E1
Overview
- Proposed by: Puredoxyk
- Total sleep: 6 hours 20 minutes
- Classification: Biphasic schedule
- Specification: 1 long core sleep, 1 daytime nap
- Mechanics: 1 core sleep (4 full cycles), 1 nap
- Adaptation difficulty: Moderate
- Ideal scheduling: Core close to midnight, early-afternoon nap
- Former schedule names include: Everyman 6, Biphasic (schedule), short Siesta
Adaptation Mechanics
First created as part of the Formula in Ubersleep, Everyman 1, or E1, is part Everyman and part Biphasic. Puredoxyk considered that each full cycle of a core sleep is equivalent to a nap full of REM. Starting with a 7.5-8h monophasic baseline, cutting out 90m from the core sleep (to make E1 core of 6h) is compensated by a daytime nap that ideally gives REM sleep and to ease new polyphasic sleepers into daytime napping. Because of the sleep cut from the core, sleep deprivation will gradually build up, and enable sleepers to effectively learn and master the short 20m daytime nap. This napping mastery method is possibly a lot easier than learning to nap on a non-reduced Biphasic schedule (e.g, Biphasic-X), because there is more sleep pressure generated from a shortened nocturnal core sleep than from an almost intact nocturnal core sleep on a non-reduced Biphasic pattern.
Since E1 does offer a decent amount of sleep, it is then straightforward to transition to this schedule from monophasic sleep immediately. However, unlike other polyphasic schedules with less total sleep, learning to nap on E1 may take up to several weeks because humans have been observed to get used to sleeping monophasically for only 6h a night, due to work, stress and other environmental factors; this then leads to chronic sleep deprivation if personal monophasic baseline is usually higher (e.g, needing 8h per night for maximum daytime functions). Thus, it will take time for sleep pressure to build to be able to fall asleep in the naps. There are, however, exceptions to certain adaptation cases to E1 where falling asleep in the nap is facilitated after only a matter of days on the schedule. Individuals capable of doing this most likely have been experienced polyphasic sleepers, nappers, or have the ability to fall asleep during the day naturally without much tiredness.
Despite the biphasic nature (which bears resemblance to monophasic structure), adaptation to E1 follows the same rules as any other reducing polyphasic schedules; this means that it is necessary to go to sleep at the same time everyday for the nap and the core for the new sleep habits to stick. Exceptions are made when the total sleep on E1 (6.3h) is very close to, or the exact same as personal monophasic baseline - these individuals can then proceed to have a flexible nap while keeping a somewhat flexible core sleep from day to day, without having to stick to the sleep times by the minute during adaptation.
Adaptation Difficulty
Even though E1 looks to be a straightforward polyphasic schedule to start with for beginners and non-nappers, the adaptation results from E1 adaptations in the community over the years do not reflect the notion that E1 is supposed to be an "easy" schedule. There have been many reported problems from beginners over the course of adaptations that prevented them from reaching the adapted state: inability to fall asleep in the nap despite several weeks in, high sleep onset for the nap after many weeks, or in some rarer cases, oversleeping from the nap consistently (which may suggest that these sleepers have a stronger tendency for a daytime core rather than a short nap, as an example). All of these issues, however, can be attributed to sleep debt prior to starting E1 adaptation, poor discipline, poor alarm system, or wrong assessment of personal monophasic sleep need (high sleep need which increases the difficulty of E1 to great magnitudes).
Probably the most troublesome issue is the rather common "stage 4 loop" for beginners. This typically happens when a sleeper cannot complete the adaptation and get stuck in Stage 4 (near the end of adaptation, feeling inconsistently adapted, or excessively tired at specific hours of the day, or not truly refreshing sleeps overall). Because E1 has a high total sleep compared to other more advanced polyphasic schedules, being trapped in Stage 4 is most likely owing to consistently missing out on some vital sleep stages (typically REM sleep is being missed since only the last full cycle of sleep is removed) or the nap fails to give consistent REM sleep, or no REM sleep at all. According to the Polyphasic Survey 2018, only 50% of E1 sleepers managed to get REM in their nap. This in return demonstrates that the sole afternoon nap does not guarantee to deliver REM sleep (trace SWS, or mostly NREM2 instead) and can result in an incomplete repartitioning of REM sleep and the failure to obtain a sufficient amount of REM sleep each day. The overall time it takes to adapt to E1 is anywhere between 4 and 10 weeks. With all the available information, E1's difficulty has been adjusted to "Moderate" from "Easy" to reflect a more accurate picture of this adaptation.
If the adaptation to E1 is completed after a reasonable amount of time (within 2 months), it is possible to proceed to E2 and E3 as parts of the Everyman schedule line as a gradual adaptation method.
Alternate Scheduling
With the common trend to schedule the E1 core at 11 PM or midnight-ish (with good management of dark period, food and exercise), E1 does offer versatility in scheduling. A lot of variations have been tried, succeeded and even maintained for an extended period of time (at least 6 months) by a couple E1 sleepers. It is wise to consider these options before deciding on which scheduling variant to try.
- Late nap variant:
For 9-to-5 occupations, which are very common nowadays and do not allow any naps during lunch breaks, it is possible to schedule this E1 variant with a nap after work (~4-5 PM) and a core around midnight or slightly later, with a dark period 2h before the core. However, there have been less success with this E1 variant, because the late nap has a low chance to give REM sleep, being in late afternoon and closer to SWS peak. This can make adaptation harder than the default variant. The long wake gap in the day and until the nap can give a few tiredness waves during adaptation. A morning person can still take advantage of this E1 distribution of sleeps.
- Late core variant:
Another viable alternate variant with some success. Sleepers with less SWS requirement and somewhat higher REM requirement may benefit from this scheduling, as some hours of the core now lie in REM peak, which will boost the amount of REM gained during these morning hours. Those who prefer some social time in the evening or have a strong tendency to be alert at late hours in the day can also schedule this variant. The nap can be placed ~6-7h after the core like in the default variant, or later, but should not be too late into the day (6 PM or later).
- Slightly modified core length:
Recently, a new core length variant (6.5h core) has been proposed and has been delivering solid adaptation results, even though only few sleepers have decided on this variant. With the idea that SWS mostly occurs in the first half of the night, and REM dominates the second half, after the 6h mark (which is the end of the default E1 core), there should be very limited, if not none, SWS. This will open up for more REM sleep and/or NREM2 to get into the core, to boost alertness and provide a better opportunity to match personal REM requirement on monophasic. Similar to a 5h core (seen on Siesta and some Everyman variants), the +30m addition to the core is also considered a statistically likely REM period on a 6.5h core. Individuals with slightly higher REM sleep than usual (> 100m each day) can attempt this variant. People with overall higher sleep need, or close to adulthood can also pick this variant for a closer total sleep to recommended monophasic baseline. A 6.5h core is also a strong compromise between the potentially difficult 6h core and the lengthy 7.5h core which offers less sleep reduction. Despite the promising adaptation results, more data samples need to be collected for this E1 variant to discover any potential weaknesses it may have, however.
- Extended core:
The extended version is the usual recommendation for sleepers who are younger than 16 years old, or even 18+ years old who have a highly physically active lifestyle, a high sleep requirement and/or scheduling constraints (e.g, long wake gap from 9 AM to 5 PM). For a 9-hour monophasic sleeper, this variant still offers a decent amount of sleep cut, requiring only one nap to make the schedule work. With a lot of sleep in stock, the extended version allows for more versatility in the placement of nap times. Because most, if not all of the vital sleep stages have been covered in the core, the nap mostly serves to give some alertness boost (NREM2) or probably some amount of REM sleep to improve learning and memory. The nap can then be placed in later hours of the day (e.g, 4-5:30 PM). However, because of a high total sleep, it may take more time to finally be able to fall asleep in the nap effectively than on other reducing schedules because of an overall lower sleep pressure. The adaptation to E1-extended may last just as long as the regular version, albeit a much milder adaptation (and possibly a silent Stage 3, with no signs of severe sleep deprivation symptoms or crippled productivity as seen on other more reducing schedules) that has been observed in successful adaptations. Picking this variant as a result may give the benefit of potentially maximizing daily performances (physical and cognitive) at work and/or school even when adapting.
Lifestyle Consideration
Since E1 is overall a viable schedule to prepare polyphasic sleepers for more advanced schedules with the necessary napping skills to master the daytime nap, it does benefit a vast array of lifestyles. Its biphasic nature allows for long wake gaps between the nap and the core, and the nap can be fitted into several occupations, including the mainstream 9-to-5 ones. The nap can also be scheduled around noon in between any breaks or after work, before an exercising session. Because of the short nap duration, it becomes possible to sustain the schedule long term, as the nap is not as long as a core (at least 90m) to be interrupted by daytime commitments. After adaptation, the nap can become flexible by up to 2h (earlier and later than the original sleep time).
