SWS is almost certainly cut short at the start of the adaptation, and it is very difficult to fit all of the needed amount into the short core. REM sleep will need to almost entirely be moved to naps. Sleepers with average vital sleep baselines (~90 minutes each of SWS and REM sleep) are unlikely to be able to sustain this schedule, and will likely incur chronic sleep deprivation should they remain on the schedule.

It may be possible to transition to E4 as a gradual adaptation from E3, but no one has successfully adapted this way. As E4 is likely below the threshold for many people, this transition may be impossible regardless of the method. The few people who have adapted to it so far did so cold turkey. E4 can also be a fallback for Uberman fails, but it has also not been sustainable for most people who attempted.

When adaptation first begins, as usual, sleepers are expected to fall asleep in only some naps. However, as sleep debt quickly accumulates, it will be easier to fall asleep. Stage 3 is expected to set in within a week or so, due to the large sleep reduction. An extreme adaptation is then required to reach the equilibrium of SWS and REM in all sleep blocks to be able to adapt. As with Uberman, any noticeable oversleeps will be devastating to the adaptation, which relies on the careful management of homeostatic pressure.

Difficulty

Successful adaptations are very rare. The schedule represents a compromise between the relatively friendly E3 and the more extreme Uberman. Because of the great difficulty, inexperienced and/or average sleepers should not attempt this schedule.

Lifestyle Considerations

With 5 sleep blocks per day, E4 is a difficult schedule to fit in to most people's lives. This is one of the reasons E4, including the extended variant, is far from being as popular and well-known as E3. It can be viewed as a slightly less extreme version of Uberman. For short sleepers, the core addresses the need for the full functioning of the glymphatic system, which is one of the potential health concerns with nap only schedules.

Some have attempted the schedule in order to learn napping skills, without the goal of adapting. As the schedule contains a core, it is much more sustainable than attempting Uberman or Naptation for the same purpose, allowing more time for the body to get used to the napping pattern.

E4 can also be used as an emergency schedule for brief periods in an effort to gain time, especially for those who are on schedules with naps. The naps improve alertness and avoids the effects of total sleep deprivation. Alternatively, highly motivated people under great time stress, such as new parents, students, or entrepreneurs, may be able to sustain the schedule for some time, possibly reaching a near-adaptation state. Still, for normal sleepers, any time spent on the schedule can incur sleep deprivation, and is unlikely to be healthy.

However, E4's scheduling requires either two naps during the workday, or one before, one in, and one right after. Either option can be quite hard to schedule for many. For most sleepers that can adapt to it, the standard E4 is still unlikely to be flexible, meaning that the nap times can be moved very little. The extended variant would allow for more flexibility in nap timings, especially in the last two naps. Compared to E3, it would also be easier to skip or move naps on E4-extended.

E4-extended may also allow a transition to a shortened version of Sevamayl, with more (3-5) naps to compensate, but no one has managed to do this thus far. The frequent naps on the schedule also separates each day into many segments, which can make a day feel very long.

Variants

Despite its unpopularity compared to E3 and Uberman, there has been some success with different variants of E4 over the years. Below are the variants that have been succeeded.

Alternative nap spacing

E4 with alternative nap spacing

Compared to the standard, this variant has gap sizes that more closely follow circadian sleep pressure. There is a slightly longer wake gap between the sunrise nap and the noon nap, which allows for more wake time in the morning to maintain an uninterrupted work time. The last nap is moved to early evening, for convenience. Compared to E4, the naps are still close together, as each nap sustains wakefulness less than on other schedules due to the shortened core. It is advised to avoid wake gaps larger than ~5 hours (other than last gap) on regular E4.

Extended

E4-extended

One member from the Discord has successfully adapted to this variant. This E4 is similar to E3 (3.5-hour core), but with an extra nap. The extension of the core sleep lessens the need for compressing SWS and makes the schedule far easier to adapt to. Same as the regular version, two naps are placed at night and in the morning, leaving two daytime naps. Alternatively, a 3-hour core is also viable, but it has seen no attempts.

The high frequency of nighttime naps helps boost alertness during the graveyard hours, which is a common issue in most Everyman adaptations. With the extra sleep from core extension, E4-extended may be a sustainable long-term schedule if one's lifestyle can accommodate it.

References

Polyphasic Sleep Schedules Scheduling overview Biphasic E1 Extended Siesta Segmented BiphasicX Everyman E2 Extended E3 Extended E4 Extended E5 Sevamayl Trimaxion Dual core DC1 Extended DC2 Extended DC3 DC4 Bimaxion Tri core Triphasic TC1 TC2 Nap only Uberman Dymaxion Tesla Spamayl Experimental QC0 Ducamayl Camayl Hypothetical Non-polyphasic Monophasic Random