E2
Everyman 2, or E2, is the basic and most simple Everyman schedule in the Everyman polyphasic series. It consists of 2 naps and a core sleep of 4.5h (3 full cycles) by default.[1] It was also part of the Formula that details the Everyman schedules with the number of naps depending on the duration of the core sleep. However, it was not the very first and original Everyman schedule. Along with E4 and E5, it was more of an afterthought schedule, after Puredoxyk successfully adapted to E3 and coined it the epitome of Everyman sleep.
| Everyman 2 | |
|---|---|
| chart link
Legend
| |
| Total sleep | 5 hours 10 minutes |
| Proposed by | Puredoxyk |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Specification | 1 long core sleep, 1 morning nap, 1 daytime nap |
| Former names | Everyman 4.5 |
The naming of the Everyman schedules, starting from E2, has been changed over the years for more consistency with all other polyphasic schedules. It used to be called E4.5, to represent the core duration, however over the years it has been changed to E2, to represent the number of naps. In the most recent years, it has garnered a massive amount of attempts, and is one of the most popular polyphasic schedules offered in this sleep regime.
Mechanism
As the next upgrade from E1, E2 removes a full cycle from the core, and adds another nap. The premise behind this mechanics, as explained by Puredoxyk, is that a 20m nap can replace a 90m cycle of sleep because of the REM amount that each nap can provide. The core sleep of E2 now has 3 uninterrupted full cycles of 90m each. Because of the shortened duration compared to the default E1 core, the first nap is also moved to around the sunrise hours (however this is not the only way to schedule E2), and another nap is often scheduled around afternoon hours. This is because the shorter core sleep does not allow for only 1 nap to sustain alertness for the whole day, so another nap becomes necessary to balance the much longer wake gap in the day, and creates an ideal homeostatic distance between each sleep so that sleepers are not forced to stay awake for too long.
There are a couple ways to schedule E2, but the general idea is to make use of the sleep distribution that often follows the body's natural rhythm and to sensibly maintain other work/school schedules and commitments. It is commonly acknowledged that daytime hours sustain alertness better than nighttime hours as per the transition from old-school monophasic sleep (assuming a normal nocturnal monophasic pattern). This means that the wake gap between the first nap and the end of the core is often the shortest, while it is easier and more manageable to stay awake for a lot longer from the second nap to the beginning of the core, taking advantage of the afternoon hours. For this reason, ideally the first nap can be anywhere from 4-6h after the core's end, and the last nap can have an 8-9h wake gap until the core.
Furthermore, the 4.5hr core allows plenty of time for all SWS needs to be met even during adaptation, since even monophasic sleepers typically complete all SWS by the middle of the night, through their 3rd sleep cycle. This assurance allows for much greater flexibility in core placement with the best placement around around midnight. Some core time in the graveyard hours (midnight through 8AM) is recommended for a good balance of REM pressure (closer to 6AM when REM peak starts) vs SWS pressure (peak at 9PM – midnight). Since E2 only has 2 naps (providing 10-15m REM each), at least 60m of REM should be completed in the 2nd and 3rd cycle once adapted. It is recommended for the first nap to be placed squarely in the REM peak of 6-9AM, virtually guaranteeing quality REM sleep for the bulk of the nap. However, as of late it has been discovered that the second nap on E2 may only give light sleep rather than REM sleep, if this nap is late into the afternoon (e.g, 4 PM onward). Most of the adapted cases to a late second nap likely show that their REM baseline on monophasic sleep is lower than or very reduced compared to the usual 90m benchmark.
Adaptation
The most common methods to adapt to E2 are cold turkey and gradual adaptation from E1. However, so far cold turkey has proven to be a more efficient adaptation method, as gradual adaptation from E1 takes a very long time, especially the adaptation to E1 by itself is often already time-consuming. Because of the higher likelihood to retain the necessary amount of SWS during adaptation, adapters only need to stick around and wait until REM sleep is fully repartitioned in the core and the nap(s).
E2's adaptation, while considered mild and has been enjoyed by a great deal of polyphasic sleepers, is not an easy adaptation by any means. The REM deprivation that builds up over the course of the adaptation process makes it challenging to handle the wakes from the naps, and more so from the core especially. Over time, natural wakes will be present more in the naps, and less so in the core, until after a long time of staying adapted on the schedule. In which case, the core duration may naturally shorten to approximately 4 hours, but this is very rare so far. Under normal adaptation conditions (regular sleep requirements and minimal sleep debts before adapting), E2's difficulty peaks around the third week.
Once E2's adaptation is complete, the next step can be E3 or E3-extended (if E2-extended is attempted).
Alternate Variants
Because E2 has a reasonable amount of total sleep (similar to the likes of DC1) and only 3 sleeps to be scheduled each day, most of which goes to the core, E2 has a wide array of scheduling options. Over the years, there have been at least a couple, if not more than a few, to a lot of the listed variants below. This opens up for a lot of options to fit E2 into different lifestyles.
5h core
This uncommon variant is still called E2 (not extended), as it is a minor change. According to about 8 EEG reports compiled by a Polyphasic Sleep Society contributor, the period from 4.5-5hrs in a single sleep appears to consist of REM. We call this a statistically likely REM period. It is important to note that this may vary across individuals and this assertion is currently under review, due to the addition of over a dozen more polyphasic sleepers sharing their EEGs with the leading active community on Discord.
Recently, there have been a bit more successful adaptations to this variant. People who would need this variant are those who want to have a more comfortable time flexing the core sleep after adapting, have a somewhat high REM requirements (e.g, ~120m) or prefer to get in just a bit more sleep to not reduce sleep too much. Alternatively, this variant also reinforces a somewhat more physically active lifestyle without too much of a downside of the addition of 30m sleep. Polyphasic beginners or those who are at the final years of growing (~18-19) can also attempt this variant. However, during the adaptation, it may be more difficult to wake up from a 5h core than from a 4.5h core (initially), before this core duration is fully ingrained. The 5h core can also push the wake gap until the first nap a bit longer than the 4.5h core would (up to ~6-7h wake gap at most). This core duration also tolerates a bit more hiccups from time to time (e.g, insufficient time to cool down to sleep, or some forced delay of start time).
Finally, one sleeper has proven that a 5h core E2 can enable a SEVAMAYL adaptation (5h core). The buffer amount from the slightly longer core sleep makes it possible to enhance the flexibility of each nap, and the malleability of the core sleep. Consequently, currently, a 5h core E2 is considered a very ideal choice to attempt.
Early core
A much less popular E2 variant, an early core variant places the core in the whole SWS peak, or parts of it (e.g, starting core at 10 PM). At the exchange of evening social life, those who pick this variant may benefit from their early bedtime on monophasic sleep, or a very early riser. Both naps are also rotated backward on the clock to start earlier. The second nap, now close to noon, can fit better into the noon break.
This variant gives a lot of nighttime hours for night owls, which may be a similar advantage to Segmented sleep. However, it is generally tougher to adapt to this variant, because there is only one nap around sunrise hours after staying awake for many hours during graveyard hours. Those who usually have a later bedtime (e.g, 11 PM or later) should only attempt this variant if there is no other scheduling choice to make E2 work.
Late core
Contrary to the previous variant, this E2 variant allows the core to be scheduled out of SWS peak, or at even as late as 2 AM, with strong management of dark period (e.g, 3 hours of dark period before the core), food and exercise. The reason is that the core, 4.5h is long enough to sustain SWS and some amount of REM sleep as it is pushed closer to REM peak. Those with lower SWS requirements will greatly enjoy this variant, as it also allows them to have social time in the evening. However, some criteria need to be considered carefully before one decides to follow and adapt to this variant.
First, REM pressure is still relatively low until after 2 or 3AM, so SWS should have no problem entering the early sleep cycles of a late core. What’s more concerning is the nap timing; don’t rotate naps equally late unless you are using good circadian management. Otherwise, shorten the gaps before both naps 30-60 minutes. On sunlight-based circadian, you want to keep the first nap in or close to REM peak ending by 9AM (latest 10AM), and keep the second nap before 5PM to retain some chance of an afternoon REM nap, and to avoid getting SWS in your evening naps. Either way, neither the wake period between the naps nor the second nap and core should be longer than 8 hours, as that has often caused failures to adapt. Some people did manage to adapt to a gap larger than 8 hours, but this is very rare and is therefore not recommended.
Somewhat Equidistant
One of the rarest E2 scheduling option is this somewhat equidistantly scheduled sleep blocks. The wake gap between each sleep is approximately 6h30m on average. The idea behind this scheduling option is to use the core as a blanket duration to stay awake until very late morning hours (close to noon/lunch break). This variant delays the first nap a lot, with at least 6h wake gap. Once adapted to this variant, the night will feel much shorter as there is more time awake until almost noon. The core usually starts around midnight or slightly earlier, which can resemble certain reduced monophasic lifestyles with a very early morning wake time.
However, there are rarely any successful adaptations to this variant. This is mostly attributed to the very long morning wake gap, and the nap is not placed in REM peak. Staying awake during these early morning hours can become overwhelming in stage 3, and the second nap is reported to be very heavy (which may suggest some possible SWS wake). This variant can still work if it is possible to nap in the middle of the work gap, and right after work.
Pronap
As soon as the concept of a Pronap was introduced, it has been applied in a lot of E2 variants and has reported some success. The idea is to lengthen the first nap to ~30-45m as a way to get in more REM sleep. The benefits of this variant are paramount for people with higher REM requirements and often struggle around morning hours and the ability to schedule a longer wake gap between each nap (e.g, 8h as demonstrated in the chart) if there is no chance to nap around noon or early afternoon. The Pronap is expected to yield more alertness sustaining than a regular 20m nap would, so this is a tactical advantage to consider. However, so far success rate remains modest with this long wake gap. Thus, it is recommended to limit this wake gap down to ~7h at most.
Alternatively, slightly extending the core to 5h while using a Pronap is also a viable approach. Even though there allegedly is no successful adaptation to this variant, the idea behind it is to further increase the flexibility of scheduling and a longer daytime wake gap (between 2 naps mostly). People with overall higher sleep requirements may find this variant fitting. Despite the similar amount of sleep to E1, the advantage is that there are 2 naps per day, which accelerates the process of learning to fall asleep in the short naps compared to only 1 daytime nap. The Pronaps of 40m and 45m so far have reported adaptation success.
It is also important to keep in mind that both variants with the Pronap pose a danger of oversleeping in the Pronap during adaptation. This in return lengthens the Pronap to a 90m core or so (DC1-extended). This is because the intensified REM wake when adapting, or only some traces of SWS can lead to an oversleep. It is therefore necessary to stay on guard with extra alarms when picking the Pronap. Although there have been reported incidents of the Pronap's failure, certain experienced sleepers have been able to take advantage of these oversleeps to adapt to DC1-extended (4.5-1.5h core combination) instead. This can ultimately salvage a failing polyphasic adaptation, instead of reaching for a full recovery on monophasic.
Shortened
This variant has been adapted to by a new father in the Discord community. He capitalized on the Pronap while shortening the core down to only 3h20m. He has been adapted to this variant and maintaining it in the face of daily life for more than a year (and counting). Only sleepers with reduced sleep requirements should attempt to cut out a cycle from the 4.5h core, as it will become E3 with only 2 naps, while E3 by itself is already a very intense schedule.
Extended
Like other polyphasic schedules, extended versions of E2 are also viable and have been widely attempted in the most recent years. However, it has a very low adaptation success rate, and only a handful of people have made it work. The concept of E2-extended is to extend the core sleep by a full cycle, equal to E1's core. The only people who should need this are those under 18 years of age, to get closer to a safe amount of sleep (6 hours 40 minutes) for the developing brain and body. Teenagers are often sleep deprived in high school, sleeping 6 hours a night or so. So, adding a nap before and after school can vastly improve health and quality of life if the core cannot be lengthened due to lifestyle. Note that these naps must be adhered to on the weekend as well, or one might occasionally be skipped with painful and often microsleep-ridden tiredness beginning 1-2 hours after the skipped nap.
The downsides of E2-extended seem to far outweigh its benefits. First, E2-extended is often outperformed by E1-extended and even regular E1, because of the more convenient scheduling. On E2-extended, the total sleep is high enough, which often causes high sleep onset for the naps, or the core altogether. It is often reported to take many weeks to get the hang of the naps, while adaptation is still in progress. So far, there is only one successful case with the first nap scheduled only 2h after the 6h core (a high sleep needs individual). While this improves the nuisance of having to place the naps at unfavorable spots in the day (e.g, in the middle of morning work/school hours), it is often times largely unrealistic to fall asleep in the nap after staying awake for only 2h from an already lengthy core.
Although it has been strangely an unfriendly outcome for E2-extended, there are hidden potentials that can be tapped into. The above rotation of E2-extended allows the core to start at a reasonable time, approximately the same as a typical monophasic core sleep. If the bedtimes are the same, then the transition to this core length should be fairly doable. The remaining naps are then placed around the noon break and after school/work hours. The wake gaps appear to be reasonable to handle during adaptation at the downside of having to nap twice in the day. Since there is no successful adaptation with this scheduling so far, it is a tempting option to try out. More data is needed to conclude if this variant bests the originally proposed E2-extended variant.
Third shift
E2 is one of the few polyphasic schedules with a successful adaptation under third shift condition. Third shifts generally boosts the adaptation difficulty to insane levels, and even simple schedules like Segmented can become outlandish. Because of the rare adaptation, it is not worth attempting to E2 without the preparation to switch to the new sleep times and a new dark period enforcement. The core sleep may be completely inflexible as a result of being the anchored sleep as a result of a third shift, meaning that it is necessary to sleep at the same hours for this core during even off-days after adaptation to keep the circadian rhythm in check. In the long run, health issues may still ensue as a result of a sustained shifted circadian rhythm.
Lifestyle Considerations
As a moderately difficult schedule, achieving E2 is definitely an accomplishment. The main benefits of E2 often revolve around:
- Eliminating sleep deprivation from the shortened monophasic sleep, due to inability to sleep for longer.
- Enjoying the benefits of discipline required to achieve E2, like increased productivity and stable habits.
- The fact of accomplishing the adaptation, which is more likely than for other schedules.
- Improved sleep quality, i.e. a much deeper core experience.
- REM-only naps are often accompanied by very vivid dreams which are easier to remember than dreams during monophasic sleep. This can be useful especially if you are interested in lucid dreaming.
- Days can feel less distinct, since you’re unconscious several hours less at night. You’ll get up and/or fall asleep when everyone else is asleep, which can be odd. Mentally, on E2 you will get accustomed to this and regain a sense of separate days.
Additionally, E2 is often chosen by students who are able to nap before, between or after classes. Part-time jobs can also be conducive to this sleep spacing. Full-time jobs can work with this schedule, if you are able to take the first nap right before work (possibly at your office/car) as well as the second one in the early afternoon. The appeal of this variant is bolstered by the relatively tolerable adaptation difficulty with studies and work performance unlikely to be irreparably affected.
Night owls in general often appreciate this schedule. The ability to rotate this schedule later than other harder schedules is also very appealing to many students; as late as 1am or max 2am is doable. This makes this Everyman variant relatively nightlife friendly and it also beats DC1 in the advantage of allowing late bedtime for the core. The standard scheduling of E2 also requires only 1 short nap to be taken during the day, which puts it on equal terms with a biphasic schedule when it comes to utility. This is also one of the biggest selling points of Everyman schedules, including E2, that takes napping to the next level, and the rejuvenation power of a 20m nap can really rival a daytime core sleep, which supports alertness for several hours in the day. However, one thing to note is that high-REM-requirements individuals who cannot complete E2 adaptation (e.g, because of insufficient REM) can switch to a Dual Core schedule with a longer sleep around dawn. This can be a weakness of E2 and other Everyman schedules, where the repartitioning of REM sleep for these individuals is considered more troublesome by relying on mere 20m naps.
The ability to exercise to some extent and flex sleep (including the core) after adaptation is also very fulfilling. Although taking a lot of damage, one adapted E2 sleeper (4.5h core) was able to fully recovery from travelling that resulted in a 5h change in time zone. Two other adapted sleepers were also able to consume some amount of weed during and after during adaptation, which probably suggests that limited amounts of drinking and substance usage may be possible when adapting to E2.
Finally, this schedule is useful for people who share a bed or room with someone else. It is not too difficult to find a sleep or wake time that can be the same as the other person’s – if they agree to a consistent sleep or wake time. Conclusively, E2 is a fantastic polyphasic schedule with very powerful dominance over many other polyphasic systems (e.g, Dual Core, Tri Core) in terms of usage stats, well-rounded sleep distribution and allows an impressive amount of sleep reduction each day (e.g, almost 3h sleep cut per day for an 8h monophasic sleeper).
References
- ↑ polyphasic.net. Retrieved 25-11-2020.
