QC0

This schedule is considered experimental as it is only recently invented, and there have not been a large number of documented successes. Beginners are advised to choose a more established schedule.

QC0

Quad Core 0
chart link Legend   Sleep   Dark period   Flexible sleep window
Total sleep	6 hours
Proposed by	GeneralNguyen
Difficulty	Hard
Specification	4 single-cycle core sleeps

QC0, or Quad core 0, is a schedule containing four short core sleeps. So far, it is the only tried-and-successful schedule in the experimental Quad core schedule line.

Origin

The schedule was briefly mentioned in the Ubersleep book by Puredoxyk under the name “Alternate Segmented” variant. However, there was no adaptation success reported until 2020. Little scheduling details were mentioned in the book. There have been sporadic attempts over the years, but with limited success.

Mechanism

Similar to Triphasic, QC0 divides the day into four relatively small wake blocks in between the 4 core sleeps. This boosts alertness and keeps sleep pressures low. The four short cores may also promote sleep compression.

The default QC0 scheduling places 3 core sleeps during the night and early morning hours to avoid daytime cores, for convenience. The timing and role of the daytime core resembles that of Siesta, dividing the daytime wake gap into two halves. The first (evening) core sleep is mainly filled with SWS, whereas the morning one contains much more REM. The remaining two cores, one at night and one in the day, contain mixed sleep stages and likely more light sleep. Because of the segmentation into multiple small core sleeps, sleep repartitioning and sleep cycle compression is expected to be more intense than on schedules with longer sleep blocks. SWS deprivation symptoms are less apparent on this schedule than on Triphasic or any other schedules with lower sleep totals.

Adaptation

As adaptation progresses, difficult wakes may occur, especially in the nighttime core sleeps around the SWS peak, but also in the morning around REM peak. Theoretically, the adaptation first starts with SWS getting into all core sleeps, and REM deprivation ensues. As REM pressure builds up, both SWS and REM will be repartitioned into each core sleep, and finally an equilibrium is reached when waking up from all core sleeps is refreshing and energy level throughout the day becomes stable. A core near or at sunrise hours will contain predominantly REM, while a core around SWS peak hours will heavily favor SWS. With this feature, QC0 also possesses the characteristics of Dual Core sleep.

Difficulty

Despite it appearing to be an easier version of Triphasic with an extra core, many reported significant difficulty falling asleep in some sleep blocks when adaptation first begins. As time goes by, it then becomes increasingly difficult to wake up from the cores. This may be due to the distribution of sleep blocks, which keeps homeostatic pressure relatively low.

After lying awake for more than about 20-30 minutes, one should wake up and wait for the next core sleep rather than continue trying to fall asleep. Failure to fall asleep relatively soon will result in mid-cycle wakes, which makes adaptation to QC0 very challenging, in a different way from most other schedules. Beginners should particularly avoid this schedule, as experienced polyphasic sleepers tend to fall asleep more easily. Meditation methods as a way to relax and aid the body in preparation for sleep are recommended at an early adaptation stage for this schedule.

Lifestyle consideration

Lifestyle-wise, QC0 only benefits work-from-home occupations and individuals with higher sleep requirements than average (at least 8.5h and up to 9.5h monophasic) to have adequate sleep pressure to fall asleep in all 4 cores. With 4 core sleeps, however, it can support physical activities to some extent (assuming normal SWS requirements and some increase due to exercising). Eventually, though, QC0 is still considered a subpar choice to Triphasic-extended, which is more beginner-friendly and sees plentiful success; it also faces stiff usage competition from other more popular multi-core schedules (Dual Core and Tri Core) in general. The strongest reason one would adapt to this schedule first would be to transition to CAMAYL to gain a lot of flexibility in scheduling core sleeps and assist in a more hectic, changing lifestyle.

Variants

QC0 Variant in Dymaxion style

It is also possible to schedule QC0 equidistantly, which resembles a Dymaxion structure with core sleeps. This may facilitate falling asleep as the wake gap between each core is increased to 4h30m rather than being much closer together at night. However, even this distribution so far has reported no success.

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