E3
Everyman 3, or E3, is the original Everyman sleep schedule that was invented by Puredoxyk. It used to be known as the only Everyman schedule, before E2 and E4 were added. Following the naming scheme of polyphasic schedules, E3 has 1 core sleep and 3 naps.[1]
| Everyman 3 | |
|---|---|
| chart link
Legend
| |
| Total sleep | 4 hours |
| Proposed by | Puredoxyk |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Specification | 1 core sleep, 1 dawn nap, 1 morning nap, 1 afternoon nap |
History
Puredoxyk named Everyman (now E3) as a less extreme version of Uberman. E3 was proposed as a way to adapt to less sleep more easily, while being more in sync with normal daily life without the need for extreme rigidity in naps in Uberman.
By 2008, it had become popular as the “fallback” for failed Uberman attempts. It was inspired by the first wave of Uberman attempts after Puredoxyk in the early 2000s, and then again starting around 2007 by personal growth blogger Steve Pavlina's grueling adaptation log for Uberman. The repeated experience of Uberman attempters was to crash uncontrollably for several hours, every couple days or so. It made sense, then, to schedule those crashes into a 3-hour core.
There has been changes in E3's scheduling over years. Puredoxyk's original E3 has the core starting near midnight, which is now considered a late core for E3, and is suboptimal for gaining SWS. Currently, the default variant has the core occupy most, if not all of the SWS peak hours.
E3 has been one of the most popular schedules because of its large sleep reduction as well as its feasibility in people's daily lives. Despite the relatively low success rate, its popularity never subsided.
Mechanism
The core sleep on E3, lasting for only ~3-3.5h (depending on scheduling), accounts for only 2 full sleep cycles. 4 hours of daily sleep is considered the bare minimum needed for most people to maintain 90m SWS and REM, with some transitional light sleep.
The most important scheduling tip is having the core cover the SWS peak, by starting it around 21-22 local solar time. Rotating the schedule further is very difficult, and requires strict circadian management. An ideal E3 schedule would have all of the SWS need covered in the core, along with some amount of REM.
Because of the reduced total sleep, each nap on E3 will not sustain wakefulness for a period as long as the naps on E2 or one of the extended variants with higher total sleep. The ideal wake gap from the core to the first nap is anywhere around 3-4h, 4-5h between the first 2 naps, and then up to ~6-7h for the last two wake gaps. In successful adaptations, the first two naps primarily contains REM, and the third nap may also contain mostly light sleep.
Adaptation
E3 is the schedule with the least total sleep that is still considered sustainable for average sleepers. The tight timing of SWS and REM makes the adaptation extremely challenging.
Coming from monophasic sleep, SWS is spread out up to the third sleep cycle, or even in later cycles. When the core is suddenly cut short, SWS wakes become frequent in the core. This leads to many reported oversleeps. Even worse, the naps can also contain SWS as adaptation progresses, possibly leading to harsh wakes and more potential oversleeps.
Weeks of consistency in sleep times are required to eventually reach an equilibrium of SWS and REM on the schedule, such that the naps will no longer contain SWS, and the core will account for all of the required SWS. The early REM-favored placement of the three naps helps to reinforce this.
Gradual adaptation
It is possible to transition to E3 from E1, E2 or E3-extended by cutting from core and/or adding naps. However, very few sleepers who have been able to transition and adapt to E3 from E2. The gradual adaptation often takes too long, with the sleep deprivation dragging out over possibly several months.
Cold turkey
Most successful E3 adaptations come from the cold turkey method. The time it takes to adapt to E3 is potentially shorter than by gradual adaptation method. However, the adaptation to E3 is very harsh compared to E2 or E1, and a failing adaptation due to skipping naps, flexing naps, moving the core sleep and/or underestimation of personal sleep needs can drag out Stage 3 for an extended period of time.
Naptation
Naptation was once a popular way to start an E3 adaptation, but is now advised against. The primary reason is that starting an adaptation with sleep debt increases the difficulty of the adaptation and may lead to oversleeps early on. Instead, fully recovering on monophasic is recommended to avoid this. For E3, the shortened core causes sleep deprivation to build up rapidly, and falling asleep in naps be relatively easy to learn, rendering Naptation largely unnecessary.
Reverse gradual adaptation
The reverse gradual adaptation method was also once a popular way to adapt to E3. The strategy is to first attempt Uberman and then jump into E3 after a few days, taking advantage of the large sleep pressure from Uberman. By anticipating the incoming Uberman crash, one can then choose one of the Uberman naps (typically the one around evening hours) to become an E3 core with a desired length of choice (3h or 3.5he). While this method has been discouraged recently, it did have some success over the long history of E3 attempts.
Similar to Naptation, starting an E3 run with pre-existing sleep debt from Uberman is not recommended and potentially only makes adaptation harder/longer than it would otherwise be. A recovery on monophasic sleep after learning to nap on Uberman would be preferred to a direct transition. The body also needs time to fully switch schedules, and rapidly changing sleep patterns will cause significant disruption.
Difficulty
Totaling approximately 4-4.5h of sleep each day, E3 is now considered one of the most difficult schedules that an average adult would be able to adapt to. Even after adapting, most people have reported relatively little [[flexing|flexibility] in nap timings compared to the extended variant or E2.
Lifestyle Considerations
With only a short core and three naps to schedule, E3 is relatively convenient for many people. It is particularly suitable for those with flexible work hours or remote jobs. The nap in the afternoon also poses relatively little difficulty for most people to schedule, compared to schedules with a daytime core.
While the default variant usually has little flexibility, the 3.5h core variant has seen more success in flexing. Nap 2 and 3 can be somewhat flexible (<1h forward or back) , and the core to a smaller extent (<30m).
E3 is one of the best schedules for lucid dreaming. Sleepers have reported vivid dreams recall from its naps.
Variants
As a popular schedule with a long history, several variants have been proposed, with some having seen success.
Midnight core
This version was the one originally proposed by Puredoxyk. The core is placed late, after much of the SWS peak has passed. This variant is much more social life-friendly compared to the default.
The first nap is taken before the work day starts and functions like the first nap on E2, with the other 2 naps placed during the day. This scheduling resembles DC2 whose naps are placed at similar hours. There is also a choice of scheduling a 3.5h core for a slightly easier adaptation.
However, this variant has seen a lower success rate compared to the default one. This is largely attributed to the difficulty gaining enough SWS, with SWS possibly seeping into the last nap, causing some extremely difficult wakes in adaptation. Individuals with lower SWS requirements might find this variant more tolerable.
Dawn core
Puredoxyk was successfully adapted to this E3 variant at some point. However, she was also known to be a very heavy insomniac, whose sleep requirements are very low overall, because of the chronic sleep interruptions that troubled her when she had to sleep monophasically. This is a very extreme way to schedule E3, as the core around sunrise hours will create a confusion in circadian rhythm, which favors REM sleep in these hours. It is doubtful if an average sleeper with normal SWS requirements would be able to adapt to this E3, as there has been basically no successful adaptations ever reported. The rotation of the naps also moves the last nap into SWS peak hours, which can be absolutely overwhelming to wake from when SWS pressure rises. Inexperienced or beginners should avoid this variant entirely.
3.5h core
Nowadays, this core length has been more commonly used for an E3 adaptation rather than the 3h core. The total sleep is similar to Triphasic, hovering around a more comfortable sleep total for experienced or highly motivated attempters. The same principles that apply to the 3h core also apply to a 3.5h core. The core sleep should not start any later than 10-10:30 PM, to retain sufficient amount of SWS. If all SWS has been accounted for, the +30m from 3-3.5h mark can give more light sleep or REM sleep, to match personal REM baseline more comfortably. This is also a core duration that is popularly used in Segmented sleep and scheduled in the SWS peak for the same purpose. The naps are scheduled in a similar manner. It may be possible to gradually transition from Segmented sleep (with a 3.5h first core), a scheme proposed by Polyphasic Society to get to E3, but it is unknown if anyone has been able to pull this off.
The benefits of this variant is the flexibility of the core sleep after adaptation (~15-30m earlier or later than the original time should be realistic), and the flexibility of the last nap, or the second nap as well. Contrary to other polyphasic schedules with 4-4.5h total sleep, this 3.5h core version seems to be the most flexible. However, adaptation remains very punishing for any oversleeps as long as ~1h at least. The exhausting process of repartitioning will also ramp up around the second or third week. Those who want to start a first polyphasic adaptation should aim for this variant to stay at a safer amount of total sleep, and a somewhat milder adaptation than the original version.
Extended
| Everyman 3 extended | |
|---|---|
| chart link
Legend
| |
| Total sleep | 5 hours 30 minutes |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Specification | 1 longer core sleep, 1 dawn nap, 1 morning nap, 1 afternoon nap |
Even though the regular version was mostly practiced after the release of Ubersleep, a lot of questions were raised about the viability of an E3 scheduling with a 4.5h core instead. Puredoxyk later clarified on the matter and said it is a decent option, mostly designed as a "happy E3" variant. Currently, the Polyphasic Discord Community has named it "E3-extended" because of the addition of 1 full sleep cycle to the 3h core. There are in fact reasons why E3-extended is along the lines of a "happy" polyphasic schedules.
The 'extended version (4.5h core) has been a treasure for E3. It has reported a surprising amount of success that helps with the extra time and the nap frequency helps prevent the strain of having to stay awake for too long. On this variant, having a sweaty workout is tolerable, and even small amounts of alcohol once in a while. The flexibility after adaptation can be up to ~90m range (earlier/later than the original core time). The 4.5h core has since been considered a golden core duration that hits many birds with one stone and is a hallmark duration that makes E3 even greater today. Despite its greatness and popularity, it is essential to carefully look over daily commitments, sleep habits, meal plans and other habits that can negatively affect polyphasic adaptations, especially those of E3 tier (e.g, smoking, being consistently sleep deprived on monophasic).
- The adaptation process is much tamer than with a 3h core. The addition of the core sleep, which also makes it a core length of a regular E2 schedule, allows ideally all SWS to remain intact during adaptation. As SWS deprivation symptoms almost do not exist on the schedules (except in the case of pre-existing sleep deprivation or bad sleep hygiene from not doing a proper dark period), the adaptation centers on repartitioning REM sleep so that it appears at earlier periods in the core cycles. The last nap likely contains only NREM2 to sustain alertness, while the other 2 naps are still replete with REM sleep. The overall sleep pressure on this schedule is much more tolerable than E3. In terms of difficulty, it has reported a good wave of successful adaptations even from beginners and is a very reliable way to adapt to an Everyman schedule with 3 naps.
- It is possible to transition from an adapted E1 schedule to E3-extended, which is of moderate difficulty for this gradual adaptation. There has been some successful examples in the community who followed this pathway.
- E3-extended has a higher nap frequency than E2 aside from the same core duration. This means it is less stressful to stay awake until the next nap as they are placed closer to each other. During adaptation, if one nap is skipped, it will provide more opportunities to fall asleep in the next nap even in the early stage of adaptation. The process will also be less painful with one skipped nap, as long as this does not occur too often when adapting.
- A 4.5h core also validates the later start time. Unlike E3's core, on E3-extended the core can start at midnight, or even some time after midnight (the naps will have to be rotated along). More awake time in the evening is what many people are after, and this is an advantage compared to most multi-core schedules.
- E3-extended can become very flexible after adapting, with the possibility to transition to SEVAMAYL as the most ideal base schedule. The core duration, which can cover a decent amount of REM sleep, puts less pressure on the naps to achieve the same task, and naps can then be flexed to great extents while still fulfilling the remnant REM requirements. The ability for the core to receive natural wakes after adaptation has also been noted, with the reduction to ~4h core duration as a result of many weeks staying adapted.
- Furthermore, E3-extended supports heavy physical exercises a lot better than E2, thanks to the addition of a nap for possible REM sleep. This will then create more space in the core for more SWS.
- The ideal scheduling of E3-extended would have a nap around early morning hours, noon/early afternoon and late afternoon to fit into regular occupations (e.g, 9-to-5). The wake gap between the first nap and the core can be as low as 3h, and up to ~4.5h. The last nap can be as late as ~6 PM as long as all SWS is guaranteed in the core. Because of having 3 naps, E3-extended does not have much variation in scheduling as the naps are mostly locked into these convenient spots of the day.
As SWS is most likely covered by the core, this creates a possibility for a Pronap on E3-extended, even though it may appear redundant. There is very little successful record with this variant as well. It is also important to note that using a Pronap on regular E3 versions is very discouraged, because the 3 or 3.5h cores cannot cover all SWS needs when adaptation first begins. Extending the first nap will only increase the chance for an SWS wake, because through many in-progress adaptations to Everyman schedules, many EEG readings of adapters do record SWS or even SWS wake even in the first nap around REM peak. A Pronap is often used for individuals with normal SWS but high REM requirements, ~120-150m to be able to use this E3-extended variant. Only sleep mutants or individuals with low SWS requirements should use a Pronap on the regular E3 version.
Since the 5h core duration has been used in a lot of adaptations, it is also possible to apply the concepts to E3-extended. With the total sleep of 6h and a high frequency of sleep, this variant should suit people with very high monophasic requirements (e.g, ~9-9.5h monophasic) or people with huge SWS requirements. There have been very rare attempts, though.
Alternatively, a 5h core and a pronap (~30-40m) can be scheduled on E3-extended, however there is no success up to date. Other than that, this variant likely will not see much use because of its seemingly redundant amount of sleep and can cause a lot of hassles during adaptation. An E2 schedule with a 5h core, E2-extended or E1 with a 6.5h core can be more convenient to schedule.
References
- ↑ polyphasic.net. Retrieved 25-11-2020.
